J-Lewis

Looking forward to the Class 50.  Will be interesting to see if the metadata date is right.

6 hours ago, Hobby said:

The Mk1 coach bodies are to scale (length and width). I've also checked the height of the 08 and Mk1, bearing in mind that from drawings the heights are only about 1" different (including the roof vents of the Mk1), laying a steel rule on top of the Mk1 roof it lines up with the roof of the 08, as it should.

But but but that can’t be right because someone on the internet said Hornby always get things wrong.  TT is supposed to be a failure  don’t you get it??!?!?!  

10 minutes ago, Johan DC said:

Can someone explain the difference between ‘serious’ and ‘not-serious’ modellers? 

Pretty sure the difference is that ‘not serious’ modellers simply get on with playing trains and enjoying the hobby whereas ‘serious’ modellers complain endlessly on forums like this and wait for the ‘perfect’ model to arrive on the market in a particular obscure prototype variant/livery!  😂

49 minutes ago, ThaneofFife said:

Ive not seen rafts of negative comments or suggestions about TT120 apart from my own fwiw comment saying 3mm would have been my personal preference.  Smaller than 00 but not as close to N as TT120 is.   

Maybe we need a proper scale version of N to replace British N scale too? N:160?  :)

It's about time we got in line with the rest of the world.  Would have been so much easier for accessories, vehicles etc.

That was part of my reasoning for modelling British HO scale.

33 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

The vans, not the brake vans.

Ah I see.  Misunderstood you.

7 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

I'll pick up an LNER brake van at some point, but looked at the LNER vans. Why are they GWR vans in LNER livery or with ER markings?

 

They look like LNER brake vans to me?  https://www.steve-banks.org/modelling/188-lner-goods-brake-van-toad-e
 

I thought GWR brake vans were vans had a porch at one end? Like the old Triang TT ‘toad’?

7 hours ago, moawkwrd said:

Comments like those dismissing train set operators probably don’t help encourage people either. People do steer clear of here various reasons.

Also for TT everyone is starting from scratch so buying a set makes perfect sense because it’s even better value than buying locos and track etc. separately.  I expect it’s what most of us have done.

It’s strange to see comments like those by ravenser.  Why even comment in the thread if you’re not interested in the scale? 
It’s only been 18 months since the announcement and so far Hornby seem to have sold an absolute truckload of A4s etc. and have continued to release models they announced.

Their latest releases like the HST, TAA tankers and the full brakes continue to be as beautifully detailed as the launch models, and there are a number of high profile models coming over the next few months like the Class 50, the MK2 coaches and so on. 
Class 37 is due next year, plus the new tank engines etc. so it’s very easy to see where the potential is for layout themes that use those initial models.

It’s not all plain sailing, there have been delays for the releases so far, and a few niggles like rubbing brake shoes on the 12T tank wagon or radius 2 corner running on the full brakes, but so far those have been easily fixed and would seem to be a byproduct of Hornby working flat out to meet demand.

8 hours ago, Legend said:

Surprised more people haven’t commented on the hour long Q&A session on TT120 with Martyn and Carl over on Peachys YouTube channel .

Yes it was definitely an interesting watch and worth checking out.  I really liked how open they were being.  Really refreshing and a good indicator for future communication.   Nice to see a glimpse of the livery sample Class 66 and the assembled test shot for the J50 too.  

15 minutes ago, Les1952 said:

 

that is the history of TT:120 on the continent, where the aggressive incumbent is Tillig......

 

Les

A continental manufacturer like MTB feel like a more likely candidate for another entrant to the UK market.  They’ve already got some suitable  bogies and mechanicals in their European diesels.  I’d wager something like a Class 20 or another UK loco that also made an appearance in Europe would be a potential prototype.

16 hours ago, fezza said:

Yet we still have no DMUs (either first or second generation), no Standard 5s, Standard tanks or 4Fs - you know stuff that would actually be useful to a wide range of people who want to run a railway realistic and appropriate stock.

It might be worth bearing in mind that it’s only been 18 months since the launch of the range.  So Hornby have made pretty good progress despite having all the same supply chain headwinds as all the other manufacturers.  Unless I’m mistaken, the TT range has seen more brand new models released in that time than any other manufacturer in any scale?

We know 5’s are on the list of upcoming locos, along with 0-6-0 tanks etc. so it would seem reasonable to expect them to appear over the coming years.  Let’s see what the next 18 months bring?  At that point we should have a good spread of locos across a number of eras, and if there is still no DMU announced by that point then you can say ‘told you so’. ;)

19 minutes ago, gc4946 said:

I hope Hornby caters for most variations 

I hope Hornby caters for both 57XX and 8750 class variations, and simultaneously bring out a Toad brake van 

Hornby seem to be doing a good job of planning for variations in these new models, the Class 50 and 66 have shown that already, and the CAD for the Class 37 also looked very good.  It seems likely their Pannier tank will also allow for variations?  Toad brake van would make sense as a companion to the Pannier and Castle, we shall see what the ‘GWR phase’ brings :)  I’m hopeful we also get a standard BR 20T brake van soon as well.

2 minutes ago, Railpassion said:

How many Pannier tanks could they sell in the first year? 

At £120 each, could they sell 5000? 20,000 over 3 years? 

 

 

Who knows, but when the Pannier tanks arrives (rumoured to be next year) we will find out.  In the 18 months since launch Hornby have certainly shifted somewhere in the region of 10,000 between Blink Bonny’s and William Whitelaws et all, so a similar number of pannier tanks over 3 years seems reasonable.

20 minutes ago, RyanN91 said:

So I should imagine the April Spring 2024 issue and an updated phase 2 catalogue should be available soon.

Physical TT catalogue has also been confirmed for the new issue of Hornby magazine due in shops on Thursday.  So presumably the PDF version will be available around the same time?

The new Class 37 is shaping up nicely.  I was very pleased to see the split headcode version being shown, I’m hoping for both headcode styles in the first releases.  I loved my old Lima Green split headcode 37 and it would be great to get a TT version.

Drat.  If they stick to that price then I will be ordering a blue and grey HST set after all.  It’s too good to pass up.  I’d been determined to wait until later because the HST is a little outside my era.

20 hours ago, Porfuera said:

 

But there doesn't seem to be much new stuff high up in that list - it seems to be mostly reliveries of existing items with the new locos and coaches being medium to low priority at the bottom. Surely if they're going to continue with TT:120 then shouldn't their priority be growing the range significantly rather than producing reliveries?

 

it seems reasonable to expect prices and preorders for phase 3 at least.  Given that it should start being delivered early next year.  We know the Class 37 is pencilled in for 1st quarter 2025 based on the sound file list for HM7000.

On 29/02/2024 at 13:09, BachelorBoy said:

Hornby's flip-flops on Playtrains have not improved my confidence in the company to make the right decisions on TT:120.

 Not sure it’s a fair comparison.  On the one hand there is Playtrains which don’t appear to have sold well at all, and were always a bit of an odd strategy given the widespread availability of Tomy Tomica trains and Brio wooden trains, plus Thomas range from Bachmann etc.  so a lot of competition in that ‘first train’ market for kids.

The TT range is an existing scale with reasonably widespread support across the channel, but zero competition here, so a wide open field.  The first models appear to have been very successful, and the sheer volume of sales and positive feedback from purchasers would suggest it’s off to a flying start.

Given that the ‘right decisions’ are usually based on profits, it’s surely likely that Hornby will continue to flog the TT horse for the foreseeable future?  Next month is the big reveal of the next phases.  If it turns out to be a damp squib then perhaps you have a point, but if the announcement brings firm dates and prices for phases 3 & 4 then I’d expect a lot of naysayers to quietly change their tune.  We shall see what happens.

1 hour ago, moawkwrd said:

Looks like the HST sets are about to land - website is showing the Intercity Executive version in stock. Naysayers can stick that in their pipe and smoke it.

I’ve managed to resist so far, it’s a beautiful model but outside of my planned era.  Just so tempting though.  I did grab a class 50 before my discount ended, and I notice the shop page has been updated with new images for that one too, so hopefully not too long to wait now.

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

My personal indicator for that will be when another brand considers the market to be strong enough to come up with competing, rather than complementary, products.

Needs a couple of years to develop a loco, so we are probably not going to hear about any competition until late this year or sometime next.  Almost certain to be some though, don’t forget there are multiple manufacturers working in TT scale, all of whom have suitable mechanisms ripe for powering UK outline locos.

My money would be on MTB being the first into the market, given that they were the only manufacturer to back US TT scale, and that they have a clear gap in the market for smaller diesels like the Class 25/26 or the class 20.

50 minutes ago, BachelorBoy said:

How long before the train set crowd lose interest in TT120 because Hornby hasn't launched much?

That’s an assumption that the ‘train set crowd’ is a thing?  I mean obviously the TT sets have sold like hot cakes, but surely you have to factor in that everyone starting in TT120 is doing so from a blank slate, so clearly everyone jointing the scale will need to buy a set?

It’s not like TT is a train set quality product.  The detail on the locos is far beyond the average train set, and the ages of the average TT modeller seems to be somewhat outside the typical younger demographic for train sets?

8 minutes ago, greg81 said:

Agreed, the HST looked and sounded well, the class 50 also. The 66 could really help them merge this across their European range via Arnold with some minor tooling modifications.

The class 66 is confirmed as an Arnold release in European liveries and spec (including rubber traction tyres).  The recently released Arnold container wagons are suitable for UK outline too, so cross pollination seems to be factored into Hornbys planning.  :)

I see that Sam’s Trains has decided that results of a poll on his channel means that nobody is buying TT?  😂

Hornby is definitely behind schedule with their releases, but they appear to have sold an absolute ton of A1’s and A4’s over the past year, the sets have been selling consistently, and ebay sales look pretty strong over the past year too.  Sam seems to have missed the evidence for those restocked sets taking the product slots that would have been booked for the newer locos.  A victim of their own success as it were.
 

However, I’d guess  we are almost certainly at (or close to) saturation point for those initial locos and ready for the new ones, and provided the big April announcement comes with some concrete release dates for phase 3/4 and some new announcements it should be onwards and upwards for the scale.

The goal is wide open for Hornby at this point.

I’ve not received my BP tankers yet, but hopefully they are on route by now.  Seems like sales for these have been really successful.  They are incredibly detailed models.  Love the different ladders and other details, really a step up from my last TTA wagon which was a basic Hornby Texaco tank from a Jinty train set!

15 hours ago, Porfuera said:

 

Not if you pre-ordered last February. I guess they were losing too much on postage to continue with that.

 

Are you sure you’ve not been charged postage?  They just add it to the shipping invoice on my orders, it’s not shown during the pre-order process, the postage is shown as £0.00 in the preorder total but £3.95 is added on shipping.