Robin Brasher

I think that the 'Scotsman' set is a fair representation of the 'Queen of Scots' and it would have been better if Hornby had marketed the train with that name. Although the set is not called the 'Flying Scotsman' I think some people will be disappointed when they see the locomotive is 'Blink Bonny', they may also be disappointed if the Pullman coaches do not have lights. I think substituting another locomotive for 'Flying Scotsman' and the possibility of omitting the lights are spoiling a ship for a halfpenny worth of tar.

I am sorry to hear about the problems you are having with VAT with models being sent to France. My main problem is that the TT gauge track is in Hornby's warehouse but I cannot buy it due possibly to a problem with Hornby's wen site. If they had sent the track to model shops there would not be a problem in buying it. Having said that the models they are planning to sell would make an excellent train sets. They would be an improvement on the Hornby Dublo and Tri-ang sets especially with the station buildings and sixth radius points. I expect Hornby Dublo inspired Hornby to make the 'Duchess of Atholl' and the LMS coaches. The picture shows the Hornby Dublo models on a 6' x 4' layout which would be even more impressive on a TT gauge layout. Unfortunately neither I nor any of the model railway clubs I belong to have any storage space for an additional layout. One club has flat topped tables up to 6' x 2' so I will be able to loose lay the track on those if Hornby ever release their track from their warehouse.

Selling 00 gauge is easier said than done. You will be lucky to get £2 for an old goods wagon or £5 for an old coach.

I got reported to the committee for hogging the test track a few years ago but my train was stationery (I hope I have spelt this right) waiting for the previous person to finish running his train. Now we get so few members coming to out meetings that they asked me to put my train back on the track as there was only one other train on a six track test track.

When I lived in Orpington the Children's Shop had an oval of Tri-ang TT brown base track inside an oval of Tri-ang grey base track. A Transcontinental diesel switcher hauled some colourful goods wagons on the outer track while a Jinty hauled a couple of maroon suburban coaches round the TT gauge track. People put 6d in a slot to watch them go round. There was false perspective for the tracks closest to the shop window but the effect was lost at the back of the layout.

A well known firm is developing a range of TT:120 trains for people who are short of space.

There has been some news of Hornby TT:120 in the November Railway Modeller and the December Hornby Magazine. I have not seen anything on TV and I have read here that the trains sets will not appear until February unless some are flown in.

Cars without spare wheels.

00 gauge.

I don't know how you ordered the Hornby track. The track is in their warehouse. I have not been able to buy any because when I click on an item of track there is no option to buy: it just says 'add to your wish list.'

Minitrix made an extendable straight track in N gauge which was very useful for taking the track over baseboard joints on a portable layout so that would be a good thing for Hornby to make in TT 120.

I think it would make more sense to have 'Silver King' as the motive power for the 'British Pullman' but not many people will buy two train sets because they will waste money on two ovals and two controllers. In Hornby Dublo days the firm produced goods and passenger sets with the same tank locomotive so I suppose Hornby is carrying on the same tradition with its passenger sets. On page 11 of the magazine it says that the 'Scotsman' set features 'three Pullman coaches, each with working lights'. On previous replies people have said that the Pullmans in the sets will be unlit so I think that this shows that the Pullmans will have lights. I think the set looks more like the 'Queen of Scots' which was a Pullman train than the 'Flying Scotsman' that had LNER teak coaches.

Thank you for the detailed information about the banana vans. I ordered a set of three banana vans from Accurascale in original SR livery (pre-1936) on 11 October 2022 for £84.95 and they debited my credit card on the same day as on their terms and conditions. The vans are not due to be despatched until December 2023 and it is usual trading practice not to debit cards until they are due to be sent. If I had ordered the same wagons from Hattons I would not have needed to pay for them until Hattons had posted them to me

I don't think that there are many advantages in TT:120 over N gauge. For instance the layout in 'Getting Started' in the TT:120 Club Magazine on page 28 is 5' x 3' 6" which is massive for a single piece baseboard and totally impractical to take to a model railway exhibition or a model railway club, The same layout in N gauge would take up a space of 4' 1" x 2'9" which would probably fit in a medium size hatchback. The TT:120 locomotives, rolling stock and accessories look better than the N gauge models so this could be a wake up call for Bachmann and Dapol to improve some of their models and to reduce the time lag on producing their models. For instance it is around 10 years between when Dapol announced the West Country locomotives and their appearance which has not happened yet. In contrast the lag time for Hornby's sets is a few months.

Hornby TT:120 Club magazine page 13. SK answering the editor's question 'What are those advantages?' I think SK gets carried away sometimes.

Some of the track has been released but due to a fault on Hornby's website I cannot buy it. If the TT:120 range will only be available directly from Hornby's website, the website needs to be efficient. At present the track is in Hornby's warehouse and it would benefit the customer if Hornby could post the track to the customer and it would benefit Hornby if it received the revenue. As soon as some track became available last week I tried to buy a radius 3 oval as in the train sets. When I clicked on there was no option to purchase and it said 'add to wish list'. I rang up Hornby and the initial response was that they were not going to sell the track until they had produced something to run on it. Then they logged into their website and said there was something wrong with the website and told me to try again in a few days. I tried again yesterday and the same thing happened. It would be much easier for the customer if Hornby were to distribute the track to their retailers. Then a customer could simply walk into their local shop and buy the track as they have done for the last 72 years rather than try and deal with an ineffective website.

It is possible to repaint the set if you can manage without the fourth coach. I used to enjoy repainting the Tri-ang Hornby Mk1s when they cost about £1.50 each but you need more courage when coaches are about £75 each. I think that the body can be removed from the chassis quite easily and if you can remove the glazing it should be easy to repaint them in LSWR livery using Precision paints. Then you would need some transfers and it could ruin the second hand value. I expect as soon as you have finished EFE will bring out a four coach set in LSWR livery.

Between October and December 2021 the average circulation of the Railway Modeller was 28,685 so a lot of their readers are going to be disappointed if the Pullmans in the Scotsman set are not lit. On page 824 of the November issue it says that the Pullmans in the Scotsman set have illuminated table lamps yet I have read here that SK has said that the Pullmans in the set are not illuminated.

Thank you for the update. Most of the people in the model railway clubs I belong to are over 65 years old yet 20% of these may not have access to the internet. I think lots of these people are interested in Hornby TT 120. One of these has asked me to order some locomotives on his behalf. When I was developing my 00 gauge model railway I was receiving 10p pocket money a week and I used to visit my shop once a week and buy a piece of track until I had an oval of track. The postage costs of shopping on the internet would make doing this prohibitive.

When a survey was made in the UK in 2018 they found that 10% of the UK population have never gone online or used the internet in the last 3 months so these people will not be able to buy any Hornby TT 120 models.

Although the set is called the Scotsman it says in the product information that the LNER 4-6-2 locomotive and complementary Pullman coaches included in this set represent how the 'Flying Scotsman' may have looked in the LNER heyday of the 1930s, that being the Flying Scotsman service and not the somewhat famous locomotive named after it. I don't recall seeing any pictures of the Flying Scotsman train consisting entirely of Pullman cars in the 1930s.

The TT sets are excellent value for money but I am interested in specific locomotives that Hornby are going to produce like 'Silver King' and 'Duchess of Montrose' for nostalgia and harking back to Hornby Dublo days so it would make sense for me to buy these rather than a train set that I am not interested in.

Thank you for the information about the lack of lights in the Pullman cars in the Scotsman set. I wonder if it has occurred to Hornby that some modellers are not on the internet. As the TT 120 range is only available direct from its website these modellers will not be able to buy any Hornby TT 120 models. This will mean that Hornby will be missing out on nostalgia sales possibly mainly for people in the over 70s age group who are still active modellers.

According to to page 824 of the November Railway Modeller the Pullman cars in the Scotsman set do have illuminated table lamps but I did not know that the 'Flying Scotsman' was a Pullman train.