Robin Brasher

There was not much light. I will try again in daylight.

The S&C signal box.

You will be pleased to see that an oval of track, an S&C signal box and Dent Station have arrived from Hornby. I am very impressed with the models and I think resin is a good material to represent stone walls and slate tiles. Next I am planning to buy some Peco TT:120 platform kits. I have also pre-ordered some Hornby locomotives to run on the track.

Hornby could make a Hornby Dublo version of the 8F with a metal body. Then it would be able to pull a long freight train.

Hornby TT:120 are planning to make two BR Mk1 Horse Boxes. I don't know if Hornby will make them in 00 gauge as Hornby Dublo and Bachmann have already made them. I am assuming they will be either in BR SR green or BR maroon.

I am not sure if poor families would have access to the internet to buy the TT:120 models on line or enough money to buy at train set. TT:120 has attracted no interest at my local model railway clubs or exhibitions but I have not been able to resist it. The two train sets did not appeal to me but I have bought some track and buildings and I have pre-ordered five locomotives. I think that existing railway modellers will buy the TT:120 range and they will be looking for a fun train set that can easily be transported to clubs and exhibitions in a small hatchback.

I don't think Sam has tested Hornby TT:120. The video I saw was from Simon's Shack and it was the first video I have seen of the Scotsman set working.

Perhaps Bachmann will be announcing some TT:120 Goods Trains.

Peco seems to be an example of a well run company.

One of the main benefits of TT:120 is that you can fit a layout in a small space but if you are short of space you can still get lots of enjoyment from a Hornby 0 gauge layout. This is my my friend's Hornby Vintage layout at Winterborne Kingston Village Hall last night.

Thank you for the information about couplings. Corgi is owned by Hornby and Corgi have produced a range of static TT gauge locomotives. I wonder if Hornby is developing these to produce its TT:120 range.

I have not tried gluing the track to the baseboard but it seems to be a good idea. I have had a lot of problems using track pins on 00 and N gauge track so I obtained some screws from Alan S. Robinson based in Nottingham. I found 6mm track screws were best and I also bought a magnetic screw driver from him. I drilled holes in the track and baseboard first. I still found that the screws split the sleepers sometimes especially in the N gauge track. They were a lot better than track pins and can be easily removed with a screwdriver. They should be suitable for TT:120 track as well. Initially I am planning to loose lay the track as we have flat tables at our club at Furzebrook Village Hall. This will be easier than taking two boards by car. I think the Hornby TT:120 layout that can be built with the track extension packs will be too big to take on a single board in my car.

Thank you for the picture of a maroon Bulleid coach. I have now received my crimson and cream and BR green coaches and the picture shows 'Weymouth' taking a set of five coaches to Swanage. As I have now got a loft full of model railway items I offered my old crimson and cream Bulleid coaches to Hattons and they offered nearly £8 per coach which seems reasonable. I ordered my coaches from my local model shop to support it instead of from Kernow. I did not receive any notification that they had arrived but I saw them when I visited the shop. I asked them why they had not told me they were in stock and they said it was because I had not ordered them. I went back home to fetch the email confirming my order and returned to the shot with the printout. By then they had put my coaches in a bag and told me that they had found my order. Fortunately there does not seem to be a supply problem with Bachmann unlike the firm from Margate. That is one of the reasons why I tend to order items from one of the big mail order companies rather than supporting my local model shop. I hope my local model shop has remembered my order for the Bulleid coaches in Southern livery.

One possibility is that, in view of the success of TT:120 ,Hornby may announce that the entire range of Hornby products will only be available from the Hornby website and Hornby will no longer supply retailers.

Thank you for the information about why Peco are using code 55 track. Oxford TT:120 scale vehicles are now available but there are not many yet. Some of the Matchbox Toys were made to scales approximating to TT:120 in the 1-75, Major Packs and Models of Yesteryear series. My picture shows a cement lorry, a B Type Bus and 'Duke of Connaught.' Some of the Corgi and Wooster aircraft were to 1:120 scale. Also Model Scenery Supplies make some TT:120 scale figures which would enhance a Hornby TT:120 layout.

Thank you for the information about the track. It will be interesting to see if Peco develops a Set-track sytem and if either Hornby or Peco make and adapter track if necessary. If Peco make Set-track that is more realistic than the Hornby track and people can buy the Peco track at their local model shop I expect people will buy the Peco track in preference to the Hornby track. Meanwhile my picture shows in 00 gauge what a display of TT:120 scale trains would look like. It would be interesting to read what you think of Hornby's choice of locomotives and rolling stock.

sorry about the error. I have amended my post.

Sorry about the error.

Thank you. I should have checked with Simon Kohler before writing my post. I am sorry for the error.

I only ran the Ivatt 2MT with four coaches or a few goods wagons so I never tested its pulling power. It lasted a long time and I have run it at exhibitions.

As the Pullmans will not have lights in the Scotsman set the additional cost of £30.70 does not seem to be justified. I was thinking about buying the set but now I am going to wait until the 'Flying Scotsman' appears with some teak coaches and they get favourable reviews. I expect Hornby will make some more train sets later.

I have just heard from Sam's Trains that the Hornby TT:120 Pacific locomotives will have traction tyres although I have heard from Hornby that this is wrong and they will not have traction tyres. Haulage power has always been a problem with TT gauge and that is why Tri-ang invented magnadhesion. I have never had any problems with haulage with Minitrix or Graham-Farish in N gauge. The Graham-Farish models had metal bodies which helped with adhesion so perhaps this is something Hornby should do with their TT gauge models. It will be interesting to see how the Hornby models perform once people extend their trains beyond a three coach train set.

Crownline converted an Airfix 00 gauge 4F to a Q class for me. It was fairly successful but it is a non runner now. I also bought a Wills Q class on a Tri-ang chassis but this did not run very well either. I have never been very successful at building locomotive kits and that is why I wait for ready to run locomotives to come out.

I bought an Ace Trains 0 gauge Q a few years ago and it is one of those engines that you can put on a track with up to 48 goods wagons and leave running all day. It has been overlooked by the manufacturers in 00 and N gauges but it looks like Hornby are just producing the models they made in 00 gauge. As they have the field to themselves they could make models Bachmann have made in 00 gauge like the Jubilee and the Blue Pullman.

Hornby Dublo did not produce any Southern locomotives, except for the LNER N2 in Southern livery, or coaches for the first 21 years and Tri-ang did not make any Southern steam locomotives apart from the saddle tank for the first eight years. At the Graham Farish stand someone asked if they were going to make a 'Lord Nelson' and the reply was that no-one was interested in the Southern north of the Thames. I expect some Southern models will appear but perhaps Hornby sells more models from the other regions. Some Southern models do sell well and the Hornby Dublo R1 0-6-0T was a huge success.