Tom Rose

I wondered the same with the 9f, it was difficult to see on the photos so im going to hold my opinions until we see one in the flesh, but it looked closer to the old railroad version than the brand new 00 offering

Evening all UK TT120 has seen something of a buzz in the past few weeks, with Heljan, PECO and now Hornby, dipping their toes into the scale. Now, this news initially excited me a great deal, however after watching the various launch interviews with Simon Kohler I have a few questions that others here may also be asking, or may be able to shed some light on. A little background, I am in the planning stages of a new, rather ambitious layout project. Although the space available for said layout is quite considerable, I found that using 00 would lead to having to make too many compromises, particularly in the way of space available for scenic modelling. I had considered N gauge as an alternative, but in my past experience I have found N to be too fiddly and lacking a certain presence. I had Then decided to choose 3mm scale as a perfect in-between, using the vast array of locomotive and stock kits available from the 3mm scale society. However, with the recent announcements of RTR TT120, that scale seems more enticing. This then brings me to my questions. Do you see TT120 as being a flash in the pan, or a long term viable option for modellers? In the various interviews I've watched, Simon Kohler emphasizes that TT120 will be marketed towards getting new people into the hobby, which is fantastic don't get me wrong, but seemed reluctant to speak to how the scale would be used by the serious modeller (it could just be me, but he even seemed a tad irritated when alluding to serious modellers). So what do you think? Will Hornbys TT120 range merely be aimed at the beginner, designed to be built into a track mat layout and little else, or do you think it will grow into a wide product range offering many highly detailed locomotives and stock from a wide selection of eras and regions as with their 00 range? I suppose right now it's anyone's guess and we'll all have to wait and see if this rage becomes a fully fledged suite of models, or simply a gateway range designed to introduce people to the hobby

Evening all I'm looking for some prototype info in order to justify the running of some stock on my new layout currently in the planning stages. Basically, I'm looking for any information on if Princess Royals/Coronations ever ran on the midland mainline route through the Peak District? I have plenty of photos of them arriving into Manchester London road and even a few of them going as far as Stockport, but nothing concrete showing them actually working through the peaks (Although I swear I saw a photo at one point of one working an express through peak forest). Express services on this route were more commonly hauled by Jubilees, Back Fives, Royal scots and in later years Britannias, but if I can find at least one photo of a princess on this route, that's all the justification I need to be able to run a model of one! As a secondary question, does anyone know if A3s worked the Woodhead route at all? once again, there's plenty of photos of them in Manchester but no information of if they operated over Woodhead at all. I do however have a photo of an A3 on a wartime freight emerging from the Woodhead tunnel, although this is not enough to prove they worked passenger services over the route for me. Any info on either or both of the questions would be massively appreciated!