HonestTom

It is worth noting that there are plenty of enthusiasts who don't go near this forum. Certainly more than once I've mentioned something I read on here to fellow hobbyists, only to get the reaction, "Well, that's RMWeb for you."

It offers a range of models that will be correctly scaled to the track gauge, something entirely new to commercial British RTR. This is something that many people have said here, and Hornby themselves have said (and Peco, Heljan et al). It's also been discussed many times over in previous threads on the scale. Yes, N is smaller than 00, but smaller size alone is not the only part of the appeal. If that were the case, everyone would have switched over to T gauge. What TT:120 presents is a scale between 00 and N, taking up less space than the former but allowing more detail and being less fiddly than the latter. That's the whole deal. If that doesn't appeal to you, that's fine - you don't have to buy it.

I've often thought I'd like to build a micro-layout based on the buffer end of a major terminus. True scale LNER Pacifics make me wonder if this is the chance.

I wonder in some ways if that's the real experiment - use a new range to make a total break with the traditional way of doing business.

The one I'm curious about is the sets. There's a £20 price difference, but the contents seem to be basically the same - a Pacific, three coaches, controller, oval of track with siding. Unless I'm missing something?

I could see the Kof II being very popular with scratch and kit builders.

I think it's halfway between the two. Obviously the sets they've chosen are very much aimed at the kind of person who wants to run top link expresses, but at the same time they're doing a decent range of workaday wagons and less glamorous locomotives down the line. I suspect the idea with the release schedule is to enable people to get a train running, then enable them to turn it into a proper railway (perhaps after saving up for a bit).

Probably because they're using photos of their 00 models.

Since everything seems to be a duplicate of their 00 range, I'd imagine that's what they've done here. I wonder if they'll be taking it along to shows. A layout might help to convince a wary potential customer.

If they ordered their set online, the chances are they'll be making follow-up purchases the same way. If not, well, Peco and Heljan have them covered. This is definitely a bold move, and I will be interested to see how it goes. Sets are a good idea if you want to hook people into your new scale, especially if you're looking to the beginners' market. I feel like they're aiming more at the serious modellers' market - there's a distinct lack of Coca-Cola wagons and Santa Expresses. The prices are also (mostly) rather attractive as compared to the 00 range. Certainly I'll admit that I'm tempted.

I'm firmly in the "well, you might get hit by a bus tomorrow" camp. If experience has taught me anything, it's that life can blindside you and it's pointless to work on the basis that fate will definitely do this or that. One might similarly ask, how do I know I won't have a sudden expense that will make this an unwise purchase? How do I know I won't have to move house, drastically reducing my modelling space? How do I know I won't suffer a debilitating injury or illness? There are hundreds of variables in life. I prefer to be optimistic. The real question is, therefore, is this purchase going to bring me enough joy to make it worth the wait and the money?

Someone else said that on Facebook too. That's where I'd put my money, although it doesn't explain the "Oh" emphasis. Perhaps they're planning an "Oh-8" in the scale?

I went to a recent model railway exhibition and was outraged to see that the carriages were uncoupled from the locomotive without the crew even leaving the cab. Apparently we are supposed to believe that the rolling stock uncouples itself now! Realistic operation, my eye!

You might try an art supply shop. Look for textured medium - this is basically a kind of paste that comes in many different, well, textures, ranging from coarse to very smooth. It can be mixed with paint and dry-brushed when dry to add variety and highlights to the colour.

I picked up some great bargains at the Spa Valley Railway on Saturday - two Graham Farish 00 suburban coaches for £7.50 each and two Triang clerestories for £8.50 each, plus a Bachmann San Francisco cable car for £18.50. Good bashing material at that price. My brother found a Dapol Austerity for £20, which again was something he wanted to bash (but not at the prices you see on eBay).

Well, at the risk of being yelled at by more knowledgeable folk, I have to admit that this is not something I was aware was an issue (in model form) either, and there's no indication of it in any of the promotional material. How many dumb-buffered locomotives are even available RTR?

I think it depends. I've had some very high quality resin-printed models, and I've had some that were so bad that I don't even like running them alongside my other models even after a lot of work. Of course, the crisis would also affect those smaller suppliers. If electricity costs a fortune, that's going to impact on the overheads of anyone using a printer. Similarly, things like delivery charges and raw materials.

I find small shows and club open days are the best places for a bargain, usually from the members' stall. I once got a beautiful kit-built GWR 97xx for £30. At another show, I got a Dublo West Country for £40, and the only defect was a paint chip on the funnel. That same stand had two R1s for £12 each. I kind of wish I'd picked one of them up - I've often thought I'd like to upgrade one.

You might try here: https://www.textures.com/category/high-rise/12395 It's somewhat limited, but you can download up to 15 per day for free.

For the platform edging, and brick in general, I've had a lot of success with foamcore. This can be obtained fairly cheaply online or at any arts and crafts shop. One sheet goes a long way. - Soak the sheet in water to dissolve the glue. - Peel the paper off - Cut your piece to shape - You can carve the bricks in with a pencil (or ballpoint pen, or knitting needle, or anything similar with a tip that's not too sharp) and a ruler to get the lines. - Then paint and weather to your heart's content.

Brunel would probably argue that Britain has an extremely extensive narrow gauge network.

Good choice. So can I take it that we'll see a W&U 4-wheeler, a GER G15 and an LNER Y10 in the future?

I don’t know about packed, but I have a seaside-set micro-layout in the planning stages and I absolutely intend to include shops with excruciating puns for names. The chip shop is currently called “Cod Help Us.” A narrow gauge cliché/departure from reality that I will hold my hand up to is having a variety of locomotives that would never have worked together and were rarely, if ever, seen away from one railway. I have a GVT tram engine, a Dolgoch and a Prince, plus various other less specific oddities. My present layout is one-engine-in-steam, though, so at least they’ll never be seen together.

I'll admit that on the layout I'm planning set in 60s East London, there will be quite a lot of railtours. Purely so I can get some pre-Grouping motive power that would either never have gone there or would have been long gone from the area. I've often thought a layout set on a preserved line in its early years would make a good layout. Rather than adopting the "anything goes" approach, the stock would be the kind of thing that an impecunious preserved line might realistically have picked up in the 1960s. Small tank engines, beaten-up Grouping or pre-Grouping coaches (or just brake vans), big engines only present as Barry wrecks on a siding. Buildings run-down or even demolished.

I think a lot of clichés arise from what's available. Personally, I find seeing the same Metcalfe buildings over and over again quite tiresome, especially when they don't fit the architecture of the area the layout represents. I could say similar things about Oxford Diecast vehicles or Merit figures (both of which I use in modified form myself, hypocrite that I am). But they provide an easy way to get the scene you want and they're usually better than you could produce yourself. Most people want their layouts to look interesting As for clichéd layout concepts, it often comes down to what the modeller wants versus what they can do. Many people just don't have the space for the kind of layout that justifies the type and intensity of traffic they want to model, but the kind of layout they could realistically produce in the space they have just wouldn't be very interesting.