teletougos

PECO will have been well aware, as TT modellers have known about Hornby sniffing around for years. It doesn't matter what anyone says, they may have reasons for denying it etc, and they're welcome to assert it. But in this case it seriously isn't possible.

Exactly.

I don't think there are rafts of negative comments. I think it's reasonable to express doubts as to whether it is possible to launch a model railway scale in a market, where the proponent doesn't actually manufacture any of the stuff. I don't think that's happened before. I haven't heard a mitigation set out that could address that vulnerability. It could be Hornby don't want to get into it; acknowledging it might deter folk adopting TT. I think it's reasonable to be concerned about the scale's visibility, which after an initially flurry, has been decidedly patchy.

That may line up with Ravenser's point. I think there is some evidence for it. "TT:120 has had some commercial success amongst those who weren't yet in the hobby, but much less so amongst those already in the hobby." Substantial number who have joined the TT120 FB groups, which have been very successful, are new entrants to the hobby. Many have said it of themselves, and the kinds of questions asked on the FB groups make it pretty clear.

We are in a country which manufactures very little. This kind of thing is archetypally 2024.

I go to areas in Zhejiang where a lot of precision stuff is made. Not model trains, but they use the same kinds of modality and some of the same bits. The factories continually tell county and provincial officials that the workforce they need, twenty-somethings, mainly female, are hard to tempt now. China is in the midst of huge social changes, coming out the pandemic. Unlike say, if Hornby elected to manufacture in Japan, the Chinese themselves don't like model trains much. It's not an aesthetic that appeals to them. So there may not be the necessary sympathy or bias in favour of the product itself. I would say Hornby don't have an ability to influence those factors. That has the follow-through that a large amount of tangible bits of the new scale are not physically in reach for the end consumer, in their intended market. One little case at Ally Pally, off to the side. In the biggest show? In the biggest city? That's bad, by any measure. Anyway, enough from me. Over to Hornby.

I don't think it's unreasonable to say that TT stuff trickles through at a slow pace because the originator of the product doesn't make any of it, and as as result it does not have very much impact. It just isn't visible enough. And I can't see how that's going to change. It is a serious problem for a new scale, when one goes to the biggest London model railway show, and there is only one stall that has any of it on display, in a small case off to the side. Fact : it is hard to get people in China to do the jobs needed to in order to manufacture TT. That is not unique to Hornby. Speculation : maybe they just waited too late? If they'd taken the jump a decade or so back, when they were in the early stages of considering it, things may have been different, but they waited a decade, and the Chinese workforce changed hugely in that decade. And will keep on changing.

Did you read my post? I said nothing about the coaches. I was talking about Ally Pally. And It would be hard to ascertain a general view about TT coaches as there aren't very many shops selling them. (Which may go back to the issue of the scale's lack of visibility.) You'd need a shop or a stall, where a few modellers are looking at them at the same time, and making comments, I'd guess. I haven't been in that situation. But maybe the poster has?

The comment about Ally Pally seems to be true. I was there and there was indeed only one stall which showed TT120. So how is that opinion?

I thought that. but seeing the actual models alleviated the worry. And when the 66 comes, those clouds will clear away totally; a 66 is as long as a US SD40-2 and the rolling stock for this era is kinda hefty. There's TT3 for those who 'like this kind of a size' but find TT too small. Can't quite see what your point about Lego is either?? Went well wide of whatever mark it was aimed at.

So in summary, Hornby has accidentally led itself into a highly accurate and customer-friendly state of affairs.

Sometimes the mistakes are the end of the road for a particular product, but since it's embarrassing, you don't hear about it unless you're one of those he's coming to for prototype information or other relevant stuff to product's development.

Thanks for everyone for the advice.

Does Farish do an eight coupled steam loco with about 10mm dia wheels ? (Potential TT conversion material.) Older is okay, as I think they look easier to regauge.

Glide effortlessly they may, but am I the only one to notice that loco 1196's pony truck looks derailed?

Don't think there was any TT at Ashford today, but a little TT3 and at the more finescale end of things, Ballyconnell Road.

If you knew the grade I got for Technical Drawing at school, you'd probably understand why I'm reliant on outfits like Shapeways😉

I've kind of lost interest because unfortunately most US producers use Shapeways and that is totally undependable now when it comes to quality, unreliable on delivery and very costly to boot, Outfits like i-materialise are more consistent but now very expensive. While this does not represent the entire sector, these two were two big participants and I see a loss of enthusiasm for 3-D compared to a few years ago. (Again, maybe that's primarily US outline.)

Shows how little I know about UK prototypes.

Is that because some GWR branchlines only used Panniers ? I think there would be a market for small branch layouts in TT. Hornby seem to have targeted primarily mainline stuff so far, but looking at TT3, most of the layouts are branches of one kind or another, and they're regular crowd pullers at shows.

I wonder if that's a subtle hint?

Cuba switched its political allegiances (and where it bought its trains) around the same time the American hobby largely abandoned TT and East Germany took it up. This makes it an interesting prototype.

I've been looking for a 3-D print of a 66 shell, as I have identified the right chassis and have two of it now.

Because a lot of people are whiny and want everything yesterday. Put them together in a group online, and there's an incentive to catastrophise, because it is also human to want attention, whether or not it is deserved.

It is not the first time they have done this. Hornby just act as a warm-up clown in what purports to be their own show, while the real actors are the Chinese factory owners and their sullen workers. It is they who decide what the final purchaser gets, and when.