teletougos

I think the big selling point for Hornby has been getting the gauge to scale ratio right (although I'm not going to consider things like cylinder placement and other cheats made with steam that might make that possible.) But this isn't so much to do with accuracy with as it is with selling. And, they have a market that thinks the magical number '120' is the thing that makes this accuracy on scale and gauge possible, and even more, that it is ONLY possible in this scale.

I don't know. I think the good wheels are more of a random, lucky feature. The models themselves are pretty basic and the early HP trucks they rolled in - some stamped, some cast - are kinda primitive. But he was aiming at kit builders, so it is a possibility. They're very sturdy wheels and people used them for decades, with many other bogies by other suppliers being cast to take them, as late as the 1990s. They don't have a pinpoint axle, btw. ***** 'Table Top' is one reason 'upscaled' TT versions like TT3 are considered by most existing TTers to be within the TT family. TT conceptually was always at least partly about gauge, since this defined whether the oval of track would fit on a table top.

It is, but I don't think anything is manufactured for it now, or did Fox Valley do wheels to that profile?

Ah yes, typed too fast. Cheers, will amend

It's weird, as I have a lot of HP Products TT wheels, which hail from the time TT scale started, in 1946. They are .072" and quite the finescale look. I don't think anything in TT since, has gotten anywhere near that fine. Except in TT3.

I wonder what wheelbase the Baby Boats would be if they were a C truck. A1A tended to be equidistant. I'm assuming a C truck on these would be kind of short, but at least a little asymmetrical. There's a nice Dapol steam chassis that looks right for a power bogie.

Wow. That is really helpful. Thank you. A goldmine of information. Didn't ever think I'd see a shot of the Guatemala and Queensland locos together.

Yes, definitely agree. I'm drawn to that when I visit hobby shops which keep a large range of it, Kernow etc, for the same reason - the trains are the 'right' overall size. The fact that window and door sizes are different does not seem to have much bearing on it (and 009, generally being of older prototype, is from an era where windows and doors were narrower in particular.)

Yah, the TT120 wheel standard is the main disappointment. Most noticeable on the steam too. Are correctly gauged steamrollers that much of a win? They are definitely inferior to current N. Another thing with scales is of course that their appeal comes from the models being what is perceived to be 'the right size' for that scale. But that doesn't always pan out. As an example, real TT scale narrow gauge equipment just looks like N, a lot of the time. Particularly if you're used to looking at big US N locos & stock and 1:148 British. I used to own a bunch of Queensland Railways TTn3.5 stuff and cast a bit of other 3'6" stuff. The Queensland stuff was kinda dinky; they had some very small rolling stock. If I was to fiddle around in narrow gauge again I'd definitely use TT3, for no other reason than I like 'the TT size' and don't like 'the N size'. And for it to be that size, requires the scale to be upped!

I know it looks like a Mattel Hot Wheels take on an SD40-2, but I am quite taken by these and wondered if anyone had a diagram ? There is one about apparently. I do have some basic dimensions but wondered about wheel diameter ; sure these were bespoke A1A trucks built specifically for the Hedjaz Railway, a long time after 'A1A' ceased to be a thing. (pic by 'Padders', 2017 on a tour)

There were two orders of these things, arriving from 1950. 3 foot gauge. I don't know if the centre 'B' axle is powered, even. Anyone know anything about them? Is there a diagram? Wheelbases of trucks or distance between truck centres or anything? Personally I think they look amazing.

A TT120 magazine arrived today. Apparently a summer issue (they're cutting that one fine.)

Yes it has been very tough. And this comes on the back of the heatwave last year, where it was over 40 deg C. for forty days at a stretch.

Just a note for anyone interested - the Czech outfit MTB are doing a small run of their TT scale SW1200 American switcher soon. This is a RTR diesel manufactured to a pretty good standard, with separately applied handrails and other details. Liveries will be UP, BN, PRR and NYC. Loco will have an improved motor and improved gears over earlier version. Price for the USA, Canada and Australia will be around 155€. For Europe around 180€. A few pictures here : https://www.eurotrainhobby.com/mtb-diesel-locomotive-sw-1200-cb-with-ru/p12720c448 The message came from the TT retailer Zeuke-TT. Unsure if he will stock it but I'd say it is likely. https://www.zeuke-tt.com/

Just a note for anyone interested - the Czech outfit MTB are doing a small run of their TT scale SW1200 American switcher soon. This is a RTR diesel manufactured to a pretty good standard, with separately applied handrails and other details. Liveries will be UP, BN, PRR and NYC. Loco will have an improved motor and improved gears over earlier version. Price for the USA, Canada and Australia will be around 155€. For Europe around 180€.

Once they acknowledged it, they'd never be able to stop apologising. Even tiny variations in apology wording would prompt seven pages of discussion here, as Ye Tinterwebs is ideally suited to vivisection of tiny morsels. It's a kind of repetitive comfort behaviour for stressed beasts hooked on short-acting stimulation cycles. With a business model of entirely outsourced manufacturing, in a country which has never seen the prototype and has zero interest in its features, or indeed in model railways at all, it's surely wiser to see delays as a feature, not a bug.

The New Zealand prototype is 3'6", 9mm in TT scale. No adaptations needed.

Anything in Beograd / Belgrade in particular?

"NZ120" did have a couple of etched kits at least, and some castings. I have not been in touch with it for a long time. One thing that made it possible was the relatively short wheelbase trucks of NZ diesels (meaning N scale SD chassis could be used to power a lot of the mostly six-axle NZ diesel fleet.) I think NZ also had relatively short bogies on freight wagons so N scale trucks looked proportionate.

3mm Society don't do the correct dia wheels. Nearest they do is 8.2mm which is noticeably too big.

As I recall it, they were rather toylike, so probably not.

Didn't know that. Is the track handbuilt?

IIRC, some of the the N gauge Thomas stuff made by Tomix is close to TT. But having never measured the original prototype stock, I can't be sure.

People in TT and TT3 knew Hornby was sniffing around for years, and it was known after about a year that 3mm wasn't on the cards, tho there were valiant attempts to push the discussion that way. I wouldn't put it past them to have a surprise addition as they have probably factored in a lull in interest with accumulating delays after the first year, so something to make it look like momentum is still there, would be a plus.