Porfuera

However if you can't collect from the shop then you need to add in the €12.99 p&p - Hornby don't charge p&p over £50. But even better (possibly), if Modellbahnunion removes the 19% (?) German VAT from their price you would get an ex-VAT price of around £125, which is below the current £135 cutoff for VAT on imports to the UK and therefore (in theory) you won't be charged UK VAT when the parcel arrives. So even with the additional €12.99 p&p it looks like you could get a loco for around £135-£140, which is approximately equivalent to the current 15% discount so maybe something to bear in mind when the current Club membership expires. You might also need to factor in any currency conversion charges from your bank or credit card provider. Buying from Germany worked for me at the beginning of this year when I ordered some TT:120 track from Modellbahnshop-Lippe - they deducted the German VAT and the ex-VAT price was less than £135 and I wasn't charged UK VAT or handling or anything extra (although I was charged £3.48 by my credit card provider). The £135 cutoff seems to be to do with where the VAT is charged - if the ex-VAT price is below £135 then it it supposed to be charged by the seller and paid to HMRC but a lot of foreign shops understandably haven't registered with HMRC and so don't bother and leave it to HMRC to collect the VAT, which they currently aren't doing. Over £135 I think it the UK VAT is charged by the courier company when the parcel arrives and so they may add a handling charge on top of the VAT. I haven't bought from Modellbahnunion so I don't know for sure whether they deduct the German VAT - apparently not all shops do this. And in theory you are supposed to pay VAT on all imports to the UK so I guess there is a chance that even if you pay less than £135 then you might be unlucky and get charged UK VAT (and possibly the handling charge on top) when it arrives - this might depend on the courier. And sometime people get charged VAT at both ends so they end up paying VAT twice, but these seem to be mostly people outside the UK who are importing into other countries. In case my info is not up-to-date then there are a number of threads for imports to the UK - here is one below. Spoiler alert - the discussions can get quite heated!

I hope I got everything right! I'm sure I'll be corrected if I haven't. There are lots of different ways to enjoy model railways but it is always interesting to find out about new things, I think.

I believe so, yes. But as I mentioned you need to be careful with older DC controllers. Originally Hornby said you could use a DC controller whacked up to full chat and run it on that but they later rowed back from that because some older controllers can have very spiky output. Much froth ensued following that announcement. Some say that you can also use power supplies like laptop chargers but Hornby advise that you need to make sure that they have overload protection (I think) because they would naturally prefer you to buy their own more expensive 4amp supply. As with all things you pays your money and you takes your choice with things like that.

Yes - the control is via Bluetooth and the signals don't go through the rails. Hornby's isn't the only Bluetooth system that works in this way. The Bluetooth decoders will also work via 'normal' DCC - I had to control my Blink Bonny this way until the Android app was released. You can mix both Bluetooth and 'normal' DCC locos together on the same layout but you need normal DCC for the non-Bluetooth ones. Hornby is releasing a dongle that I believe will allow 'normal' DCC locos to be controlled via Hornby's Bluetooth app but it requires a specific protocol and a physical socket that not all DCC systems have. Notably their own eLink system doesn't have the socket (although I know next to nothing about eLink besides that fact!). So I've paid £212.49 for a complete DCC system including train and track, thanks to having a mobile device that will run Hornby's free app. I think that's pretty good value. They also make very pleasing noises.

All you need to get trains running is a suitably new digital device with the HM|DCC app installed. Here is the power supply - it appears to be the same as the one that came with my Scotsman (the writing is very tiny and my magnifying glass isn't really up to the job! Old age creeping up...). I don't know how many locos it will power but I guess I could just plug in another one if I needed to.

This is Hornby's flagship DCC/Bluetooth product - the controller is a mobile phone or a tablet, plus the app. Lots of people have those, I believe... Why would you want to run it on DC anyway? If you wanted DC surely you'd save yourself some money and buy the analogue version? If you wanted to run it on someone else's DC layout then they'd have their own controller. And the power supply is not redundant - while I type I'm using the one supplied with my Easterner plus the supplied cable to run both Blink Bonny and William Whitelaw because it means I don't have to unpack and set up my Z21 to do that. It is so much easier than setting up the Z21!

There is a thread here for HM7000 - one of the contributiors is a Hornby beta tester so much of the info is fact rather than conjecture or supposition, although there is plenty of that as well. But I believe DC running is not recommended due to the spiky output of older power supplies. And don't even think about track cleaners like Relcos or whatever they're called.

My digital Easterner set has arrived! In case anyone was wondering, this is what you get - the connecting cable is in the space where the transformer goes in the analogue sets (no surprise - Hornby said that already) so they're reusing the same packing, even down to it saying "TT1002M" rather than "TT1002TXSM" - that's sensible, I have no problem with that, it cuts costs. Apologies to @J-Lewis if I've spoiled the surprise! Playing Testing commences...

I've just received notification from DPD that they're expecting my parcel. I know that Easterners and TXS decoders aren't exactly news these days but it is nice to have something positive to say on this thread. The excitement is mounting!

In the same video that I posted above, someone asks "Will there be Terrier tanks in TT?" (at 1:16:27) and SK answers "That's in the plan". So nothing more specific than that but I would guess that (as he implied with the Jinty) Hornby will be doing the locos they've listed in the catalogue before doing the Terrier. If I can find anything more up-to-date I will post it. The question just before the one about the Terriers was about Class 56s which are also "in the plan". And at least "In the plan" is a lot more positive than the other answer that crops up a lot in that video, which is "Never say never".

I've found what SK said about the Jinty in November 2022 and sadly it doesn't look good if you're hoping for it to arrive any time soon. There is a lot of waffle about it being popular in the old TT and Rome not being built in a day but it sounds like they're sticking with what they published in the catalogue. Obviously plans can change and something different might have been said in a later TT Talk video but this is what was said at that time (I'm hoping the video will start playing at the correct point but if it doesn't then the part about the Jinty starts at about 39 minutes 50 seconds into the video). If I find anything later about the Jinty or about Terriers then I'll let you know but I would've thought that Terriers would fall into the same boat.

Please don't feed the troll - just asking it to stop (even respectfully) won't stop it - it was posting the same graph in January and it has posted similar stuff since, if I remember correctly. I believe there is a thread to discuss Hornby's share price but it posts here because it likes the attention. Trolls hate being ignored so that's the best way to handle them.

I did mention that they'd merely been moved forwards from the post-Phase-4 "and more!" section into Phase 4. In January SK said that they'd first be doing the locos they'd already announced in the order they'd announced them and given that Terriers and Jintys aren't even in the catalogue then my take on those is that it was more of a "we've been asked about them and we'll do them one day". That's the problem with those TT Talk videos - the information is not specific or detailed and everyone has a different idea about what is actually being said.

I've just received an email to say that my digital Easterner pre-order is being processed - presumably more stock has arrived. If previous deliveries are anything to go by I should have it by the weekend. Now comes the problem of how to hide its arrival from the Domestic Authority...

Here: https://uk.Hornby.com/hornbytt120/future - under "Phase 4" Originally spotted by @Les1952

Guys you're just giving him oxygen - best to ignore him before we start down another Hornby-bashing rabbit hole that has nothing to do with TT:120.

As far as I can see - and I'll be happy to be corrected - the only new locos that have been announced were the LNER/BR J94 and the GWR/BR Class 5700 Pannier Tank (these were only hinted at by SK in January) and even these have merely been brought forward into Phase 4 from the post-Phase-4 "And more...!" section in the catalogue. Apart from those are the locos we already knew about - Duchess (already in the online shop), 9F (Phase 3) and Castle (Phase 4) and HST, Class 50, Class 66 (also already in the shop), Class 37 (Phase 3) and Class 31 (Phase 4). Still, that's an awful lot of locos even if they're going to take a few months to arrive - we're still only 9 months since Hornby's original announcement so even if only some of those arrive in the next year or so it'll still be pretty good going. I'm as guilty as the next person for wanting everything to arrive tomorrow and I've moaned about it in the past but it just isn't going to happen so we need some patience. And people are making a fuss over Hornby's delays as a way to take a poke at Hornby but the same people aren't saying anything about the delay to the Peco wagons - these should be much easier to produce than locos and I believe they're produced in the UK, too, but Peco seem to be having similar delivery problems to Hornby. I'm not having a go at Peco - just trying to say that it isn't only Hornby that are experiencing delays with TT:120.

Lovely layouts - and and nice, manageable size so therefore more likely to get finished (in my case, at least!) Plenty of great inspiration there to kickstart me into beginning mine! What is the make of the stone wall on the backscene in this shot? It looks very realistic with a good 3D effect - is it Redutex or is it a home-printed sheet from Scalescenes or SMS or someone? Cheers, Neil.

For weeks many of us have posted pictures and videos of 08s on this thread and on others and there are also plenty more on social media and NONE of them have ladders. Yet here you are today still complaining about the ladders. You claim you are interested in TT:120 but are you not paying attention? Anyone would think you're just making up complaints for the sake of it. Back as far as 30th November 2022 in the second Train Terminal blog "In the Beginning", Hornby said that ladders wouldn't be fitted (that's eight months ago) - do you not read these things? "These samples have highlighted further areas for improvement, for example, they include a set of ladders which although arguably rather balance out the look of the locomotive, they should not be there, consequently feedback will be given to ensure that these are not fitted on production models." Those photographs of the 08s with the ladders were just livery samples, not pre-production prototypes - presumably the factory picked up three early engineering samples and painted them to show the liveries and as such they "highlighted further areas for improvement" and presumably changes were subsequently made. But in an earlier post you said that the 08s have "more than a dozen accuracy errors…". However, given that you didn't even know that they don't have ladders fitted I can only think that you've been judging these "accuracy errors" from the early livery photographs. Perhaps you should take the time to look at the actual models rather than those early photographs? And I have two of them - a BR blue and a GBRf - and they are perfectly acceptable to my eyes and from normal viewing distance but then I have no desire to examine them microscopically to find errors to use as a stick with which to beat Hornby. Why do you keep complaining ad nauseam to us about Hornby quality and about TT:120 on this thread? Do you think any of us can do anything about the lack of quality that you perceive? Why don't you address your complaints directly to Hornby and get answers from them? Then you can come back and tell us what they say. Otherwise all your repeated complaints about TT:120 are just so much hot air. In which case why don't you go away until 'somepoint' happens and then come back at that time. Or, at least, when you've actually paid for something. Until then perhaps you could leave the rest of us that have actually bought something and are happy with it to enjoy it and discuss it in peace.

I agree with your sentiments but I'm not sure I agree with your maths. TT:120 Club members pay £30 for the TT:120 Club membership. Therefore to break even they need to 'earn' £30 in reward points, which means they need to spend £150 on TT:120 goods to break even (i.e. £150 @ 20% = £30), not £300 to break even (£300 @ 20% would be £60, not £30). Just because non-members get 10% reward points without paying any membership surely doesn't affect that calculation. I think £300 is the point where both TT:120 Club members and non-members will get the same benefit. A TT:120 Club member that spends £300 will receive £60 in rewards points (at 20%) but will have spent £30 on membership and so will be effectively £30 up on the deal. A non-member that spends £300 will receive only £30 in rewards points (at 10%) but will not have spent anything on membership and so will also be £30 up. So £300 spend will net £30 in reward points for both members and non-members alike. Therefore I think that non-members are better off up to £300 spend whereas TT:120 Club members are better off over £300 spend. But then in either case you get into the situation where you then need to make a further purchase to redeem the rewards points you've earned and I don't know whether you can pay for TT:120 items solely with rewards points. And if you're pre-ordering some items then you won't get those reward points until later, which means you have to wait a while before you can redeem them. I suppose you would order in-stock items first, wait to receive the reward points for those and then use those reward points you have earned against pre-orders. However people may simply prefer to buy from a retailer and get the 10% (or whatever) discount up front rather receiving reward points. Much less of a headache really. Caveat: I will admit my maths (or even my basic arithmetic) isn't the best so I could well have the sums wrong. Please feel free to correct any mistakes I've made!

You might as well read the Hornby TT:120 thread - all this and more has been discussed and is currently being discussed there. The current topic (amongst others) is whether it is worth renewing the TT:120 Club membership...

From what they say Hornby have been planning this for several years and so they had to launch it at some point, which unfortunately was shortly post-covid, when economic recovery was slow and there was a shortage of electronic components and commodities and there were supply chain issues and more. All of these will have affected production and delivery timescales and I don't see how anyone much less Hornby could be expected to foresee and plan for the severity of all these issues. And I don't know very much about manufacturing overseas but surely Hornby don't just make up release dates out of thin air. Surely Hornby ask the Chinese factory how quickly it will be able to produce each item in all its various liveries and based on that answer Hornby will produce a timeline of 'expected' dates when each item will come to market. So I'd have thought that if anyone could be accused of over-promising and under-delivering then it would more likely be the factory rather than Hornby.

Plus it costs £30 to join and so with 20% reward points you have to spend £150 in order to earn enough reward points to simply break even. And then once earned you have to buy again in order to reclaim that £30 of reward points. However £150 is less than the cost of most of the locos atm so I guess it will depend on how much people are wanting to spend versus potential discounts that might be found with retailers in the future. The current list of TT:120 retailers can be found here https://uk.Hornby.com/hornbytt120/official-stockist and will presumably be updated as more are added.

This was an excellent spot, Les. The page is https://uk.Hornby.com/hornbytt120/future and it took me a while to find it on the Hornby site. I think the reason for the picture of the 9F is that these also scheduled for Phase 3 IIRC but can't think of a reason for the picture of a Class 37 next to Phase 4. There's a bit more at the end: What's to come Beyond Phases Three and Four, there will be a whole variety of modern image EMUs, not to mention several small tank locomotives, plus additional train sets, buildings, rolling stock and virtually everything you need to create your ideal Hornby TT:120 model world. As you mentioned there are no dates for Phases 3 and 4 and it got me wondering where we currently are with respect to the Phases i.e. whether we are still Phase 1 or whether we're into Phase 2 yet. Unfortunately there wasn't really any distinction between Phase 1 and Phase 2 in the catalogue but I'd say we're still in Phase 1 until such time as the TTAs and the 21T minerals arrive (both were originally scheduled to be very early I think). However, there might be a bit of overlap between Phase 1 and Phase 2 since it looks like some Phase 2 items (Duchesses and Class 50s) are now scheduled to arrive at the same time as the 21T minerals in Spring. We just have to hope that some of these dates are a bit pessimistic.

I don't know whether this is of any help but there is some info here regarding Traveline buses and also trains - there seems to be an (almost?) interconnecting station at Hoveton & Wroxham Station: https://www.bvrw.co.uk/contact/find-us