I had a layout 50 years ago. I like the size of TT120. It gives me a chance to do simple layout and play with the grandkids. This is just a branch on a tree. Not for people fully invested in ho scale. This is like bringing old people without much space back into train sets. Not full on modellers. For me, it's great.
Very nice layout you have. I look forward to seeing more of your videos. On the subject of TT 120: I am about to start another OO layout after a number of false starts, but decided to take a look at TT as a space saver. I ordered the Scotsman set which was delivered mid December.First thing I noticed was that the power rail was defective and wouldn’t accept the plug. I called Hornby and they got a replacement to me very quickly, about four days. Due to Christmas I didn’t have time to set up the set until a few days ago. Frankly I was very disappointed. The track sections were a very loose fit and came apart at the slightest movement. The controller wouldn’t work initially, but after disconnecting everything and reconnecting a couple of times the power came on. The indicators on the controller were useless in that the loco would only start to move at the two thirds to half way mark. The unit has a very cheap and plasticky feel to it. There was a loose part in the box which turns out came from under the loco buffer beam. The loco ran quite well and looks very nice, but the connect with the tender is the multi wired plug type although a good fit. There was no front coupling on the loco, but it may well be manufactured like this. As for the coaches, they look very nice indeed, but one of them had a persistent scraping sound from one of the bogies which I was unable to cure. My biggest issue was with the couplings on the set which are extremely fragile.Coupling up was fine, but trying to uncouple manually was a disaster.Even being as gentle and careful as possible still resulted in several of the couplings leaving their sockets with two simply falling to bits! My attempts to re assemble them with tweezers proved to be frustrating and in vain. The overall quality of the product did not meet my expectations and I didn’t feel comfortable with committing myself to a switch from OO for my new layout. I have contacted Hornby to request a return and refund. Please understand that this is my personal experience and opinion. I may just have been unlucky. II wish Hornby well with this project, but it’s not for me.
Thanks for the info. That is concerning to have a number of issues right out of the box. At least Hornby have been ok at replacing parts etc so far. Hopefully its teething issues...
Good shunting and thoughts. I bought some of the Peco track to see what it’s like. It looks great and am likely to dip into TT120, possibly a little shunting board with the 08 BR Blue to kick off. Keen to hear the reviews of what has been released before fully committing 👍🏻
I'm all for it. A true to scale ready to run system. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, no problem, no one's forcing anyone to buy it. Even if Hornby did go down the TT:120 route to the detriment of their 00 scale support, there are plenty of other manufacturers out there supporting it on all fronts, and in most cases with superior quality models. I've always thought even H0 scale, be it U.S. or continental seems to fit more into the same space, and rolling stock on 2nd radius curves doesn't look as out of place as 00 does, and we're talk of a difference between 3.5mm and 4mm to the foot. Personally for a while now I've thought there's been a place for a range of British HO that is true to the scale and guage of the track. That way no new track system is required by purchasers or the manufacturers, and 1st radius could be used aiding those with limited space. I appreciate it would be a brave manufacturer should one take the plunge, just as it is with Hornby and TT:120. Like most things in life, some will love, others will dismiss, and there will also be those that hate it. As for the shops. I think they have more than one issue with Hornby, not just the exclusivity of TT:120. I spoke to one shop owner and he said because of Hornby's stance they and other traders he knows won't be supporting TT:120 from any manufacturers. Many are still miffed at Hornby and their ridiculous tier system, especially when it was first instigated and put many of them on the spot with customers as pre-orders taken in good faith iof stock supply from Hornby could not be honoured.
Thanks for your helpful comment Neil. The whole mess of the tiers system really put people off side. I can understand retailers being miffed. But hopefully it can settle down. The hobby cannot afford to turn in on itself and like them or not Hornby is the only big name known to most people.
Good video and I agree with most of your points. Regarding shunters for TT Hornby have said they'll be a J94 in phase 3 or 4, plus a 5700 pannier tank. I also had a quick word with Simon Kohler at Warley and said I'd like to see more small and midsized locos to give more variety. He mentioned a J50 was also in the pipeline, but most locos in the OO range will appear in time. For the moment they're understandably concentrating on the ones that are major sellers in OO.
I really hope it succeeds; I currently model US in HO for the simple reason that I can’t stomach the out of scale issues with OO and British N. I’ve thought about EM, P4 etc. but shied away from the amount of scratch building involved. I would very much like to model British outline and am seriously considering having a go with TT. The size seems ideal, not quite as fiddly as N and reasonably detailed but still having the room to build a decent sized layout with longish trains.
Good video. Over the Christmas break I'm going to be finally giving my thoughts on TT:120 having received my first club magazine and welcome pack, just need to wait for January for my first set to arrive.
@@mactrains Having already had an A3 in my hobby history (Flying Scotsman many years ago) I picked up the Easterner with it's A4. Sadly none of the current starter sets are focused to my region, SW & GWR so I'm getting a set to start me off and get track, then I'll buy some new stuff when it's released.
Very fair assessment tbh. I recall Simon Kohler saying that TT is aimed at newcomers to the hobby and those who would live a layout but don't have the space so it's addressing all those things. It's also going to allow Hornby to make locomotives that they have never done before (ie the Peaks) as I also remember him saying that prototype locos to use as modelling material are running dry now. It kind of resets that. Also ot brings the prices down a bit too like you said. All in all its definitely a risk but Hornby must have had comments at shows and they've been in the business long enough to be able to gauge the market as to what will sell etc. Plus Hornby needed something new to sell to save the company from serious financial woes, especially post 2012 and Simon returning the company to profit is a great achievement that they're now building on.
Thank you DJ for your insight. Yes, I suppose we have to assume that Hornby themselves do know the market by now and should be able to gauge what will sell. At the end of the day a Hornby with no profits won't last, and that's not good for anyone in our hobby.
Great video 👍 as far as TT - I would have chosen a smaller scale but the smaller amount of rolling stock available is keeping me away from it. Greetings from Belgium 🙋♂️🇧🇪
@@mactrains I have H0 1/87 now. I wanted to start in 1/160 but very little available on British and Soviet railways (both my main themes). TT didn't even come in the picture at that time, no British material was available and very few soviet models.
Thanks. That's very good to know. I do think the inclusion of PECO adds a lot of credibility. I'm hoping the flanges of the Hornby stuff is able to cope with the PECO lower profile
Great chat mate and very good points on both sides I model inH0 and 00 and I use Noch preformed layouts. If Hornby TT had been around when I started using those layouts, I would have jumped on the TT bandwagon. It’s a pity that Lima hasn’t adopted a similar attitude to Simon and reduced some of their Australian models to TT! Again well done!
@@mactrains preformed plastic on a light wood frame, they don’t do that many any more but the basic scenery is all pre done and all you do is and track. But because of their size they are only good for shorter trains in 00 & H0 the radii in particular tend to be a bit tiight
The uncoupling was simply edited out I'm afraid - no magic formula. I actually use a plastic glue spreader, which seems to do the trick most of the time. Bit of a faff when working between the more modern NEM and the older tension locks.
1 of those shoutouts was to a fake expert but welcome to making youtube content. Love the layout. It is an idea of some merit, but I have my gripes, the 15% discount is really a 15% surcharge on those that don't sign up for the club that covers the costs of the free stuff with the club. That's business. It is an isn't true to scale, the maths says it's out by more than HO so... that's business really it's hair splittingly not true. The online only thing is more likely about hype than long term choice, it is challenging to get it to all the shops in one hit for a release date, it also lets the cat out the bag, someone will speak. Civility intact I believe. 😁
@@Trainskitsetc Thanks! There an 8x4'6" layout suspended from the garage ceiling - but that's more the wee fellow's world of imagination with more tanks on it than trains...
In Australia I cannot join the TT120 Club because of a Hornby distribution arrangement here. Canadians and USA can join! Maybe the distributors here will have it in hobby shops SOON?
The problem I have with TT:120 is Hornby are selling direct so I won't be able to 'see before I buy' at the model shop- I refuse to buy direct. I think that'll be a big barrier to most people and I just can't see how they can promote it successfully and make it accessible to joe public by keeping it in-house.
I can understand that up to a point Davie. I love getting to a model shop and getting a feel for things too. But where I live it’s about 5 hours to the nearest one, so I depend on magazine reviews and youtube unboxing etc.
Thanks for your comments. Greatly appreciated. You're certainly not the only one with these concerns, but for the younger generation - buying online and unseen is almost second nature.
I suspect the direct sale scheme is here to stay. It has overwhelmed many other areas of modelling - we were specialists in model helicopters and at the peak had well over 250 shops on our books. However, manufacturers increasingly went for sale either direct or via a large (often Hong Kong based) distributor but in all cases cutting the retailer out of the loop. Over a fairly short time the 250+ shops dwindled to a handful. Of course, once one major player in the market goes down the more direct sale route (and in so doing cuts out a not inconsiderable cost to the final purchaser) it is extremely difficult for others to survive unless they follow suit.
Thanks for your insight Colin. Sadly that does seem to be the way of the market today. Yes, we want the local store, but we also want the cheaper prices of direct sales
@@mactrains Thanks for the reply. As has often been said we tend to know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We tried to maintain a high level of UK manufacture in our products but in the end it became impossible to compete when you couldn't source the components in the UK for what competitors were selling finished products for that were being sold by HK outlets and, in most cases, shipped to the UK without being charged VAT or import duty.
No 90 degree crossing, no bridges or bridge piers available, if you want to play around with TT just buy the European stock, its compatible with hornby when they release more
New video now ready for editing. Thanks for all who watched this. Astonished at the number of views thus far.
I had a layout 50 years ago. I like the size of TT120. It gives me a chance to do simple layout and play with the grandkids. This is just a branch on a tree. Not for people fully invested in ho scale. This is like bringing old people without much space back into train sets. Not full on modellers. For me, it's great.
Hard to argue with that! Thanks Steve
Looks like the first sets are getting into people’s hands. Exciting times!
Yes. Seen a few brief reviews. Hoping for a full review soon to come out so I can gauge (!) the quality and make up my mind...
Very nice layout you have. I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
On the subject of TT 120: I am about to start another OO layout after a number of false starts, but decided to take a look at TT as a space saver. I ordered the Scotsman set which was delivered mid December.First thing I noticed was that the power rail was defective and wouldn’t accept the plug.
I called Hornby and they got a replacement to me very quickly, about four days. Due to Christmas I didn’t have time to set up the set until a few days ago.
Frankly I was very disappointed. The track sections were a very loose fit and came apart at the slightest movement. The controller wouldn’t work initially, but after disconnecting everything and reconnecting a couple of times the power came on. The indicators on the controller were useless in that the loco would only start to move at the two thirds to half way mark. The unit has a very cheap and plasticky feel to it.
There was a loose part in the box which turns out came from under the loco buffer beam.
The loco ran quite well and looks very nice, but the connect with the tender is the multi wired plug type although a good fit. There was no front coupling on the loco, but it may well be manufactured like this.
As for the coaches, they look very nice indeed, but one of them had a persistent scraping sound from one of the bogies which I was unable to cure.
My biggest issue was with the couplings on the set which are extremely fragile.Coupling up was fine, but trying to uncouple manually was a disaster.Even being as gentle and careful as possible still resulted in several of the couplings leaving their sockets with two simply falling to bits! My attempts to re assemble them with tweezers proved to be frustrating and in vain.
The overall quality of the product did not meet my expectations and I didn’t feel comfortable with committing myself to a switch from OO for my new layout. I have contacted Hornby to request a return and refund.
Please understand that this is my personal experience and opinion. I may just have been unlucky. II wish Hornby well with this project, but it’s not for me.
Thanks for the info. That is concerning to have a number of issues right out of the box. At least Hornby have been ok at replacing parts etc so far. Hopefully its teething issues...
Good shunting and thoughts. I bought some of the Peco track to see what it’s like. It looks great and am likely to dip into TT120, possibly a little shunting board with the 08 BR Blue to kick off. Keen to hear the reviews of what has been released before fully committing 👍🏻
Yes a wee shunting layout sounds ideal for this. Wish they had the 08 in an early livery
Just watched the first video. Good start so I look forward to seeing what develops. Good luck.
Welcome aboard - thanks for taking time to comment too.
super video, super commentary and super little layout. More please
Very kind indeed Ian - will do my best to oblige - but its very much an 'as and when' project, so you might be waiting a while!
I'm all for it. A true to scale ready to run system. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, no problem, no one's forcing anyone to buy it. Even if Hornby did go down the TT:120 route to the detriment of their 00 scale support, there are plenty of other manufacturers out there supporting it on all fronts, and in most cases with superior quality models.
I've always thought even H0 scale, be it U.S. or continental seems to fit more into the same space, and rolling stock on 2nd radius curves doesn't look as out of place as 00 does, and we're talk of a difference between 3.5mm and 4mm to the foot. Personally for a while now I've thought there's been a place for a range of British HO that is true to the scale and guage of the track. That way no new track system is required by purchasers or the manufacturers, and 1st radius could be used aiding those with limited space. I appreciate it would be a brave manufacturer should one take the plunge, just as it is with Hornby and TT:120. Like most things in life, some will love, others will dismiss, and there will also be those that hate it.
As for the shops. I think they have more than one issue with Hornby, not just the exclusivity of TT:120. I spoke to one shop owner and he said because of Hornby's stance they and other traders he knows won't be supporting TT:120 from any manufacturers. Many are still miffed at Hornby and their ridiculous tier system, especially when it was first instigated and put many of them on the spot with customers as pre-orders taken in good faith iof stock supply from Hornby could not be honoured.
Thanks for your helpful comment Neil. The whole mess of the tiers system really put people off side. I can understand retailers being miffed. But hopefully it can settle down. The hobby cannot afford to turn in on itself and like them or not Hornby is the only big name known to most people.
Yes, I would agree that Hornby are far from the only show in town for 00. Thanks for your input Neil. We wait and watch!
Good video and I agree with most of your points.
Regarding shunters for TT Hornby have said they'll be a J94 in phase 3 or 4, plus a 5700 pannier tank.
I also had a quick word with Simon Kohler at Warley and said I'd like to see more small and midsized locos to give more variety. He mentioned a J50 was also in the pipeline, but most locos in the OO range will appear in time. For the moment they're understandably concentrating on the ones that are major sellers in OO.
Yes - looking forward to a j94! Thanks for watching. More to come... soon...
I really hope it succeeds; I currently model US in HO for the simple reason that I can’t stomach the out of scale issues with OO and British N. I’ve thought about EM, P4 etc. but shied away from the amount of scratch building involved. I would very much like to model British outline and am seriously considering having a go with TT. The size seems ideal, not quite as fiddly as N and reasonably detailed but still having the room to build a decent sized layout with longish trains.
It would be grand to see it a viable alternative. Wouldn't like it to take over from 00, don't think that would be fair for those heavily invested.
Good video.
Over the Christmas break I'm going to be finally giving my thoughts on TT:120 having received my first club magazine and welcome pack, just need to wait for January for my first set to arrive.
Excellent. Let me know how you get on. What set have you ordered?
@@mactrains Having already had an A3 in my hobby history (Flying Scotsman many years ago) I picked up the Easterner with it's A4. Sadly none of the current starter sets are focused to my region, SW & GWR so I'm getting a set to start me off and get track, then I'll buy some new stuff when it's released.
Like your layout....great colouring reflects the era well...let's see TT in a short tikme with more stuff being rolled out...
Thanks David. Def needs time to develop. Hopefully there is enough initial interest to allow it to grow organically.
Very fair assessment tbh. I recall Simon Kohler saying that TT is aimed at newcomers to the hobby and those who would live a layout but don't have the space so it's addressing all those things. It's also going to allow Hornby to make locomotives that they have never done before (ie the Peaks) as I also remember him saying that prototype locos to use as modelling material are running dry now. It kind of resets that. Also ot brings the prices down a bit too like you said.
All in all its definitely a risk but Hornby must have had comments at shows and they've been in the business long enough to be able to gauge the market as to what will sell etc. Plus Hornby needed something new to sell to save the company from serious financial woes, especially post 2012 and Simon returning the company to profit is a great achievement that they're now building on.
Thank you DJ for your insight. Yes, I suppose we have to assume that Hornby themselves do know the market by now and should be able to gauge what will sell. At the end of the day a Hornby with no profits won't last, and that's not good for anyone in our hobby.
Great video 👍 as far as TT - I would have chosen a smaller scale but the smaller amount of rolling stock available is keeping me away from it. Greetings from Belgium 🙋♂️🇧🇪
Greetings to Belgium! Thanks for the input. Always interesting to hear. What scale do you model?
@@mactrains I have H0 1/87 now. I wanted to start in 1/160 but very little available on British and Soviet railways (both my main themes). TT didn't even come in the picture at that time, no British material was available and very few soviet models.
According to a chap at Peco, their code 55 will attach directly to the Hornby code 80 but may need a little packing underneath.
Thanks. That's very good to know. I do think the inclusion of PECO adds a lot of credibility. I'm hoping the flanges of the Hornby stuff is able to cope with the PECO lower profile
Great chat mate and very good points on both sides I model inH0 and 00 and I use Noch preformed layouts. If Hornby TT had been around when I started using those layouts, I would have jumped on the TT bandwagon. It’s a pity that Lima hasn’t adopted a similar attitude to Simon and reduced some of their Australian models to TT!
Again well done!
Thanks Ken - much appreciated. How do the Noch layouts work? Not something I've looked at before.
@@mactrains preformed plastic on a light wood frame, they don’t do that many any more but the basic scenery is all pre done and all you do is and track. But because of their size they are only good for shorter trains in 00 & H0 the radii in particular tend to be a bit tiight
I'll be waiting 2 or 3 years to see if it becomes popular enough. I then may try a shed layout again (sold off my last one).
Thanks Terry. Plenty of folk in the same boat, and maybe waiting would be wise… but I can feel the itch needing to be scratched….!😂
I'm not sure my patience will last that long...! Thanks for watching
I would like to see more of your layout, and how you do the decoupling ?
The uncoupling was simply edited out I'm afraid - no magic formula. I actually use a plastic glue spreader, which seems to do the trick most of the time. Bit of a faff when working between the more modern NEM and the older tension locks.
1 of those shoutouts was to a fake expert but welcome to making youtube content.
Love the layout.
It is an idea of some merit, but I have my gripes, the 15% discount is really a 15% surcharge on those that don't sign up for the club that covers the costs of the free stuff with the club. That's business. It is an isn't true to scale, the maths says it's out by more than HO so... that's business really it's hair splittingly not true.
The online only thing is more likely about hype than long term choice, it is challenging to get it to all the shops in one hit for a release date, it also lets the cat out the bag, someone will speak.
Civility intact I believe. 😁
Glad you like the layout. It's all space allows for right now. No comment on the civility...!
@@mactrains do what you can where you are with what you have😊 should do more videos operating it
@@Trainskitsetc Thanks! There an 8x4'6" layout suspended from the garage ceiling - but that's more the wee fellow's world of imagination with more tanks on it than trains...
@@mactrains lucky there's no such thing as too many model tanks
In Australia I cannot join the TT120 Club because of a Hornby distribution arrangement here. Canadians and USA can join!
Maybe the distributors here will have it in hobby shops SOON?
The problem I have with TT:120 is Hornby are selling direct so I won't be able to 'see before I buy' at the model shop- I refuse to buy direct. I think that'll be a big barrier to most people and I just can't see how they can promote it successfully and make it accessible to joe public by keeping it in-house.
I can understand that up to a point Davie. I love getting to a model shop and getting a feel for things too. But where I live it’s about 5 hours to the nearest one, so I depend on magazine reviews and youtube unboxing etc.
Thanks for your comments. Greatly appreciated. You're certainly not the only one with these concerns, but for the younger generation - buying online and unseen is almost second nature.
It also means Hornby controls the market, no discounts or sales unless Hornby decides they want to do one.
I suspect the direct sale scheme is here to stay. It has overwhelmed many other areas of modelling - we were specialists in model helicopters and at the peak had well over 250 shops on our books. However, manufacturers increasingly went for sale either direct or via a large (often Hong Kong based) distributor but in all cases cutting the retailer out of the loop. Over a fairly short time the 250+ shops dwindled to a handful. Of course, once one major player in the market goes down the more direct sale route (and in so doing cuts out a not inconsiderable cost to the final purchaser) it is extremely difficult for others to survive unless they follow suit.
Thanks for your insight Colin. Sadly that does seem to be the way of the market today. Yes, we want the local store, but we also want the cheaper prices of direct sales
@@mactrains Thanks for the reply. As has often been said we tend to know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We tried to maintain a high level of UK manufacture in our products but in the end it became impossible to compete when you couldn't source the components in the UK for what competitors were selling finished products for that were being sold by HK outlets and, in most cases, shipped to the UK without being charged VAT or import duty.
Yes ! steam shunters in tt120 that's what we need ! with sound !
Definitely like the sound of something so small it has to have a coreless motor!
I wish Hornby had a Jinty in their line-up!
Wouldn't argue with that! Certainly a small steam, useable for shunting...
No 90 degree crossing, no bridges or bridge piers available, if you want to play around with TT just buy the European stock, its compatible with hornby when they release more
Thats certainly being played up as one of the advantages
Continental TT is very expensive.
Why does he sound like Christopher Eckleson
That's a new one! Lol. My accent is not from anywhere close to CE