Rallymatt

👍 I twigged once I had both types in front of me. Good photos and shows the greater accuracy of the Hornby moulding. The Hornby ones will connect ‘either way’ but one way is perfectly straight, the other results in the couplings kicking out and that could cause problems in some corners. There is a lot more design on the Hornby ones with an obvious top and bottom. I have fitted them with the flat end section uppermost.

Appears to be sorted 👍

I got very excited when I saw Hornby were offering up to 33% off TT:120 range….. except they are not. 🙁 Could a mod drop a line to Hornby Towers so they can correct their marketing before they get told off or someone inadvertently buys OO thinking they are getting TT:120.

Out of likes, again! Great share @ellocoloco thanks. A set of standard specifications has been a real benefit to the hobby. We just need all the manufacturers to stick to them 🤣

Great pictures Garry, you can understand why it’s so important for a driver to know the route intimately! I love all the railway clutter, probably why my photos are mediocre 🤣

Great to see WHWW continues to add more detailing parts to its TT:120 range. I probably have most of what they have produced so far. The new oil headlamps are a nice addition. Up till now I have been using the tail lamps and paining the lamp lens pale yellow. Telegraph poles are great and typical of the UK ones. High Fell has modified German ones! That might have to change now. Telegraph poles are such an iconic part of the lineside scene but often people forget them. Most have largely gone now but certainly well into the 80’s no line would be without them. The lineside ones were specifically for the railway, not as many people think, regular telephone lines. This was how all the communication and signalling data was transmitted. Sometimes if there was spare capacity the railway would lease lines to the GPO. They have gradually been replaced by ground level trunking and electrical cabinets. They started appearing more and more from 50’s onwards so a mix of the two was not unusual. On signalling, many assume semaphore signals represent steam eras and colour aspect (lights) more modern diesel/electric eras. While that is roughly right, colour aspect signals were trialed back in the 1920’s and LNER certainly adopted them soon after as signalling was always the limiting factor for line speeds (and braking) I think the last mainline semaphore signals have only recently been retired but there are still some out on branch lines although they have electric lamps in not the oil paraffin ones 😁 I wonder if point rodding kits will come out in TT:120?

That’s come out really well Garry.

They are knocking it out if the park with these stunning models 😁

Don’t cross the beams!!!!!!

I was describing various set ups I know, I don’t know what’s inside this loco, sorry. They are all pretty similar so it will be one or the other. I agree a return is probably the best, Hornby get to see the issue and you don’t have the worry of doing something that might work or not and it’s absolutely reasonable to worry what ever we do to try and fix something might void the warranty. Hornby do look after their customers well.

@moawkwrd In my experience with various locos running central motor and cardan shafts to gear towers on the bogies; there is a keeper plate over the worm drive on the top of the gear tower, releasing that allows the worm gear to come out and release the cardan shaft. Take care as there are often thrust washers as part of the worm gear assembly. Or you can release the motor itself and as it comes up it pulls the shafts out, obviously refitting is reversal. It can be tight and fiddly.

Very fine tolerances, if nothing is loose than as @Silver Fox 17 and @ntpntpntp suggest that’s the next logical conclusion. When I replaced the dead motor in my Roco BR108, the coreless upgrade kit (not from Roco) had very very specific dimensions for fitting the drive cups on the new shafts, they specified 10ths of a mm. It’s basically the same system used in many models.

I think the November date has been used in the past as a ‘holding date’ rather than it being that actual date, next they are accepted into stock for the webshop, fulfill pre and retailer orders.

I misunderstood what someone saying about the hunt ones, have some here now and I see, they are sideways on not end on. So the Hornby ones will attach but to the side of the Hunt one. The Hornby ones and Hunt ones are like chalk and cheese quality wise though. The Hornby ones are consistent and perfectly moulded and fit snugly it NEM pockets. They have replicated the Knuckle style that they have done in OO and I think Hunt have released some similar ones. The Hunt ones are less well made, the printed material is variable and the dimensions on this pack are all a tad small making them flop about in the NEM pocket, a couple just pull out. There have been people who have experienced the Hunt ones breaking as they are brittle but I have tried them quite firmly and not had that. The thing with 3D printed items is they can degrade over time more rapidly than thermo plastic. For me the Hornby ones seem the best option and I’ll have those on coach raker with standard TT couplings on the end coach.

Other manufacturers have had issues with Cardan shafts, too rigid and they can snap if there is any pick up between cup and ball, personally I’d like see some grease in there, just a tiny bit and plastic friendly, red or clear suitable for rubber and plastics in automotive. Too flexible and they can spring out if there is any resistance. Not sure they would be the same part as in the HST, class 50 is much longer loco.

Absolutely nothing wrong with pencil and paper for track planning. It’s my go to, I bet I can have a layout down before most people have switched the computer on and got the printer to work!

@moawkwrd I’m not sure how possible this is, can you disassemble the loco far enough to place the cardan shaft in place without putting any strain on the shaft? The other thought is checking that the motor or bogie assemblies are not loose. If they can ‘shunt’ fore and aft that could be what is allowing the end of the shaft to pop out. This might be case of a return so Hornby can get to grips with it.

I watched and commented on this, @GMD Greg did too. Of course now with social media these things can become a thing when in the past they would never have been given oxygen. It’s quite bizarre that what is a gentle, relaxing and fun hobby has become for some at least a battle ground of egos. Not only are there some individuals initiating the negativity but there seems a sheep mentality that means others join in. Certainly regarding TT:120, almost all of the negative spouting is based on highly inaccurate information and the opinion of someone who isn’t very bright but is trying to make money out of you without giving you anything in return.

New much smaller powerbank coming from Hornby. 😁

Nice comparison. A trick often used in models is to over emphasise some detail, if it wasn’t done detail would be lost. The smaller the scale the harder it gets to develop that detail but still keep it in proportion. A few differences but both lovely

Cardan shafts in all applications from huge engineering projects to tiny model railway locos always have the opportunity to misbehave if not done right. But the basic engineering is sound and when right, they perfectly and give reliable service. I am a fan 👍

I wonder if the factory have detailed assembly records to identify models made on certain stations. Some manufacturers do have unique ID and track these things to ensure everyone is getting things right.

I would investigate if you can stretch the available width a bit, being able to to use the larger radius curves can open up a lot more possibilities. The extra doesn’t have to be the full length of the board if that’s a limiting factor. There is a track plan thread with a few of the layouts people have already built and get some inspiration from plans etc and let us know what type of thing you want 😁

This is one I am looking forward to, we had several in Hornby Dublo none of them ever worked by time I came along! Will be nice to see Duchess of Montrose actually move on its own 🤣 plus this marks quite a step forward with the steam locos, a lot of upgrades over the LNER Pacifics 😁

I renumbered all my TTA tankers. Using toothpaste and Sodium Bicarbonate as a paste. It’s not damaging to paint or plastics, most people have it in the house too. NOTE it is an abrasive; so although it’s easy to control, ie you won’t burn through the paint below, it can leave a trace of ‘polishing’. That could be removed with a touch up of clear matt varnish or many modellers recommend using gloss vanish on the base, apply the transfer and then matt varnish over. Chemical methods of removing numbers etc can have all sorts of effects on paint and plastics. The yellow of the wasp stripes on the 08 reacted very badly to a tiny amount of thinners, it looked more like I had use Nitromors! I would strongly recommend testing first before going all in.