Why did N scale perservere and continue to grow when TT didn't ? If TT were as prominant today as HO and N or that N never had even made it, I'm sure I'd be in TT now...Sometimes HO is too large, sometimes N is too small..TT, to me always looked like the perfect scale this way..If it had all the equipment and accessories the other two have , which it now would if it had lasted, its 1:120 scale would be ideal I'd think..Now here comes this new scale N from, I think, Arnold Rapido, in Europe (1960s) to boot , N standing for 9 millimetre track gauge, and it takes off like wild fire..What was wrong with TT (table top scale) that it didn't blossom instead of N ?
It is a neat scale. There is a pretty lengthy thread about this that just happened to pop up over at MRH today. It did catch on in Eastern Europe and Russia.
I have never even seen a piece of TT anything in any LHS I've been to. would not even have been aware that there had been such a thing if it weren't for some reference books on railroad modeling. was there a time it was available via LHS? sincerely Gary L Lake Dillensnyder
There is an active TT scale community out there. They have been doing some interesting things with such as Shapeways style production. If you search the Inspection Pit, there are TT topics in those files.
As I understand, TT was invented in the 1940s, just at the end of WWII. It was actually an American invention, but the model railroad world was strictly an O/S scale domain, with HO emerging as the "smaller" scale. By the 50s the popular scales then became O and HO, and TT was never really picked up by any of the major manufacturers. Then N emerged in the 60s, and became the new smallest scale. Unlike TT, N was propagated by a major manufacturer, which had the marketing resources to make it sell. And by then, it had already spread to American and Japanese manufacturers. Eventually N was a scale (well gauge technically) that was common in three continents. Another theory is that people like scale ratios that make sense: HO is roughly half the size of O; N is roughly half the size of HO. Note the ones in between didn't become as popular (though S scale is way more popular than TT ever was). I don't think N is too small. It's just a matter of perspective and getting used to it. When I bought my first N trains, I thought they were microscopic, but after handling N trains and track for a while (and not handling HO trains), I got used to the size. Then HO suddenly felt huge to me.
Hello All. There is an active TT forum out there: www.ttnut.com. Metro Red Line summed it up pretty well as to why the popularity of TT declined after the 50's. In North America it was never supported by RTR products. Once N came along it lost it's title of smallest scale and that was that. There still are a few hold outs and seems to be gaining some attention as of late. Now, to say that TT did not continue to grow is only half true. The scale was embraced in the former eastern block of Europe and continues to be more popular than N scale. It was supported primarily by Zueke in East Germany, which was nationalized and became Berliner TT Bahnen (BTTB) and through a series of exciting events became todays Tillig. Many other manufacturers such as Roco, Kuhn, Busch, MTB, Gutzold, Piko have joined the European TT market as well. As far as North American models, Gold Coast makes two styles of boxcars, MTB is just about ready to release an SW1200, Art & Detail has a number of really detailed kits, Lok n' Roll makes a motor kit and there is a whole host of cottage manufacturers out there making stuff.
Oh yeah, N scale is definitely too small. Every N scaler knows that, we're just too small to admit it because we can fit much longer trains into the same spaces.
An S scaler I knew used to rib me about my being in N scale. He called it "Flea Gauge". Puzzling to me, as at that time Z had already been around for many years. And now there is T scale.
It surprises me as well because it was the scale used by architectural modelers. It's very easy to scale down from the real thing.
Put into historical perspective, TT clearly failed for several reasons. The first was that it was initiated as, and continued for the span of its existence in the U.S., as a totally scratchbuilders scale with crude kits and parts available from only a handful of cottage industries. Virtually nothing was available that was not in very basic kit form in a time when O, S, and HO all included a growing selection of very easily assembled kits, or RTR, in addition to their traditional craftsman kits. Most newcomers to the hobby simply found the challenges of TT's very limited selection of do-it-yourself rolling stock just too daunting to start out in. In the late 1930's HO was regarded as the smallest scale that could be successfully motorized. Even then, several of its smaller locomotives were forced to be represented by very wide-bodied designs to fit the smallest existing motors of the time. The advent of TT after the war (and the development of miniature motors) represented only a modest reduction in scale to challenge already well established HO. With the appearance of much smaller N-gauge European RTR sets around 1960 it became obvious that TT held no real advantages whatever for the hobbyist. As a result TT soon dwindled to just a tiny niche group of enthusiasts in the U.S. who remained in the scale largely because that felt the desire to model in a form few others were willing to challenge themselves with. It was the lack of space for layouts in European homes that brought about TT's later success over there, along with that of N-gauge. NYW&B
That might have been a contributing factor... It's not as if it has ever been human nature to pick things that are easy to do.
Meant to thank you for the thread over TT at MRH..Just read some now..I too am suprised there are actually people in this scale and that there are some engines and stuff...funny if it takes off and Kadee and Athearn start issuing things !!
Stranger things have happened on this planet. It likely won't come about, but we can't say with any certainty what really will happen on down the road.
Just notice a few more TT posts.. Wow..There are TT diesel switchers available ?! Is there flex track and switches too ? Anyway, the smallest scale one day will be 'W' ....worm scale...like those garden worms slithering here and there ...Imagine the couplers !
To answer you MarkInLA, yes there is a whole line of track available. The SW1200's can be acquired from the North American distributor: SazModel. Rapido Newsletter #49 had a nice little write up about it and product reviews should be coming out in Model Railroad News and Canadian Railway Modeller in December. SazModel also has a selection of other exclusive TT items as well. I happen to know the owner rather well, so...
The last two years there has been a TT layout on display at our Trains show in Vancouver BC. The first year pretty much a loop, this year it grew with more people involved with it. I think there is a slow resurgence of the scale.
With advances now coming, expected in 2014 for printing items much desired, as long as the prices stay down, things could change quite easily. What was once a tough task of kitbashing or scratchbuilding, may be overcome.
@ Rick: Bill, Terry and Xen have been doing those shows for years now. A colleague of mine and I go and join them from Edmonton when we can. The big milestone this year was the addition of TT scale on the NMRA display of popular scales. Those guys posted some pictures of the show here. There was also a TT display at the GTE show in Puyallup this last weekend. As for the advances in 3D printing, my impression, even though very impressive, the materials and final product are not quite there yet. I did some work to create a TT GP9 and gave it up because I wasn't satisfied with the finish. The materials warp, degrade and don't glue well. Oh well, I'll hang on to those drawings until it improves. Laser is where it is at. The perfect choice for small production runs and niche scales. There are some beautiful kits out there.
