I was reading a book on model railroading (Copyright 1968) and I noticed the in the scale chart “TT Scale”
This had got me wondering about it. Does “TT” Mean “Tiny-train” [:o)] (It’s right below HO) Is it another reference to N Scale? ( It’s 1/120 Compared to HO’s 1/87)
Hello Chris,
I had a Table Top scale layout many years ago in England. Mine was made by Trix.
N-scale is 1:160 proportion, so TT at 1:120 is midway between HO and N. I have never seen any TT equipment or track, though it seems like it would be a rather ideal scale to work in, if it had the variety and availability if its larger and smaller siblings.
TT’s advantage is that you can do with scenery what S scalers do with rolling stock but with less help from the MR manufacturers. I liked it because I could get so much onto my layout board compared to the 00 I had before. Of course I was just into my teenage years so I have no idea what happened to it all.
TT stands for TableTop. For a history and information on TT, try http://www.ttscale.com/w-home.htm. There’s also a yahoo group, TTSMR.
I first saw TT in Germany a few years ago, and most TT equipment is from Europe. It started in the U.S., though, as 1/120th scale works out to one inch equals 10 feet, a common engineering scale at one time. It’s easy to work out dimensions, as a 40 foot boxcar will be 4 inches long. You can get more layout than with HO but it’s not so hard to see the details, as in N.
Why isn’t it more popular? It’s a tweener, like S–it’s too close to HO and N. I think it’s an ideal scale, too, and I’d like to do more with it as my skills improve. One of these days…
Gary
Some one tried resurrecting TT scale in North America. If you want a TT train set, just contact Bill at www.central-hobbies.com a local Vancouver, BC store.
The unfortunate thing with this company that brought out TT was that it chose an engine that was small rather than taking advantage of the scales visual presence. So if you see the TT train set I am talking about, you won’t be impressed as it isn’t that big.
If it had been me and it was steam, I would have come out with one of the larger non-articulated steam engines, or if contemporary, can you imagine an SD90 in TT, I bet it would look great. TT is a market that has stolen defeat from the jaws of victory; which is too bad because there are many who would have preferred TT over N, me being one of them.
TT means Table Top, is an “also ran” in North America being at 1/120 between N’s 1/160 and HO’s 1/87. As I remember TT Berliner Bahnen made some nice Eastern European/Soviet Bloc railroads. I think that Piko made some too. I remember a big article in Popular Mechanics about it from the mid fifties mentioning that it used motors from HO locomotives and they were great runners.
Doug,in Utah
Tri-ang tried to interest UK modellers in TT back in the 50s and 60s, there’s still a few people using TT and the 3mm Society has been formed by them. TT is still available in mainland Europe - Germany seems to be a major production centre for it.
Just to add a little confusion… [;)], I have come across information on TTrak modules. These are not for TT scale, they are actually HO, but designed to sit on a table top instead of having legs like standard modules.
Andrew
here in the UK (due to differences in loading gauge) TT scale was 1:100. The absolutly perfect scale!!
Who needs a scale ruler when you can use a normal ruler?
neil
As several people have already mentioned, TT stands for “Table Top,” and originated in Europe; possibly even before N scale. I remember hearing of TT scale back in the early 1960s. It was derisively referred to as meaning “Too Tiny” by HO and O scalers. Due to the fact that it is a minority scale in the United States, items are likely to be hard to find and very expensive. In all my years of model railroading, I have only seen one TT scale train, and the amount of detail on it was nothing compared to today’s N scale products.
It dates back to the forties and was pretty much a scratch builders gauge. I think age has a way of convincing us that trains weren’t meant to be small when you can no longer get them in focus. If I didn’t have a fortune invested in HO I would be considering S or O at this point. I can’t imagine what the N people are going to do when they can’t get them in focus any more.
Chris,
If memory serves, one of the biggest proponents of TT in the United States was a guy named Hal Joyce. His company was called HP Products and offered a fairly broad line. Levon Kemalyan’s Kemtron/Precision Scale also offered some lost wax car kits and parts and locomotive kits powered with Lindsay motors. Arno Rinck, proprietor of Eastern Model Railroad took over the HP line after he moved his business from Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, to Flathead Lake, Montana in the mid-1960s.
Bob
TTRAK modules are N scale
Official web site
http://www.t-trak.org/
Oops [:I]
See, I told you I could add to the confusion [;)][:D]
Thanks for the correct info.
Andrew
B.T.S. has some structure kits at http://www.btsrr.com/btstt.htm. S scale did better because American Flyer used that scale after WWII which gave it a tremendous boost. That momentum is probably what kept it alive into the 80’s when American Models gave it a major revival boost. The two major manufacturers American Models and S Helper’s Showcase line sell to both the scale and the Tinplate/HiRail with only the couplers and wheels being different (S Helper actually installs the tinplate wheels and provides the scale ones in the package, AM packages two versions). Actually I think the HiRailers might be in the majority, but those of us on the scale side benefit. TT never got that initial boost. And today I doubt that there are enough TTers for any major manufacturer to get in now.
Enjoy
Paul
I heard of TT scale. This size is ideal to me. Cause HO may be concidered small to some men, but to me it is plenty large. TT is not extremely spread like HO, so I’m in HO.
I saw TT scale demonstrated at a train show about 5 or 6 years ago. It seemed like there wasn’t a lot of variety available, it was just a train set and that was it. I haven’t seen it displayed any time since.
If it was done right it would be a good scale to model in, but the standard scales are pretty much carved in stone.
Charles
Hillsburgh Ontario
I believe that about the availability of stuff, rolling stock and locos, TT is even worse than Z scale!
Dominique, Zscaler
I believe that about the availability of stuff, rolling stock and locos, TT is even worse than Z scale!
Dominique, Zscaler