# TT Scale Primer



## Lownen (Mar 28, 2008)

When I first came here, I was impressed by the fact that TT scale was listed in the "other scales" on this forum's heading. Because of the confusion some people have shown between the tiny new Japanese T gauge (new in 2008) trains being discussed here and TT scale, I thought I'd post a primer on TT for you all.

TT scale is 1:120 scale (although British TT, more commonly known as 3mm scale is 1:101). This places TT scale in size between HO at 1:87.1 and N which is 1:160. At 1:120 scale one inch equals ten feet; a scale which I believe was commonly used in drafting. TT was invented by Hal Joyce, a former automotive engineer, in 1946. His company, H.P. Products (not affiliated with Hewlett Packard) produced American prototype trains in kit form. Most of the competition in TT also emerged in kit form. TT was pushed out of the North American market in the late 1960s or early 1970s by companies evangelizing N scale. However, many people believe that this would not have occurred if there had been Ready To Run TT products available.

What is interesting is that, while TT was invented in the United States, it caught on in the Soviet Union and remains popular in that part of the world today. In Europe Ready To Run TT scale items are still readily available, but the prototypes are all European.

The largest manufacturer of TT scale is probably the German firm Tillig. In America, Tillig products are available from EuroTrain Hobby. No, I am not affiliated with them.

Another manufacturer of many TT items is the Slovenian firm Mehano. Sadly, because they have OEM'd many low-end products for the North American market, Mehano doesn't receive a lot of respect in this part of the world. However, their high-end products for the European market are quite respectable. On many they include LokSound DCC decoders.

In North America TT scale has become a cottage industry, still primarily marketing kits. Possum Valley Models hosts TT Scale On-Line and offers a number of American prototype kits, including conversion kits for Lionel's TT scale "Big Rugged Trains" push toys. North American rolling stock is available from Gold Coast Railway Co.

There seems to be some renewed interest in TT here in the U.S. today. I'm hoping that one or two of our manufacturers will some day soon test the waters by offering an inexpensive starter set. This scale is great for children. It's just enough bigger than N to make handling much easier, and doesn't take up as much room as HO.


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## ttsmr (Mar 4, 2011)

So are there only 2 TTers in here? You and me???

Don
TTSMR
(TT Scale Model Railroads)


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

You gotta admit that you're up against some fierce competition...N scale is not much smaller and has some serious product backing...

Welcome to the forum...:thumbsup:


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## Mixy (Dec 14, 2010)

ttsmr said:


> So are there only 2 TTers in here? You and me???


I am also modelling in TT scale - count me in 

Mixy


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## Rod (Nov 25, 2011)

*TT/3mm Modelling*

I'm not modelling in TT at the moment but I spent eleven years modelling exclusively in British 3mm scale. 3mm seemed to me the 'Goldilocks' scale - neither too big nor too small, but just right.
But it can be hard work - no ready-to-run (in the UK at least) unless you want 50-year-old Tri-ang (which is fine in itself but somewhat limited), so I sold off about half my stock and am keeping the rest just in case...
meanwhile I'm having a stab at American HO.
Here are the TT layouts I conjured up - nothing finescale, but they were fun to do...
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/newsforyou/briargate.htm
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/newsforyou/lightwood.htm
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/newsforyou/ecclesford.htm
Rod


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Rod,

FABULOUS looking layouts, with especially nice backdrop building facade work. Thanks for sharing!

TJ


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

I'll join TT scale too, if I can get a hold of the H.P. products! I'm first and foremost an HO/OO scale man, then O & S scale trains, then everything else! -


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## segafan (May 17, 2012)

Actually I collect some TT locomotive, here is a quick nice TT manufacturer in Germany
http://www.kuehn-modell.de/


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## Steve S (Jan 7, 2012)

With the growing popularity of 3D printing, you should have more models to choose from. Go to Shapeways.com and type in TT Scale and you'll get ten pages of models.

http://www.shapeways.com/search?q=tt+scale

Steve S


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## JANCSIKAM (Feb 28, 2013)

Now there is one more newbie JANCSIKAM


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## druno123 (Feb 22, 2012)

*TT Scale*

here is some TT scale trains I aquired
wondering if anyone has a clue what they are and maybe value?
Look at the site pictures
http://home.comcast.net/~janbee1/site/?/page/TT_Scale_Engines/&PHPSESSID=aaf6c60a29eecd162c4664d0d01094b3
LMK


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## dwyaneward (Aug 4, 2011)

Another TT Scale modeler from Texas

Dwyane


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## Ace (Mar 30, 2016)

*Interesting TT layouts !*



Rod said:


> I'm not modelling in TT at the moment but I spent eleven years modelling exclusively in British 3mm scale. 3mm seemed to me the 'Goldilocks' scale - neither too big nor too small, but just right.
> But it can be hard work - no ready-to-run (in the UK at least) unless you want 50-year-old Tri-ang (which is fine in itself but somewhat limited), so I sold off about half my stock and am keeping the rest just in case...
> meanwhile I'm having a stab at American HO.
> Here are the TT layouts I conjured up - nothing finescale, but they were fun to do...
> ...


I see this post is from six years ago but I want to say I enjoyed seeing these interesting portable layouts in TT scale. Very nicely done!

The three links above still work, take a look ...


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## jdr3366 (Jan 2, 2018)

I'm interested. I mostly have modeled HO scale, but space is tight where I'm living.

I DCC possible with TT engines?


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## Rich1853 (Jun 25, 2018)

I'm recently new (05/2018) to model trains and you can count me in as a TT scale modeler. Regards, Rich1853


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