From Miniature to BIG

Totally agree it is incredibly detailed, especially when you think this is a TT:120 (1/120 scale) model, so it sits size-wise between HO/OO and N scales. Even the print detail on the sides is pretty special, easily readable - well if you speak German that is

Well the latest and for now last 'Berliner' TT:120 trains has arrived, having got some now I'm impressed enough with them that I'll be keeping my eyes open for more opportunities but they don't tend to come up that often.  Anyway I'm finishing this batch with probably the best set out of the lot, another 'limited edition' that I think is meant to celebrate a 750th anniversary of Berlin.   The anniversary also helps date this set which would appear to be 1987 based on what is on the packing.

This set features a rather nice class 5620 2-8-0 locomotive + tender in a nice olive green colour.  This is accompanied by a set of 4 carriages, each in a distinctly different colour scheme which seems to dictate the passenger class, although I'm surprised if that is what the designations are as then there are only classes 2, 3 and 4.  Although I guess in communist east Germany it would be frowned upon to have a '1st class' as they probably shot all the aristo's!!  

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I love the olde style carriages.

Indeed, they almost look as though they are from the USA don't they lol

You recall I recently got a whole bunch of original 1950's Hornby Dublo (OO scale) railway items? Well another set came up last week and I couldn't resist adding it to the Dublo collection. This one is a local passenger set rather than a mainline passenger service and as such has a 2-6-4 tank loco rather than a pacific, but it does also have 3 passenger carriages in red and an amount of track all of which will add to what I already own. I picked this up at a good price and although the loco isn't as clean as the princess I got in the other set its still in pretty good shape for a 60-70 year old loco and still runs well. Like all 3 rail Dublo it's also a fully diecast locomotive including the chassis, running plate and the body itself. This means it is substantial in weight, out of curiosity I put it on some scales and as you can see it comes in at over half a Kg (about 1.5 lbs in old money). That is a lot for an OO scale tank loco and probably helps explain why there are still plenty of these old locos around as they basically are built like tanks!

Anyway here's the pics, enjoy!

I wish hornby made some more of these more interesting train sets with different rolling stock, i love seeing some older train sets, they're really interesting

Donald,

Curiously they have started doing some more unusual stuff recently. they started with the re-launch of the Hornby Dublo brand a couple of years ago, although this is limited to loco's only and each release is a severely limited edition (only 500 of each model). They are also quite expensive, although this reflects the build quality and detail as they are total new toolings up to the latest standards and like the original Dublo models they have diecast chassis and bodies so are hefty beasts as well. However due to the very limited numbers and the price they are really collectors items, often changing hands on the second hand market for double or more the original cost even just a few weeks after their release. As such although I have a couple I'm not inclined at the moment to actually run them and ruin their NIB/un-run value.

What they also make though which are far more affordable are the re-release of old Triang Hornby sets. I posted pics of a couple I bought, these have models which echo the models of the 70's/80's as made by Triang, but with certain key features updated so they run better. The rolling stock though tends to be duplicates of the originals although of course the printing quality etc... is much better than the originals. These sets can be had for reasonable prices (a bit over £100 for set with a loco + rolling stock and an oval of track - note no controller though as per the original Triang sets). These are also limited to just 1,000 sets per release, so again quite collectible, but not as desired as the Dublo loco's.

Finally following on from the release of the Stephenson's Rocket train pack they have just recently released another from the same era based around the 'Lion' loco. These are also usually in high demand as well as of course they are very different and therefore desirable. The nice thing though is because they are not limited editions (apart from the initial set of the Rocket) they are available even if they do go out of stock periodically.

Personally I'm loving the TT:120 scale range launched this year, these models are as good in terms of detail as the OO scale models, but being almost half the scale you can pack a whole lot more layout into a given area. This makes them an ideal compromise between the OO scale and the smaller N scale. Nice to see them taking these chances rather than just releasing the same old models in different liveries or with new tooling that just gives you a little improvement at a big cost like most of the other manufacturers are doing - playing it safe...

You're right, I hate how expensive some models get after getting discontinued, especially after a few years. I was looking into buying a rapido Stirling single, but the prices are just insane, last I checked, they were about $300, but now they've at least doubled in price.
One of these over priced models that I own is the legends flyin Scotsman,(limited to 1000) witch goes for about $350, witch makes it the most expensive single engine in my whole collection, however I was able to get it for less that half that, and mine only sat on display, and maybe only ran a bit before I got it.

I know what you mean, there was a recent Hornby special called Queen Elizabeth to celebrate the platinum jubilee of the queen.  It was modeled on a real loco that had been painted in 'royal purple' to celebrate the same.  Hornby made 2,500 of them and believe it or not I got the email about the pre-orders and immediately went to their site to order one only to find them already sold out - god knows how they were sold out so quickly.  Since these models that were priced if I recall about £200 are now listing on eBay at £500 plus, I mean that is insane as the limited edition is quite big to start with, secondly its not as if its one of the new Dublo models and hence desirable because it is die-cast as opposed to plastic.

Talking of which I just got my latest pre-order which is for one of the Dublo's, an example of the streamlined versions of the Merchant Navy class locomotives.  Absolutely stunning and likely to be a pricey collectible in the near future as these limited editions are limited to only 500 of each release.  This will be the fourth different Dublo model I've got as I missed a few early releases which occurred around the beginning of the pandemic.





Detail parts pack






Cab detail




Nice detail on the tender coal load




SUPER - check out that rivet detail!!!

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That picture showing the details inside the Cab through its widow is...awesome 👍