TT Gauge (3mm Scale)

TT scale is a niche model railroading scale, whose name stands for Table Top. Its 1:120 scale (from a common engineering scale where one inch equals ten feet) and 12 mm gauge sizes it almost halfway between HO scale (1:87) and N scale (1:160). more...

Home
Catalogues & Magazines
Finescale
G Gauge
HO Gauge
N Gauge
O Gauge
OO Gauge
Other Trains/ Railway Models
TT Gauge (3mm Scale)
Trains/ Railway Models
Z Gauge

Its original purpose, like the name suggests, was to make a train small enough to be able to assemble and operate it on a tabletop. In wargaming the TT scale equals the 15 mm scale where the height of "standard" 180 cm soldier height is 15 mm.

TT scale was invented in the United States by Hal Joyce, a former automotive designer. He founded a company in 1945, and his first advertisement appeared in 1946. By the early 1950s it had a following, offering less detail than HO — considered by some to be an advantage at the time — and a lower price than most other scales. Numerous other companies began offering TT scale trains, track, and accessories as well, and TT scale became popular in Europe in addition to the United States.

By the early 1960s, TT had been eclipsed in popularity by N scale, which was smaller and yet more detailed. TT scale manufacturers were Rokal and Zeuke, which later became Berliner TT Bahn.

TT retains a comparatively small but growing popularity in the former DDR, Eastern Europe and in the United Kingdom. British TT is 3 mm scale; that is, 1:101. Adherents to TT maintain it is the smallest practical scale, especially for those who like to build models from scratch. 3 mm Society

Currently Tillig is the only larger company to make TT rolling stock and tracks. Roco attempted to get in the business, but has largely given up. All its TT scale models are now sold through Tillig. Fleischmann and Arnold both created single TT products, but have not continued to develop new products. The newest larger company to enter the TT market is Piko. There is a larger variety in the accessories market, where some companies have a long-time involvement with the scale and others recently started to support it as well. Prototypes are almost only German (with a focus on the former DDR) and some eastern european models.

Variations include TTn3, where TT scale is run on N gauge (9 mm) track for narrow gauge operation. In New Zealand, this is known as NZ120 and is growing in popularity as a means of modelling the nation's 3'6" (1067mm) gauge railway network.

H.P. Products

H. P. Products is considered by many to be the founding firm of TT-gauge model trains. Hal Joyce, who founded H. P. Products of Hartford City, Indiana, is regarded as the "Father of TT-Gauge". Joyce, who originally was an automobile designer, began production around 1947. In that same era, Rokal and Triang were also beginning production, but H. P. is regarded as being the first firm to reach market. The product line included locomotive kits, passenger and freight car kits, track and detail parts. In the immediate period afterward, several other manufacturers also began production of TT items, notably the Kemtron Corporation (Levon Kemalyan, founder and owner), which manufactured metal castings in several scales. H. P. Products discontinued manufacturing their TT line in 1968, and the related tooling and kits have been passed through several hands. At last report, an individual in the Chicago, Illinois area retains what is left of the product line, but items often can be found on online auction sites.

Read more at Wikipedia.org