Received mine on Monday and I love it. The detail is crazy considering it's so small and I was almost shocked at the weight. I get the argument that scale doesn't equate to price, but for the price, I think it's a heck of a model. Really impressed!

Yours seems particularly jerky at slow speeds where mine in comparison has a really smooth crawl - probably the best of all the TT locos so far in my opinion. Interesting to see the difference between the two though.

Peachy's review of these really showcases how smooth one of these can crawl (9 minutes in on his review). It puzzles me how Sam consistently has issues with Hornby locomotives not performing like they do for nearly everyone else.

Interesting bit of trivia about the class 50: it was the first class of locomotive where the whole class was delivered from the start in the Rail Blue livery.

I think the price may be reasonable if one considers that Hornby had to have new tooling made and this is a niche scale.

I have yet to understand why you expect TT scale tp be cheaper than OO. That makes zero sense to me. Engineering a smaller model is harder in many ways.

I received my TT-120 class 50 sir edward elgar yesterday. Absolutely stunning model and like you say very weighty too 👍

if they release a class 37 i might just have to go for one, the mainline freight diesels look absolutely stunning so far!

Sam, why do you think that tt should be cheaper than 00? You really aren't paying for the material costs when you buy a model in any scale. If anything I would expect the results of miniaturisation and less common scale to make the locos more expensive , not less. 00 gauge has a clear advantage when it comes to "economies of scale", scale of course meaning qtys sold. Cheers for an otherwise professional review as always my friend 👍. But I'm not sure that one of those 50 040 prints doesn't look level. The side where its towards the left.

I'm less pessimistic today about Hornby TT than I was six month before. Hornby shows us they are able to produce quality models, like this one. The unknown is if UK TT will gain traction or not on the middle to long term. Hornby have good points for their TT scale which starts from scratch : modern couplings and DCC sockets, and total new toolings. Hope for them they'll get enough customers to keep this range on sale, and develop it broadly.

Anything TT gets my vote 100%

WOW, this class Class 50 in this scale is just so WOW. I seriously need to buy this one complete with MK1s carriages to my train set. Interesting fact of the Class 50 in this livery, there one coming to one of the neatest heritage railway to me and that is the Spa Valley Railway.

I do love how the 50s have a slightly shocked/worried expression at the front

Got mine yesterday, runs silky smooth at all speeds, and crawls so smooth you wouldn't know it was moving. Sadly, Sam, you seem to have the totally worst luck when it comes to Hornby models.

Yay, more tt120 stuff!

I've been waiting for this. Thanks for reviewing !

Always love seeing a TT review. I've recently got back into the hobby for the first time since I was a kid, and if I didn't feel so sentimental about my old models I'd have definitely gone for TT. One thing I'd love to see in these reviews is a section about how easy it is to fit a DCC decoder, and how well it runs on DCC compared to DC. I appreciate that would add a fair chunk to the already-huge amount of work you put in these reviews of course!

Hornby TT yet again blowing us all away with these superb models, il definately be picking one up, but weve got to keep an eye on these prices, we dont want them running away, success can lead to greed. overall, very impressed.

On the other hand, making things smaller and more compact usually ends up with them costing more due to the technical difficulties in miniaturisation.

The new Hornby TT Class 50 diesel locomotive is a quality model because of its top notch mechanism and it is similar to the OO scale model Sam. Overall, it is a quality model.

Its nice to see thatHornby fixed the angles of the windscreens that the 00 version suffers from being too flat.

Amazing review sam

So many times we hear you say"expensive and not worth it" so good to see Hornby creating high quality models. Judging by your words and not scores, world have have expected a better grade than C tho. Great review Sam.

I received mine last week and I love it

A passing grade! Will say I’m impressed with this tbh, for scale and price it doesn’t really leave anything to be desired and the scores show it

Perhaps comparing apples to apples on price might help. A Piko TT120 0-4-0 shunter is £155. The Hornby OO class 50 is in a limited sale and normally about £200 even at the retailers. The initial prices and club discount were well publicized as a way to launch the scale. Probably nearly lost leaders when you factor in tooling. They are irrelevant now. Nothing to do with inflation. Other than that nice in depth review as always. Thanks

Really like that you’re becoming better at critiquing detail! Shame that it can’t crawl, as it just seems to be a motor torque issue. Thanks as always Sam.

Excellent !! MORE TT 😁

Interesting you had issues with performance. My 2 are both perfect runners and it seems the bulk of them are on both DC and DCC. For the money, you get one hell of a model in my opinion well worth the full price.

Awesome! You should try their 00 version... I think you'd be pleasantly surprised...

Your videos are so incredible. Can you review more British oo gauge locomotives because a lot of other scales and countrie's locomotives have been reviewed by you recently! I still love your videos 😊

Awesome video today Sam really beautiful locomotive today

Pretty cool that hornby is finally working on improving their tt scale compared to how it was at release, hope to see them improve even more

Very interesting review, Hornby still pushing ahead with TT which I suppose is no bad thing. I would encourage you to try a Dapol N gauge class 50, one of their better mechanisms and I would love to see the comparison.

One of my favourite BR locos. Your review was spot on and totally fair. One observation, seeing the 50 sitting on the track, it looks to me that the rails of the TT track look out of scale to the loco and its wheels. A bit like EM and OO I suppose. I don't have a model railway, not since the late 70s anyway, and this is the first time I've seen TT track close up. Does quality / accuracy vary between Hornby and Peco ? I know this is a bit off at a tangent but the immaculate class 50 made it look quite obvious.

Looking forward to this. Love a Hoover

I loved bashing Hoovers as a kid; this looks like a beautiful model of my favourite loco.

Mine arrived on Monday though I'm going to wait until the end of the week before running it as I have the green version coming as well. Makes sense to run them in at the same time. A good comprehensive review as always, Sam. I would like to ask out of curiosity, how big is that test track board of yours? Thinking of building one myself separate from my modular main TT layout.

Mine arrived today after ordering it from Rails on Monday (along with a pack of Accurascale MHA Coalfish and a Sonic Models VIX Ferry Van). I haven't tested or run it yet, because its TXS fitted so I need to get my DCC controller out to power it, but it looks rather good. I hope the speaker doesn't rattle, like it does in my HST dummy power car. I do wish they'd done a more widespread class as their first large independent diesel loco, like the 37 or 47. But, they're coming, apparently. I was disappointed that both TMC and Rails said the blue and grey mk2Fs were on order with the supplier, as I thought they'd be in stock as well. But obviously not. The detail bag looks great, with its ploughs and etched nameplates, but the one thing I have noticed is the fan grille, with round holes that aren't very fine. And the underside of the bogies seemed to be covered in oil, so it was overlubricated too.

No Hornby locos I have ever bought, have performed flawlessly at slow speeds.

With regard to price, I saw an interview with Richard Lines of Triang who said when they launched TT back in the day it wasn't popular because the price was almost the same as 00 and they had to reduce the margins to a point where it wasn't feasible. Hopefully history doesn't repeat itself. I'd love to get into N gauge and TT but when you see the prices I can't bring myself to spend the equivalent for 'less' model.

I made somehow an embarrassing purchase this week in the way of the Hornby Coca Cola Christmas train set which I didn’t realise was in the basket however I’m going to keep it and store it away.

I’d agree with the missing speaker, but as it’s HM7000 compatible, where a sound decoder comes with a speaker, I don’t see why it should have one tbh

I love the class 50 nice big industrial engines great video sam

Sam, This model represents 50040 pre-July 1987. After that date 50040 was renamed Centurion. So with another set of etched plates you could pick and choose which era you could run it.

OK, if a bit lacking in some areas - maybe the slower speed will improve as the model is used more? At least there are some nice Mk2 coaches in the range to go with it!

Hi Sam. Excellent review as usual. Just one question, how do you convert your 'star' rating into a 'score' and then 'grade'?

I think it fair to maybe point out that Hornby's OO 50 has to be 20 years old, or very nearly, so is arguably more expensive than it needs to be due to that: Hornby must have recouped its tooling costs by now. As to the TT, well, it's a brand-new tooling and with the level of detail I wonder if it's fair to try and compare the OO price which is arguably too much compared to a smaller yet brand-new tooling TT scale? Where I might find a minor criticism is the 'headlight'. They tended to be more high-intensity and would have produced a whiter light than perhaps a more 'orange' incandescent lamp. Whatever though I think Hornby have made a good choice for a loco here, even if you put aside my bias with the 50 vying with the 52 Western as my favourite loco. It offers a good range of liveries for the decades too - original BR blue, large logo as here, then the versions of the awful Network South East monstrosity, and the green Edward Elgar livery (50 007 of the 1980s).

Hi Sam, Since Hornby is producing TT versions of things they have done in OO, it means you will be able to create that OO gauge layout you always wanted but didn't have the space! I have not got a class 50 in OO because I am not as mad as you in the amount of stuff I have collected. So this review was of interest to me. Having no OO version is the perfect excuse to get the TT offering! I think you should build a small scenic TT layout to review new locos as that will offer more visual appeal to your viewers than having the thing trundle around a bare board! Good review. Thanks for uploading.

Can I suggest you purchase a range of different pin decoders so as to enable you to fit a decoder and carry out your reviews with and without decoders, you can then remove the decoder prior to putting the loco into your stock.

Wonder if it will appear in a train set. Is the LMS Coronation loco now available - on the Hornby website and no mention of pre-ordering?

You'll likely find the "brass inserts" are not actually glued in to the model, but are what are called heat inserts, which are heated and inserted into the model, which is stronger than just glue

It looks great. If the U.S would produce a decent amount of TT I would trade out all my OO and HO stuff and switch to TT.

hi sam. wait for it! i would expect hornby to release a new train set with the class 50 for near the same price you brought this model, like what they did with the hst.

I'm loving TT! But those constant price rises suck 😢

Looking forward to review of new p2 steam generator and 8f in 00

Hi Sam . I will wait for the gbrf one to come out but thanks for the review. caroline

Nicely done review, as always. Seems to me that Hornby have done a quality job with this, however I have to wonder what Hornby have against HO? I have nothing against those who model in OO or TT, but it seems surprising that after producing models in the "mongrel" scale of OO for so long they decide to go into the niche market of TT when HO has such an enormous following around the world! Okay, maybe British outline would not have the same appeal as, say, Swiss outline, but I am sure that there are some international modellers out there who might take it up in the same way that many British modellers do international outlines. I know of many British modellers (Me included) that would absolutely lap it up!

Yet another great BR locomotive.

please compare it to a dapol n gauge class 50 sam. see which is better for detail and slow speed running.

I bought the sound-fitted versions and I'm delighted with them. Both of mine will creep along quite happily under HM7000. Maybe you got a dud? I've had quite a few issues with TT:120 but I'm sticking with it because I love the scale and, it has to be said, Hornby seem to be quite good at providing repair/replacements when there's an issue. Bit of a pain but worth it once you get everything sorted. I don't have any Hornby OO. I wonder if anyone could tell me if the QC issues are similar in that scale?

2 years i had to downsize from OO due to less space. i chose 009 as my eyesight isnt great rather than n. I now very much regret this decision having read your reviews and wish I'd opted for tt120. I must say i think your 50 review is a bit mean. i agree with some others who say that there is no reason why tt120 should be cheaper than oo. the main costs are manufacturing and design and not materials. still a good review though.

I wonder whats causing the cogging problem, is it gear mesh, the lack of lubrication or motor magnets ?

Class 50s DID do express passenger work - it's what they were built for.

Impressive. On slow speed seems to be cogging. Try pulse throttle or DCC? Thanks Sam (and Mrs Sam)

Sam, speaking of O scale, got any? if so 2 rail or 3 rail? I have yet to see O scale on the channel. 3 rail O scale is what i mostly collect but I do have plenty of HO(american)

Awesome video sam! I really love the look of the class 50s, I must have a look at the 00 gauge hornby version.... it does make it shameful to the manufacturers (*cough* EFE rail *cough * )who add absolutely no detail onto their locos in 00 gauge, yet hornby can make a much smaller loco more detailed?! Having said that it's quite a stark difference from some of Hornby's models, as some can be truly awful, but this loco is definately not that! Like I say, lovely loco and great video!

the bachmann beau is just release now please do review it sam

Most of your comments seem fair Sam. The one area I disagree with you on, is I price. I have a TT layout, and I honestly don't expect to get my models to be cheaper than 00. Yes they are smaller, but to get the same high standard must be harder in the smaller scale.

DP2 was the prototype for the class 50s, they are not like a Deltic in any way.

I’d like to see your N and TT:120 reviews include running across points.

Hi. Love the review. Great looking loco. Wish I could start on TT but not for me…… so far! Anyways, could you check the height please. Watching the class 50 and the Mk1 coaches, the 50 looked a scale foot higher. But also noticed the Pullman looked higher than the Mk1”s too. Which height is correct? Or is it all correct and I’ve just noticed something that’s not in 00. lol. Cheers. Dave.

Do you think you could review the heljan class 33 bo-bo?

It seems to me that the handrails appear larger due to them being painted white maybe weathering would make it all appear more proportional?

We're always chuffed seeing TT Scale. Be reminded Sam that manufacturing and material costs are just a fraction of the price (made in China). Logistics, Overhead and Marketing are the major factors. Hence, Scale N, TT, H0/OO, O hardly differ on price point. We most certainly agree on ratings and score. Cheerio.

When it comes to the Power rating are you still using the OO calculation or how you made a new one? 52 does not sound right to me if it is well done, Hornby. The tooling costs should be lower than OO because of less material, but the same labour time.

Hey @samstrains I was just wondering if you had thought about doing a review on the cavalax OO class 56 I’ve just seen a review on another channel and thought it would be right up your street looks awesome but I think it needs a Sam’s trains review

I wonder how they come up with the class numbers for these engines? Like, the class 55 was before the 50? I wonder how they decide?

Awesome video Sam's trains

General inflation is based on a basket of goods and services. Cost inflation for specific sectors and products can vary dramatically above/below it. E.g. Wage inflation, commodity inflation, energy inflation are all different. So there's no reason why Hornby's costs might not have increased more than general inflation. More importantly pricing has much less to do with cost inflation than Sam's commentary implies. Companies haven't been basing price on cost+markup for decades. It's much more about what the market can bear.

Off topic for this model, but Sam is obviously making progress with his constant criticism of droopy running boards on engines from different manufacturers. Rapido’s new S160 release has many features, but straight running board is expressly stated. 😂😂😂😂 (It is a USA type and those may have had a version with stepped running boards - I assume)

Excellent review video Sam but can you tell me what you think of the model cuz I have no thoughts or opinions about it but as always well done 20:10

The TT club isn't dead.

12.50 Interesting that 50 014 in the photo has the usual orange OHLE warning stripe at cantrail level, whereas photos of the real 50 040 suggest that it never had this feature, even though the 'lighning flash' warning signs beside the cab doors are there -- so the model is correct, but nevertheless looks a bit strange without it.

If you could find a diesel locomotive class that best represents the devious nature, they were portrayed as in the railway series.

Crazy to think a TT model could be this well made, be so heavy, and have two flywheels, yet the new 5MT on OO gauge has no flywheel, no diecast boiler, and has quality control issues. I don’t get it…

Oh-Oh ! Did you: CHASSIS - "remove the carpet debris with small tweezers" ?

Idea: HO/OO scale track used to model standard gauge, TT scale track used for large Narrow Gauge, and N scale track used for Small Narrow Gauge.

The only thing i didn’t like on this loco is the shiny wheels.could have been blackened. But great otherwise.

Sam have a good look at the price for new g f engine in n gage 😢

The class 50s were initially owned EE and leased to BR for their first10 years. It is said reliability fell with the change of ownership.

Hoover boi

TT is not my thing, but I still like to see your review videos, I like the class 50s' in this large logo livery, I have the 00 gauge one, but sadly one of the sets of side grills is in a bad shape. But trying to find a replacement body is like rocking horse poo. they are not mant about, !

When’s the June model railway news?

Diesels or TT Scales are not really my thing but a nice review anyway 😊🚂🚂🚂

The plows would be good for clearing lego bricks and other debris off the tracks.

Could it be that an O gauge diesel costs more than a OO gauge one because of far lower demand and worse economies of scale? And little to nothing to do with the size of the product?

Good review, though this loco doesn't fall within my current interests. One question: Are yo sure that those nameplates are etched. From the back of the other plate, it looks rather plasticy and I would suspect a laser-cut plate, though they do still look reasonably good...

While I am not an N gauge modeller, my impression is that N gauge models are not that much cheaper than 00. Similarly, considering their size, some O gauge models are not that more expensive than 00. Perhaps my impression is wrong? Anyway, I put my perceived similarity in price due to there being a similar number of parts that go into each model, regardless of the size of the model. Discuss? A topic for a future video or have you done one on it already?

Sam, as a long time subscriber I think you need to revaluate your "value for money" matrix. When my son and I see a new video we laugh and joke "lets see what model Sam hates today even if he loves it". See, I've been in N scale for over 30 years and the reality is the price is always the same or more than HO. It comes down to labor basically...it's a much more fiddly process assembling smaller models. Be it my model trains, planes or ships, the smaller the model the more expensive it is. You either accept that or you go for the larger scale...so this argument is indeed VALID! While I don't have much interest in British diesels this model is phenomenal in very aspect that one could expect of a smaller than OO scale model train. But your rating was "meh" mostly because of that "value for money" thing. Price is a subjective thing really...how much is the individual willing to pay? I would have paid the money for this model and not look back...spending time enjoying it rather than wondering if I really got my money's worth because usually when it comes to Sam....you never will! 🤷‍♂