I'm someone from the US who is interested in TT. However, even if I am strictly interested in European models there isn't much information on the opinions of manufacturers for example. Lets start there: Tillig, Roco, and Piko. If I am missing some please let me know how they fit in. Tillig strikes me as "the king of the hill" but I've also read that they have problems like not putting locos in big enough boxes. I also read that somewhere around 2009 they weren't as good as Roco at that point. Can someone shed some light on these brands? (I'm also interested in hearing about brands outside of Germany like Russia and how their quality compares!) Track: What is available and can you grade the quality? I've heard that Roco track is more realistic than Tillig? I don't know - just what I've read in previous posts. Is there anything specific I should avoid in regards to TT regarding manufacturers and models? How is TT holding up in Europe circa 2017? Everything I've read says it's more popular than HO but I still see manufacturers in Germany increasing HO availability. Are there any huge Message Boards in Europe specifically for TT? I can run it through Google translate to understand what is being said. Thank you for your time.
I had an odd thought. How about checking Shapeways? My belief is that manufacturers there who would create such items, are likely TT scalers themselves. Locate such offerings, then try contacting the seller. Maybe they could provide ideas and leads?
Yea I may give that a try. I think the secret is finding a European message board that communicates in English. Judging by European manufacturers catalogs I get a sense that HO is starting to edge out TT. But of course I have no one to validate this.
Through the power of Google Translate I found a German TT message board and read many posts. The most useful takeaway that I got is that even in Germany where up until now I was led to believe TT was much more popular than HO - that may have been true at one point but not today. There are many lonely souls now considering making the switch to another scale. I myself have been considering TT but it's very difficult to get answers to questions. I think if this continues for another couple weeks I may give up and choose N scale for a my home layout.
