I remember the ads too. Never took off. N already had a stronghold on the market place with the likes of Kato, Micro Trains, Con Cor, and Atlas. The size difference just wasn't enough to get people to try it here in the states or convert to it. Especially with Kato and MT which was pretty much rock solid smooth performing stuff (Kato was making drives for Atlas and Con Cor then).
If you're looking for cool vintage small stuff, Con Cor blasted the market with collector sets in the 80's and did some neat stuff. Sort of toyish by todays standards but funky in a cool way. Then there is Lone Star OOO which eventually became N scale. It runs like crap but the even more toyish look makes it desireable as well.
Folks that wanted really small trains went with "N". It's still in use in parts of Europe.
When or why did TT scale fall out of favor in the US while it flourished particularly in Eastern Europe? I do remember seeing advertisements in MR and others in the late 1980's early 1990's. But I did not see any product.
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