Hi there. This is my first post as I have only just discovered this forum. Seems like a good 'un though! For over a year now I have been trying to make plans to get back into model railways. I had a OO/HO modern british layout when I was a kid which is now all packed away in boxes. OO/HO is too big for where I live now though, so I am going to sell up. I had considered N scale for the past couple of years, but I was still finding it a challenge to create a decent layout in the space I have available. Which is where Z comes in... I have identified a baseboard size of around 5' x 2'6" being about the biggest I could go. Small enough that it can be leaned up against a wall or kept in a cupboard, but big enough that a good layout in Z could be created. I have some ideas for a track layout which I will post later once I complete it. It is twin level, with the lower level being hidden and used as storage loops to enable more than just a couple of trains going around in circles. Anyway, sorry to ramble. I need some help on which railroad to model. I want some steam and some diesel. So 1950's is the era I'm going for. Loco's I have in mind are the MTL F7 and Marklin's Pacific. I'm going to go DCC so Marklin's Mikado would also be acceptable. I also want mountainous scenery. I hope to fit a trestle on the layout and possible industries could be a logging camp or coal mine. Can anyone give me any idea which railroad would fit into this scene? Anyway, I'll post my track plan later on, and thanks for any replies!!
Welocme to the trainboard. There are a lot of great sites, but I like this one the best. The people here are very helpful and polite. I would tell you that the pacific is by far the best running marklin steam that I have found so that is a good choice. The mikado's suffer from poor pickup. The f-7's can run very well if tweaked a bit. Some use the extra wheel wipers for better contact. There are a lot of guys here running DCC so they can give you good advice on what path to follow there.
scot-railroader, you have a number of great choices for modeling. Pennsylvania RR was big on coal and had mountainous terrain. Southern Pacific in california and Pacific Northwestern United States was full of rugged mountain scenery, logging, and mills. SP had attractive F units and a handsome variety of steam locomotives. you'll find it easy to find a location to model. glad to have you with us. dave f.
Hi Scot_railroader, Welcome to Trainboard! Like Joe said, the Marklin Pacific runs great, and the Mikado is a bit balky, requiring your track to remain extra clean to run well. The MTL F7's can be upgraded with Wheel Wipers to help them out. The 5' x 2.5' size you chose will make a great layout. I would recommend avoiding steep grades, rather doing whatever you can to keep the trackwork as level as you can, then the trains will run so much better, and you will feel better about the layout. Also, try to avoid long tunnels or other inaccessable places, because cleaning the track is very important in Z. We are looking forward to seeing your track plan!
Welcome to TrainBoard. We have a couple of Z scalers on the forum that are located in GB, but I'm not sure where exactly. They have an annual get together called ZedEx that has shown some amazing work. If you are at all interested in British prototypes, Graham Jones of Z Club GB makes some conversion kits, shells, accessories and such. Mostly for Marklin mechanisms. There is also a UK specific Z scale list on yahoogroups. It's not tremendously active, but does have information about Z meets in the UK and on the continent. Not sure if I've ever seen any Z activities in Scotland, though. Randy Smidt
Scot_railroader, Well, as many people here have said, the Marklin Pacific is definately a more consistant runner than the Mikado. However, I have several Mikados (in excess of 12), and the majority of them run very well. I only have 3 or 4 that have the problems that were mentioned. That said, I have not been able to determine the cause of, or find a correction to these problems. But, since I model mostly the freight operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the pacific was strictly used as a passenger loc by them, I'm pretty much stuck with the Mikados. As to choices of railroads, I'm partial to the Pennsy. They operated in the mountains, had heavy coal operations, and ran steam until 1957. As for available diesel power, Micro-trains offers 2 different F7s and a B Unit in one of the liveries. AZL now has a GP7, which is transition era, and I'm sure the MT GP9 will also be released in Pennsy fairly early on. As for steam, It's an easy repaint and there are many N-Scale decals that are the right size for the tender. Unfortunately, a lot of the rolling stock has sold out. I think the MT Caboose is out of production. Most of the earlier PennZee 3 bay hoppers in Pennsy liveries are gone (I think their most recent is still obtainable). Full Throttle's Pennsy two bays sold out in one week (they are planning a couple more pennsy liveries). I can pull 30 FT 2 bays with a single Mikado on level track). I believe that Shawnee Railroad still has five packs of 40' Pennsy boxcars left. But, anyway, there has been a lot of Pennsy Z scale produced. Someone on Z Central mentioned doing a fantasy road. This might be the best answer. Then, you can run any motive power and rolling stock that you want. You can also create your own region and your own industries. Dan S.
Hi guys. Still working on the track plan I'm afraid. I was having trouble visualizing the size of the whole thing since I had never actually seen any Z scale equipment before. So I got hold of one of Marklins starter sets, the small USA freight set with the pacific. I think the Pacific itself will probably be the only thing I use in the final layout from this set, plus maybe a couple of pieces of stock. I will then have the oval of Marklin track and the controller for testing purposes or something I guess. Anyway, it's a start, and now I know how big Z gauge is! (Actually a bit bigger than I thought, lol).
