I just went to the Z scale forum (just below our N scale forum). SSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! If you go there, you'll have to be quiet; you might wake one of them up.
A memory just surfaced. Some years ago, I had a friend who would always tease me about modeling in N scale. (His modeling was in S scale.) He'd say something such as " you darned flea gaugers...." I wonder what his feelings are about Z? BoxcabE50
That sounds familiar- I had an avid HO scaler who used to belong to this board deride N scale as "railroading on a bacteria level". Which may be, but I now have a fully functioning N layout where once I had a shelf switcher in HO. Z scale- not for farsighted people but my goodness, can you imagine the layouts you could build??????
The only Z layouts I have seen were european ones, and the trains had two speeds, 100 mph and stop I am sure that there are good Z layouts around, but it is too small for me - my eyesight is not what it was
How do they see the cars to do any switching? I'm afraid if I had one running across my table, my wife might swat it to kill it before it multiplied! Just kidding of course! I have never seen one except a few photos. Iwould really like to see one of the motors in one. Maybe we could used it to power our trucks for logging! Food for thought????
what was that commercial a few years back for the sleep medication called nytol? i think it went along the lines of nytol will help you get your zzzzzzzzzzzz's!!!!
Alan, There's a good article in the latest N Scale Railroading on the Nn3 Rio Verde & Western- runs on Z scale track. From what I've read, the engines run nice. Wonder if you could attach Z scale M-T couplers on a cockroach & use it for motive power? LOL!
I piddle around a bit with Nn3. It's pretty interesting... Gotta either scratch, spend big money, or bash to get almost everything. Want realistic track? Spend big moolah for some BK Turnouts. Want motive power? Modify N equipment, buy a $500 MT engine, or build up from Z. Luckily, rolling stock is availiable from MicroTrains ready to run.
When I saw my first glimpse of a Z scale tank car, I thought I was looking at a toy... It was so small! My LHS carries Z, and orders anything you want. I just wish I could afford more Katos! I tell ya, with the roster I have now, in Z, I have about 1/2- to a 1/3 the same amt of locos. I have 7 dash 9's now, and in Z, they are 560 bucks apiece! Wow!
What a relief! I thought we might have had to perform CPR. [ 18 April 2002, 14:45: Message edited by: Bruce-in-MA ]
I have a small (2x3ft) Z layout for my Micro-Trains Z set. It's tiny but still they run very well. Maybe even better than some Life-Like or even worse Model Power N scale engines.
Reminds me of the joke in MR years ago.... "No wonder it won't run.....somebody got a microbe on the track!!!" I have to catch myself as my mouth wants to say things that HOers said to us N Scalers back in the sixties and seventies.....but having been there done that, in spite of the rapid advances that Z Scale is making (being able to mostly benefit from the advances of N Scale) I'd much rather be able to enjoy the range of a half-century of products (even though we lag behind HO) than deal with a new developing scale. Charlie Vlk
Things sure have changed since this topic was started, ten years ago. Both Z scale itself and the Forum here, which came to life after several members persisted and made it happen.
I was gonna say. I'd argue, that taken in whole, the work in the z forum is some of the best on trainboard. And you could prefer decades of product, but the scratchbuilding and kitbashing Z requires is a level of the hobby many have forgotten preferring to persue the hobby via credit card rather than hobby knife.