Yup! My Grandpa, in his 90's has silently gotten into Z Scale this summer. He decided his HO layout (same one for 30+ years) in the garage was getting too hard to work on. It's a 5' x 10' with a newer 4' x 4' extension, and somewhat difficult to reach everything. When I was a teen, I used to work on Grandpa's HO layout. In my 20's and 30's I used to bring him locomotives from Europe, and he proudly ran them around the layout. In my early 40's I would get Grandpa new Kato and Lifelike locomotives, and we converted to Kaydee's. I got him Laser Kits, and gave him my own HO laser kits, and he populated his layout. I converted to Z Scale 2 years ago, and always give Grandpa samples of my Z Scale models. Well, it was just to much for him to just admire them. As Walthers silently started putting a Z Scale item or 2 in their monthly fliers, Grandpa could not take it, so he started collecting stuff. He already has a board, and a small loop setup, and has the Northern Pacific starter set. He has also accumulated and built some structure kits, and just called me to tell of his new hobby. Grandpa said he already wants more track for his layout board, and was asking where he could buy some. Yup, It's a great day indeed! -Robert
Awesome! It just goes to show, your never to late to get on the Z-train! Young, or young at heart, ya gotta' run them trains!
That's a really nice story I have a family member who sold all his HO stuff and got into N-Scale. He didn't have much space available and I realise now that Z-Scale was actually the perfect choice for him! But that's far to late now... I never introduced him into Z-Scale and I will show my work next weekend when he comes over I'm affraid he will feel bad when he sees the European rolling stock I have.
OMG Pray, you joined the dark side and brought your grandpa too NOoooooooooooooooo Just kidding, I was looking for you on the Nscale side (actually looking for a link to your website of the Nscale NP). I have been out of the loop for awhile and I always enjoyed your layout. WOW Z-Scale and I was having issues dumping HO for N scale
Yeah, it was about 2 1/2 years ago now, that i started to dabble in Z, and now I'm hooked. I used to focus only on N Scale when i went to train shops, and shows, but now, I even blow off the N because I like Z so much. Now that we have an affordable Z locomotive that really runs well, (MTL GP35) there's no turning back. You just watch, MTL has discover that the N market is tapped out, with too many manufacturers, making every possible item, and yet the field for Z is wide open. If you make it, it will sell! Remember N Scale from 1988, when Kato introduced flywheel equipt locomotives? Well Z is there now, and you can re-live those good old days again, with Z! -Robert
I will never join the dark side.....well not for a while anyways I actually did consider Z scale for a while before returning to N this time around. I just cant get past the smallness of all the details and structures, people, etc. Like I said, for me, I am still adjusting to N scale after all of this time from HO The main draw of Z scale for me was the idea of puting in even more track work and long hauls......same reason I converted to N scale from HO. It is cool however that Z-scale is now getting some great equipment.
Matt, Come to the dark side... The water is just fine! It is interesting, but the growth of Z scale today is in the N scale community switching over for the reasons you state. Z is really an ideal scale for operations. I love the fact you can run 50 - 100 car trains in a spare room. What other scale allows you to model that favorite branch line, yard or scene perfectly to scale? The MTL GP35 is a huge boost for the Z community. I am also looking forward to AZL's SD70s. More modern, larger locos that should have some great pulling power. I know for a fact we are going to see quite a few new releases from a variety of Z manufacturers over the next year. It is going to be incredible! Rob Kluz
Actually, Grandpa and I attended my cousin's wedding Saturday, then had a couple hours to blow before the evening reception. So, what did we do? We did Z Scale of course! Grandpa's layout is a 2' x 4' (equivalent to a 5'x10' HO layout) with a double oval, and crossovers to get from inner to outer loop. He used Peco Flextrack and Marklin switches. Test running was good but after the ballast was laid, operation got a bit choppy, as some switches are a little iffy, and there is a bit of gap in the rails here and there. There is an 8" tall mountain as a secnic divider, with some tunnel action at one end. His layout is in the scenery phase at this time. More later, as the customers just showed up here at work...
