I am new to Z Scale but not to the hobby. For the past decade I have had HO Scale layouts, a G Gauge layout and currently in N Scale. One of the reasons that the size of my Scale has decreased over the years, unlike most, is the pursuit of being able to achieve more with a layout without the need of increasing the available space for a layout. As said, while not new to the hobby, I am new to the Scale and am hoping to get a "good" insight to it from the members here. At the moment, and before taking the plunge, I am interested in finding out which Z Scale products are the better and or best. Products such as Track, Locomotives, Rolling Stock to begin with. With the exception of G Gauge layout, all others have been built using Flex Track and the type of track that I prefer to work with. While I am not particularly fussy (at the moment) about what engines I run I do have a preference for the steam and have always focused on the Transition Era with my layouts. Any guidance regarding the above will be appreciated and will help me determine where to start. Cheers, wombat457
Welcome the the Z Scale forum! There is lots of info here to help, and searching this form on specific topics can yield great info. I built an HO layout first, 4 N Scale layouts over the years, and started dabbling with Z in 2003. That said, I myself tend to go with more realistic and detailed modeling. I like flextrack and bare turnouts over the roadbed track. The new king is Atlas for me, and prior to the Atlas flex and turnouts I preferred Micro Trains flex with Peter Wright (no longer available) handmade turnouts because of their north american tie spacing. My first modules were all handlaid code 55, but I took the modules to a garden party and after several hours in the hot summer sun, trains started derailing and wobbling down the rails. All the track had warped and was pulled up. I replaced it with Marklin turnouts and Peco flex, but the European tie spacing only looked good when I was running my European trains. It was at this time that MTL came out with their GP35, the first North American (NA) style mass produced plastic loco in Z that was built using the traditional split frame dual flywheel mechanism the other scales enjoy. Also at this time, AZL started cranking out NA Style Z, and laser kits started showing up in Z. So I started using MTL flex, and Peter Wright turnouts with 10 ties to the inch, matching NA railroad standards. Just about a year ago Atlas released Z Scale track and Flex, and we should support their track line in hopes of getting more track pieces released. To be fair, I have not actually used the Atlas track, but I measured it, and others have reported good results, so I am going forward with Atlas. For locos and rolling stock, there are MTL, AZL, and Will Wright currently producing new Z Scale releases, and several other "out of production" (OOP) manufacturers offering are still available, including Intermountian's excellent cylindrical hoppers. Marklin offers several NA style steam locos that are not super prototypical, but AZL has a really sweet Mikado. There are several OOP NA steam locos available for a pretty penny, and there are several Japanese prototype steamers that run great from Rokuhan and Tenshado. If you really want to get into transition era with lots of model choices, it's Marklin European Z first, and NA style second. Whichever way you decide to go, Z Scale is the last TRUE modelers scale, because we do not have the superdetailed off the shelf offerings the other scales have, so you really get to model and improve your skills in Z. Also, Z Scale modelers are more like family than you find in other scales, getting together at national train shows and going out as a group to dinner and such. What we do here Summertime here at the NTS trainshow, they do in Springtime at Altenbeken hosted by Z Friends International, so even in Europe, Z Scalers are all like family. And here on the Trainboard Z Scale forum, everyone from around the world can share their projects, tips, methods and info with each other.
Welcome to z! Robert did a pretty good job of breaking down things. And I agree with what he wrote. I guess my advice would be get a loco from MT like the SD 40-2 and get a loco from AZL whatever time frame you prefer and compare for yourself. Do the same with track get a loop of rokuhan, MT and some flex from atlas. Get rolling stock from different companies as well. In Z you will find everything is high quality and there is almost no junk out there. Now some might say that’s a waste of time and money but I think it’s the best way for you get a feel for what you prefer. I have a little of everything. And I enjoy it all
Wombat, Welcome to Z and welcome to the forum. It seems like your interest is with flex track. Z scale has flex track from Märklin, Rokuhan, Peco, MTL and Atlas. The Marklin , Rokuhan and Peco all use a non-U.S. tie pitch. The Marklin flex is somewhat stiff. The Rokuhan is a plastic roadbed track that reminds me of the little parper dragons for Chinese New Year. It is compatible with their roadbed sectional track pieces. Both IMO are a bit of a challenge to use and are best suited as bridge tracks in a sectional layout. Atlas and MTL are both U.S. tie pitch. Atlas has #6 turnouts and a matching crossing. Both are easy to work with. As far as locomotives, it's hard to identify "good" or "bad" manufacturers. It's really more a matter of design date. The current production spans design from the past 30+ years. The newer locomotives have better components and manufacturing techniques and run more reliably with less maintenance and better low speed performance. The newer locomotives can be DCC'ed with drop-in decoders. For the transition era there is a wide selection of diesel: GP7/9, F3/7, E7-8-9. For steam the selection is currently limited. The only everyman locomotives are the light and heavy weight Mikado by AZL. They have also produced a number of rare brass steam: GS-3/4, Big Boy, Challenger and AC-12. Although you didn't mention it, there is a wide selection of transition era passenger and freight cars, comparable to what's available in larger scales. Hope this helps, Mark
Welcome to Z. My advice is to be extra accurate and careful with your track work. Be sure your track lays flat and has no gaps. The Rokuhan track is as reliable as the Kato N Scale track and it is a good place to start. I have modeled in HO, N and Z. I personally find Z the be the most rewarding. Happy modeling!
Is the difference between a light and heavy AZL Mikado noticeable on the track? I know that the heavy actually had a larger diameter boiler and gross weight but in the AZL sales pictures I can't really see a difference (that would matter to me) I assume they have identical running gear. And can they accept DCC boards? And yes welcome to Z land! I'm in my first year of model trains and haven't contributed anything on the scale of a finished layout but everyone in this scale here on the forums and in person has been great! A very creative and inquisitive bunch here. It is finicky I guess and everything seems to get done via mail order but for me Z is the height of realism.
Yes their is room for a decoder in AZL's Mikado's Check out this thread for more info on them https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/azl-mikado-first-impressions-dccd.71864/
Thanks for all of your input gents - you have given me a lot to think about and a good start. I think I might do as JoeS said - buy some things (track/engines/rolling stock) from various manufacturers and see which I like the best then go from there. When the time comes, I might need some guidance when it comes to a track plan. Speaking of which, what is the "Minimum Radius" possible for Z Scale and what is the "Recommended Radius" to handle all engines, rolling stock and passenger cars?
As far as I know 220r will handle anything, it seems the big steam engines with tenders need it. 195r is very useful for most everything else. The really tight layouts use 145r but that is getting into spaghetti in a box territory. I think the larger radius curves just look great in Z, 245r and 270r look very realistic even with long cars. I guess that is the beauty of this small scale. You can make tight little layouts or busy bigger layouts or biggest and most realistic layouts!
My two cents, for locomotives is anything AZL maybe the newer GP35's from(I am still trying to find the MoPac on this though I have a shell with fuel tank and snowplow) Micro Trains. The Micro Trains F7 might give you problems plus they are can opener loud. Rolling stock to me I am a fan of anything micro trains though AZL is very nice and Marklin if you are into European rolling stock. Track I enjoy the simplicity and availability of Rokuhan.
Minimum Radius really depends on the size of the locomotive and the length of the cars you intend to pull. The Rokuhan Shorty can run on 45mm radius But the AZL Bigboy needs a minimum 245mm radius. Most Marklin Locomotives will run on 145mm radius but 195mm radius is the recommended minimum . Most MTL and AZL will run on 195mm radius but 220mm or larger is recommended if you are going to pull any of the longer rolling stock or passenger cars. Basically the longer the Locomotive the bigger the radius needs to be.
Ah, the Big Boy needs even more? As for rolling stock I just found that out this week. On my 195r test loop my new MTL SD40-2 was derailing a long AZL coil car. But My AZL ES44AC did not. It is because of the limited side to side movement of the MTL's coupler. A small car between the MTL loco and the AZL coil car solved the issue but looks rather odd and might not be acceptable in some cases. Again with the finicky nature of Z! (or maybe all scales but I only know Z) I started playing with Z on a 2x4 base but I'm making up another on a board big enough for 270r curves, it will only need to be a few inches bigger. To me it really depends on what you want to run. I have a NOCH Cortina layout which uses 145R and it is terrific looking European mountain scene but IMHO it only looks good with the small older era Marklin trains. That's my dense layout. For a home modern diesel layout I imagine I'll do something longer with big turnarounds, an American scheme on a distorted barbell shape. The only way I can really see myself getting into modules is with the new T-TRAK-Z I've seen recently in the Ztrack magazine. These are small enough to be easily transported even on a plane and would allow super detailed scenes on a manageable scale, dioramas in fact, but adding simply decorated transition blocks could allow the assembly of something large for show.
Welcome to Z scale Wombat. I've nothing more to say about pros and cons of our beloved scale, all has been said above. Maybe also because MTL SD40-2s couplers are body mounted, as AZL ES44s have factory truck mounted couplers (what I'm changing on my own AZLs as I can't accept anything else than body mounted - for better appearance - MTL couplers - for switching duties). Dom
Yes, I noticed that the MTL couplers are body mounted (which looks great) and I remember that my AZL locos supplied parts to convert to that prototypical arrangement. So with AZL we have a choice. With MTL care must be taken when choosing cars on smaller radius tracks.
