My Recent Foray Into Z Scale Paid Off...

[strummer]

...and here's why.

On accident I picked up a small lot of Z scale (I thought it was N), and have been playing with it for some months now. The MTL F7s I got are fussy little critters, and they required a complete tear-down every week or so, until I got them dialed in. They now run OK, but are really noisy, as I'm told is expected.

Anyway, after that experience N scale now seems huge, and much less intimidating (for me at least) to work on. I've had a Kato-built Atlas U25 which I bought on eb*y a few years back, and it's never run very well. Taking it apart, cleaning, lubing and re-assembling it was (almost) a snap, and am happy to say it now runs very well.

Also, since the Z scale track I've been using is code 55, I broke out my stash of Atlas code 55 track, and am very impressed with both how well it looks and and well it works. it makes the code 80 stuff look as out of scale as Lionel 3 rail...almost.

Sorry for the ramblings; just a few passing thoughts on a cloudy Thursday afternoon...

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

It's interesting how working with Z changed your view of N scale.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

BTW, eBay is not a dirty word here on TRW - you can write it, and even link to listings.

eBay  eBay eBay eBay !!

See - nothing happened - I'm not banned or burning in hell! 
Funny how the rules from the old Atlas forum got permanently imprinted in your mind. 

[pnolan48]

I found the same experience when I started building Z scale ships for folks who asked me if I could do it. Wow! Z scale is actually friendlier to ship building than N, especially with bigger ships.  (I also found I could use .015" styrene for Z instead of .020" for N, which meant I didn't have to re-tolerance everything!) In the past 30 months I've sold more Z than N--and I think part of that is because Z is just a friendlier scale for ships. I will have a huge Z scale harbor scene down in the "storm cellar" in Alabama.

[strummer]

It's interesting how working with Z changed your view of N scale.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

BTW, eBay is not a dirty word here on TRW - you can write it, and even link to listings.

eBay  eBay eBay eBay !!

See - nothing happened - I'm not banned or burning in hell! 
Funny how the rules from the old Atlas forum got permanently imprinted in your mind. 

Mark in Oregon

[coosvalley]

It's interesting how working with Z changed your view of N scale.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

BTW, eBay is not a dirty word here on TRW - you can write it, and even link to listings.

eBay  eBay eBay eBay !!

See - nothing happened - I'm not banned or burning in hell! 
Funny how the rules from the old Atlas forum got permanently imprinted in your mind. 

I'll see your ebay and raise you a foobie....

[peteski]

Mark in Oregon

BTW, when I wrote "imprinted in your mind" I was really generalizing, not specifically trying to finger you out. There are many ex-A-board members here who are leery of using the taboo keywords like eBay or even foobie.   

[strummer]

Yeah, that's what I figured...no worries.

But I HAVE to ask; what is a "foobie"? I see it mentioned here quite often, but I dunno what it means... 

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

Yeah, that's what I figured...no worries.

But I HAVE to ask; what is a "foobie"? I see it mentioned here quite often, but I dunno what it means... 

Mark in Oregon

Ah, the age old question is answered here (click on the link). 

And for specific model RR related definition, see this

[strummer]

That's more or less what I thought it meant...kinda. Thanks.

BTW, that U25 runs really well; I'm not sure why those Kato built Atlas engines have a less than great reputation. All (now!) of mine run very well and are heavy, so they are great pullers.

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

BTW, that U25 runs really well; I'm not sure why those Kato built Atlas engines have a less than great reputation. All (now!) of mine run very well and are heavy, so they are great pullers.

The bad reputation of the Atlas Kato-built RS-3, RS-11, and U25B was due to the way the electric pickup was handled.  There were no positive sprung contacts between the truck and the frame.  The electric contact depended on the weight of the chassis to press against the truck. If you had uneven (slightly twisted) track then the trucks could lose contact on one side and could make the model stall. Also, since the electrical contact was between to white metal surfaces, they would often oxidize, causing poor power pickup.

The trucks themselves also did not have a positive electric contact with the wheels (like wheel wipers or axle-poiint bearings.

That created many headaches for the modelers running those locos. But if you keep the electric contact points clean and have good track work on your layout, then these models were are very good runners.

[up1950s]

So why are there no N scale mine and logging using z gauge trains . Should they sell this stuff . Z track with mine and logging ties ? N scale narrow gauge loco's and cars to run in the new Z gauge Nn2 or what it would be . Instead of building a N gauge layout with connections to a dummy narrow gauge industry , one could build a Nn2 layout size industry with a dummy N gauge rail connection . 

[Mark W]

...Anyway, after that experience N scale now seems huge, and much less intimidating...

I can second that!  If you think Z scale improved your skills in N, try T gauge next!

These past several months I've been playing with Z and T which has added a whole new level of skills to my tool belt. 

For scenery in N, ballast, talus, and all the fabricated rock products are borderline acceptable, but so readily available I've just kinda lived with them.  In Z however, they just look completely ridiculous, so I finally got out and bought some garden slate rocks to crush, sift, and dye my own ballast, rip-rap and fall rock.  The difference is incredible, and it's insanely cheap compared to Woodland Scenic or Arizona Rock and Mineral!

Playing in T Gauge gave me the drive to try etching my own brass parts.  The first few tries were a little tricky, but again it opened up a whole new world of cheap detail parts I can now make custom for whichever project necessary. 

We had a heat wave this week, so I finally dug out the N Scale again and set up a few modules in my basement.  It's almost laughable how easy it feels to work in N again!  

[jmarley76]

Ah, the age old question is answered here (click on the link). 

And for specific model RR related definition, see this

I was expecting a link to the "Hydra-Flame"... 

[peteski]

I was expecting a link to the "Hydra-Flame"... 

LOL!  Now that was a foob on several levels!  Thanks for the (Puddy) memories.

[strummer]

Jeez, I think I have one of those cars!

Mark in Oregon