Point-And-Shoot Finale
When last we wrote of our camera for Z scale saga I had just purchased a used Nikon 8800 bridge camera and was waiting on its arrival. The Nikon 8800 was built to be a bit more than a standard point-and-shoot but short of a DSLR, a bridge between the two. The 8800 arrived and […]
Waterfront Project | Part 2
After what may have been a bit of overthinking things (I do that occasionally) I’ve decided to make the Waterfront Project a shelf layout with switching capabilities and of course with an emphasis on the scenery. I’ve decided on a size of 48” long by 12” deep, a good size for a Z scale shelf […]
Z-Panzer Eyeing North America?
I received an email earlier today from Andy Hart of Z-Panzer, a company based in England producing WWII military models in Z scale. I own several of Z-Panzer’s models including their BP42, Panzerzug armored train set; it’s an amazing thing to see on the desk in front of me. I also have Andy’s recent model […]
Beginning In Z Scale 1:220
The Marklin Company of Germany has been making model trains since the late 1800’s and in 1972 introduced their Z scale model trains to the world. At 1/220 (commonly written as 1:220) the size of real […]
Santa Fe Diorama
Our new desktop wallpaper is brought to you by Ztrack Magazine and features two very cool recent Santa Fe releases. We have a pair of Santa Fe Budd cars by AZL and these are traveling over the Micro-Trains Line through-girder, Santa Fe bridge. The scene is a recent diorama I completed here at Ztrains to […]
Dave Frary | Blue Ribbon Models
If you’ve ever walked into a hobby shop and looked at the book rack or picked up a copy of Model Railroader, you’ve likely seen Dave Frary’s work. Dave has written the definitive guide to model railroad scenery in his book, How To Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery, now in its 3rd revision. In addition […]
The Three Foot Rule
The three foot rule in model railroading generally means that if a model or scene looks good from three feet away, it’s a good enough piece of work. An alternate definition comes from a Linn Wescott article and defines the three foot rule as the distance the average person can reach comfortably into their layout […]
Tim Warris | Fast Tracks
With the the continuing growth of Z scale model railroading we’re seeing new products and techniques that only a short time ago were the sole property of the larger scales. The Fast Tracks company of Ontario, Canada now brings us a wide array of fixtures, tools and instruction on how to build our own Code […]
Lance Mindheim | The Shelf Layouts Co.
Just when you think you know a little something about model railroading you find there’s always more to learn. Personally I find this one of the more fun aspects of the hobby. There are always new doors opening, always new and interesting facets to dig in to. I recently drew up a small plan for […]
Waterfront Project | Part 1
I’ve got my Waterfront Project kits all lined up from Micro-Trains, lots of really good water-themed structures here… now I need to design the layout around this theme, I need a look. As I wrote in the previous article this is going to be a protolance layout, so I have some wiggle room on prototypical […]
