Tag: full-image
US Road Dimensions
I received an email late last week from one our readers here at Ztrains, asking about some specific American-style road dimensions. Nothing like getting it right from the horse’s mouth so I took my camera on the road, almost literally. Here’s the road question from Ryan: I am making a road on my Z scale […]
HOS | Hardened Oil Syndrome
HOS stands for Hardened Oil Syndrome, a condition found in older Marklin Z scale locomotives where the loco does not run due to congealed, or hardened, oil in the gears. We utilize a pair of older YouTube videos in the article to illustrate, the quality of these videos isn’t quite up to new video camera […]
More From Showcase Miniatures
I recently wrote about a very cool new pick-up truck in Z scale from Showcase Miniatures. Here it is just a short time later and I felt compelled to again highlight this company. I got a few more of their vehicles this week, I popped their “F” Type Day Delivery Tractor out of its bag […]
Red Rock Reworked
I don’t know what it is about this desktop layout, I just can’t seem to leave it alone! I find myself going back, again and again, reshaping this, adding that, etc. I think I have the basic shape now in place after the most recent changes. Of course, I’ve said this before. I’m still not […]
Juergen Faulhaber | Marklin
As a result of the still recent (March 2013) acquisition of Marklin by the Simba Dickie Group, based in Fürth-Stadeln, Germany, many Marklin Z enthusiasts here in the US have been wondering what this means for the future of Marklin in Z scale. Immediately following the Simba Dickie sale, we contacted Juergen Faulhaber, Marklin Mini-Club […]
Showcase Miniatures
I really love to see existing manufacturers opening up their product lines to include Z scale, as Showcase Miniatures has just done, with some much-needed high quality pieces. Vehicles such as trucks are hard enough to come by in Z scale, to find great looking US-style trucks is even more difficult. I came across this […]
Red Rock Layout Spires
As I began working again on our Red Rock desktop layout, I was looking through lots of online photos from iconic areas in the US such as Sedona, Arizona and the Colorado Plateau. These are such beautiful areas; I wanted to try to bring a bit more of this feel to our desktop layout. Building […]
A Rock Outcrop Made With Water Putty
I came across some photos recently on TrainBoard in the HO section and enjoyed these images so much I contacted the model builder, Michael Cawdrey of Brisbane, Australia, and asked if he’d write an article for us here at Ztrains. I was really taken with Michael’s groundwork but what I didn’t know at the time […]
Where Is Marklin In 2013?
When many of us in this hobby think about small trains, Marklin and Z scale really are synonymous. In the past couple of years though, there were financial issues with Marklin including a 2009 insolvency filing in Göppingen, Germany. Companies (and countries) around the world had major financial issues after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, […]
The WLE Track Plan
This material is a supplement to the Westphalian-Eisenbahn GmbH (WLE) article and track plan in the January | February 2013 issue of Ztrack Magazine. Recently I was talking with Rob Kluz of Ztrack Magazine about a railroad webcam in Germany featuring a crossing on the Westphalian-Eisenbahn GmbH (WLE) in Lippstadt, Germany. Rob decided to write […]














