Thank you, Kurt, The layout you see is about 1/3 of the total. See first picture on page 1. The other 2/3 are not yet ready. We are forced to build everything modularly because we only have a small room under the roof for the construction work. And only when all modules are ready they get the finishing touch and in consequence look like one big layout. BTW, excellent strategy for transportation to exhibitions etc. Best, Sven PS: As an example, this is more than 3 meters in Z ! PPS: I plan to store all more or less final pictures here: https://www.trainboard.com/highball...e-in-liechtenstein.125241/page-2#post-1097817
Sir, your work is far, far beyond incredible. I'm blown away at the details. This is the greatest layout for its size I have ever seen. Thank you for sharing. Jt
Sven and Dirk. A couple of additional thoughts as I have just ended scrolling thru this thread (BTW. I'd pay to see this layout.) You've dispelled a few notions that I've had. Z-people always looked much too static and I've avoided putting them into my modules for this reason. Not any more. I see what can be done. Z-scale steam locos lacked detail. Not any more. What the heck did you do to get that effect? You are real artists and THIS is real art. It is model railroad choreography. Well done. I've got a couple of questions. What method(s) did you use for weathering the track? Track brand? My railroad is constructed similar to what you are doing. In small modules. I have space constraints like you do. Storage of the modules is easier than trying to navigate around a layout. I make my mini-modules in several sizes. None larger than 1'x6" Some as small as 3x3" They get put together like a jigsaw puzzle. Honestly, I've never run trains. Haven't had a layout since I was a boy, but have been following z scale since '94. No rush. I feel like I need to learn everything over since seeing this. WOW!!! Jim
Dirk is one of the three editors of Trainini ( https://www.trainini.de/Downloads.html ), the "Free, electronic magazine for railroad enthusiasts in the scale 1:220 and Prototype". The international edition is in english. Raildig is so kind to run the archive of all the international editions: https://www.raildig.com/introduction/trainini-magazine/ . From May 2017 onwards Dirk showed month by month very detailed how to landscape, make water, woods, forests, dunes, rocks, little villages with a cute church and much more..... It is really good stuff, I believe ;-)) Best, Sven
Here the focus is on the two chessie cars: But the "fireball" at the far right needs some explanation, too, at least in Z-scale. This is how the first third of the train looks like. Best, Sven
Ok, what do you think about this background scene? Early 70ties ? Thank you for your help! Best, Sven
Absolutely terrific !! Those who say you cannot put any detail with Z scale are just suckers. BTW, Sven, do you operate your locos on weed embedded track as we can see on page 1 of this current post ? I'd be curious to know how you protect their gearings... Dom
As you can see from this helicopter perspective, Dom, We leave the tracks clean from any kind of weed. In close vicinity, but too far away to do any harm to the locos, we planted. Hope this explains. Best, Sven PS: Of course different when unused, as an example the old coaling track on the right side and the fully used track on the left:
That's a great background, but you have the F40PH I want!! AZL came out with all those great Superliners and the Lightweight cars, but no power from the late 70's thru the 90's to pull them, except for those darn GE's!
Billboards. A typical cityscape in the US is covered with them. Way back, some buildings were entirely covered in them. I use graphics from vintage matches for a lot of mine. Some are quite unique. Jim
I feel your pain, Kurt. Currently we are hunting down the last FR left over shells. Let me know how many you would need and which paint scheme. Best, Sven PS: Some pictures I took long time ago for Harald - fyi Best, Sven
Honestly, we have to confess this perfect damage was created by Louise, see him below on inspection duty!