THE MORE EXPERIENCED the modeler, the more comfortable said modeler will be in working with smaller scales. we have Z, N, and HO tracks at our club and the HO guys seem to be constantly running trains while us N scalers dabble in on-the-spot shopping of our motive power from time to time and the Z scalers seem to do a lot more tidying and repairs/shopping than us N scalers, in turn, hence my opening sentence. I can tell you that there are considerably more HO scalers moonlighting in the smaller scales than Z scalers in the larger ones. The Z scalers have less trouble working on larger stuff ("wow, look at all the ROOM in here!") than say, HO guys trying to shop a Z steamer: "how do you guys do that?' And Z scale is much more expensive than the larger scales just because there is a lot less of it out there. I can also assure you ALL the guys seem to have fun and no one is regretful of the choices they have made. You'll be just fine, especially in a club setting, which seems to be a smart thing for newbies. I have also found that the smaller scale guys seem to have a lot more "McGyver" in them when it comes time to save money over buying model railroad products and repair supplies, and I think that's a by-product of engaging in an expensive hobby..... have fun cleaning and shopping.....but most importantly... HAVE FUN!!
Or he has sold his stuff after the first frustrating attemps of building a layout in this far too small scale?
I'm not a new bee but have had a Marklin set, set up since 2007 and haven't changed any thing since. I also just started into Z scale at that time. I have been using one of the older marklin transformers and Marklin Track. I haven't had any problems at all. I just keep the track clean. I have a large circle track with a smaller circle at one end three Electric Marklin turnout with one spur track . I also have a 2% grade going up and down thru a tunnel. I run Marklin Steam and MTL Engines and AZL and they all run great! So I think Marklin has good quality pieces! This layout is about 76" long and 32" wide and the only thing I did wrong was doing a single track except at the station. I wish I would have done a double so I could run more than one train and do some small operations. I haven't done the DCC in Z yet but have been thinking about it. SO with the thought of 9 years with out any major problems and still being able to run newer trains on this same layout I think I didn't waste any money and got my dollars worth. I have decided to do another layout in progress the same size as the old and connecting it with MTL track since I have already purchased quite a bit. and 14 MTL switches or turnout all electric. My pocket are pretty deep and not much in the bottom but I have none fine with Z scale.
