John, I bought mine at Nile (bottom link in my first post). I'm guessing that they just changed the latch. Mine just has an extra "over center" latch between the two combo lock latches. Adding the extra latch would be easy. I used to do it on my travel tool cases all the time. Putting extra latches on the sides of my tool cases would buy them an extra year of useful life. Nile was a little expensive for me because the boxes were large and shipping cross country. That's when I found the place in Ohio. But, since you are a west coaster, nile's shipping might not be bad. Dan S.
Hi Dan, I guess we are in the same boat. I found your case (three latches) at a place in Florida so I too will pay across the country shipping. I ordered the large case and 16 1 1/2 inch trays to begin with. I will see how they work and order other sizes if need be. I won't be taking too much rolling stock to shows, so I might install thin blocks on the sides at the bottom to create a space to put tools and other things under the trays. This will be much better than making several trips with boxes of stuff. Thanks for sharing the pics and your experience. John
John, I made a tray for carrying tools (I haven't used it yet). It has an oval of MT track, a ZtheK snail speed controller, a precision screwdriver set, wire cutters/strippers, needle nose pliers, an MT wheel cleaner, LaBelle oil, a couple of swabs and brushes, etc. It all fits in a 1-1/2" tray. So, if I use the 12 tray box, I have to replace 3 1" trays with 2 1-1/2" trays. I haven't decided what to give up, yet. Of course, I could switch to the larger case with all 1-1/2 trays, and just use 1/2" foam ring pads as covers in the trays. Hmm. Dan S.
This magazine issue doesn't have any Z but I am sure it is coming. Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine - Download issue 1! This is Joe Fugate's new on-line / down loadable Model RR Hobbyist magazine. This first issue is 77 woo woo woo long and has more interactive bells & whistles plus high quality photos than you can shake a stick at. It will probably take you several DAYS to read it all. It is hard to believe this good a quality can be supported by just advertising. Price is right - FREE ...don
O.K Z Modelers. here is an offer to get Z published and out in the limelight. The problem seems to be we have some excellent modelers but no one knows how to type. ...don Don: Thanks ... we will try to include Z scale in any tables that shows multiple scales in the future. As to articles, none of the staff are Z scalers, so we can only publish Z scale articles if we get Z scale article submissions. If you can beat the bushes of your Z scale buddies and encourage someone to send us a Z scale article, we'd LOVE to publish it. It's not for lack of wanting to that we don't have any Z scale-specific coverage in issue 1. If we can get Z scale content, we'll gladly publish it. --Joe Fugate Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine
Joe, I think Don hit the nail on the head. We love to build and run, but we hate to write.....that must be what is wrong with Z scalers, suppose? Loren
What a fantastic Magazin! The little Colorado Layout is the best Layout I've seen for years! That's something for Torsja
Just signed up for my subscription!! On a side note, I know there are a couple of architectural companys out there that make stuff in almost any scale for anything, isn't there?
Since last discussing the cases, I have bought a large one and small one. I took the smaller one to the Portland train show, but the handle doesn't extend high enough to comfortably use it (and I'm not very tall!). I had bought some three inch trays which I prefer to the one inch versions. I have ordered some more three inch trays and will use them with the large case from now on. Since I don't plan on taking a lot of rolling stock to shows, I will use the space to stow tools, my DCC system and loose buildings for my modules. These cases are built very well and in my view, reasonably priced. I bought mine from www.fdjtool.com. John
