Civil War Era Transfer Dock
Here’s our new kit build from the Micro-Trains Line of US Civil War era laser kits, the Civil War Transfer Dock (MTL #499 90 961). Like the ventilated shed kit we built last time, I like this transfer dock because it’s not a structure you see every day on a layout. This kit absolutely does […]
Paasche H Airbrush Parts
What I like in particular about the Paasche H airbrush is its ease of use and as important, the ease of cleaning an external mix airbrush. This brush is about as simple as they come but it’s long been considered something of a workhorse in hobby painting. When using a Paasche H airbrush, you really […]
Civil War Era Ventilated Shed Kit
Micro-Trains Line has a new series of N scale trains and laser cut kits based on the US Civil War era of 1861 to 1865 and I thought I’d take a look at a recent kit in the series, the Ventilated Shed (MTL #499 90 959). With a footprint of just 2” x 3.75” and […]
We’re Now Raildig.com
Ztrains.com officially has a new name and new web address, Raildig.com. Ok, so what’s a Raildig? Well we started with Model Railroad Digest, pared that down to Model Rail Digest, then Rail Digest and in a moment of editorial clarity we arrived at Raildig. We were going to hold off on the new name unveil […]
Ztrains.com Gets A New Name
We’re making some changes here at Ztrains.com; the most noticeable right off the bat is we’re changing our name. In a week or so, we’ll no longer be Ztrains.com. Now we’ll still be working in and with Z scale trains of course, but we’ll also be looking in to some of the other model rail […]
Glyn Valley Tramway
In our last article, I mentioned we’d be looking in to other flavors of model railroading here at Ztrains and we showed a short video of a British Nn3 layout by Mark Fielder. We also used a photo of an Nn3 locomotive in that article produced by PECO, A British model rail company. I’ve known […]
Nn3 Scale Modeling
Recently I’ve been thinking about a relatively close relation of Z scale, Nn3. N scale narrow gauge, or Nn3, in practice is generally N scale model railroading on Z scale track. The models are N scale; the track is Z gauge, or 6.5mm. As I go along, I’m sure I’ll be corrected on some of […]
The Figure-8 Plan Resolved
In our previous article, Inaccuracy In Track Planning?, I looked at why a simple Figure-8 that looked good on the back of a Rokuhan track package couldn’t be replicated to a 100% degree of accuracy using AnyRail track planning software. As I mentioned in that article, I’d write to both Rokuhan and AnyRail and include […]
Inaccuracy In Track Planning?
Last night I wanted to put together an article on breaking-in locomotives using a Figure-8 track plan built with Rokuhan track. I fired up my copy of AnyRail track planning software and created the basic Figure-8 track plan shown on the back of the Rokuhan 90° crossing package. I quickly ran in to a snag, […]
Evangelizing Z Scale With YouTube?
Recently I’ve been to looking at what’s popular in model trains videos over at YouTube, trying to see if we can adapt any new evangelizing ideas to Z scale. I’ve been surprised at what ranks high in the online video world when it comes to model trains. As YouTube is the second most popular search […]
