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Z scale, RV project

5K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  MarkVIIIMarc 
#1 ·
So it begins...

I have 500 inches of z flex track coming. 1 z scale starter set.

Selling all of my N scale goodies to my Lady's son, then using those proceeds to buy 1 more starter, and turnouts, etc.

Another friend is donating my required dimension of 3/8" plywood.. just need to rehome 1 fish and 3.5 gallon tank to free up the required end table. Perfect dimensions to support the living room end of the layout. I will use brackets secured to the underside of the comp desk to secure that end.

Ill add 1" foam to each for base.

Have no clue on track plan, but dimensions are 62" x 41" with a mandatory 1 3/8" elevation change at the end of the comp desk. (3 foot, of desk aprox then 3.5 feet of base at lower end.)

My Lady is sold on it and willing to help which thrills me to no end! Yep, she's a train geek like me. We have decided on "the wrong side of the tracks," part of town, and the "good side in the hills." Lol! Okie dokie!

Sooo, couple of sidinges, multiple tracks, lil roundhouse action, industry, mountains.... uggh.. all on that size layout. It's going to be busy. Obviously dcc.. lol.

Now to find a good home for my lil finned buddy....
 
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#3 ·
Looks interesting. Hope you found a home for fishy! Keep us posted on progress. This ought to get good!!
 
#4 ·
Well... As much as id love to say I found a new home for da fishy kid... I just relocated him to a nice spot on a shelf in the kitchen slide out lol.

I have all my flex track now, and 1 lil z scale house. Going to go next week and pay a visit to a couple of building supply recyclers for the rigid foam and thin board to glue it to.

I have a feeling ill be building most buildings and landscaping from scratch. Lots of nice "hidden" materials around here for that. Especially for making the buildings on the "wrong side" of the tracks.

I have been fiddling with a track plan, but, haven't thought up one that is quite feasable.
 
#6 ·
I'm building my setup also in the RV. I've got it on a 2x4 sheet of 1' ridged pink foam board. I've laid out my track and I've figured out my elevations... so next step is to start cutting the foam to create the mountains and valley... but at the moment we are just about ready to start our trek south back to the warm south for the winter and I've got my layout sandwiched flat between two sheet of foam board knowing that once I start gluing the elevations, moving this layout from the bedroom to the drivers dash will be a problem.
So I'm afraid to start until we are parked... somewhere in texas, maybe in November. I also haven't figured out the best way to handle my turnouts.... eventually the layout will be under glass, so manual is not an option, but I'm not sure if I want to use the powered MTL turnouts or some other....because of looks and space..... my track is all MTL. So where are you at now in your setup, it's been a while since you posted.
 
#7 ·
It's been a while in the RV

So it's been a while since last posted to this thread. Due to my mom becoming ill... she's 93, ended up staying the winter up here in the true north and got a bit done on the layout while we hunkered down in our daughters basement in-law suite.
Ended up parking the RV in a snowbank... it wasn't happy. When the snow melted, we parked the bus in a RV park near Ottawa and I got a fair bit done working in a tent covered gazebo and trouble lights.

Here I still need to ballast some spots, but I am still having some problems with the MTL turnouts. Sometimes they work, sometimes the engine hangs up. So until I get that working, I don't want to go too much farther in case I change to something different. I still need to do the ballast in most places. But I played with putting in some trees to get a feel of what I am going to get. I want to make some of my own trees with wire to resemble birch... some dead.

My layout is 2x4 in a more modern form of the Gorre and Daphetid. I'm scratch building most of my own buildings using a cricut, but my biggest problem is finding affordable 50's vehicles. May end up casting my own.
 

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