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10,902 Posts
This is a good page to find out about Z scale.
http://www.zscale.org/
Trouleshooting and everthing else.
http://www.zscale.org/
Trouleshooting and everthing else.
Z Scale Info Link
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Cool I will sticky this thread, so others may take a look. Can't say that this thread will ever get buried, Z does not seem to be a real popular scale here 
Maybe I'll get some Z and contribute a few threads on my own. Always thought it would be good for furniture layouts, ie in a coffee table..
Maybe I'll get some Z and contribute a few threads on my own. Always thought it would be good for furniture layouts, ie in a coffee table..
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It is quiet here so I thought I would fix the engine.
I may have goofed up on the engine, the armature is actually fixed on the base. It showed on the german diagram but i didn't understand it until I read the Z scale org site. The gear will have to be pulled off the shaft. I will just wait for the parts and see.
I may have goofed up on the engine, the armature is actually fixed on the base. It showed on the german diagram but i didn't understand it until I read the Z scale org site. The gear will have to be pulled off the shaft. I will just wait for the parts and see.
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10,902 Posts
Parts are in.
Walther's came through today.
Parts are in and I will have to remove the worm gear to installl the new 5 pole armature.Moan . One plan is to push the armature shaft out. With a yardsale mic. I measured about 40/ 1000th Guess what? a paper clip is slightly less. I have the chassis structure on the other side if I pull. Chassis obstructs the access to the lower armature. Not good.
So the engine is stripped found some corrosion on one axle. The old motor is dead. It didn't work without a load, (axles removed). The worm gear is sharp.
I did take some Pic,s, but no time today. I used tweezers and my smalllest precision screwdriver for disassembly. Copper contacts could use a cleaning.
You should of seen the size of the shipping box.
Walther's came through today.
Parts are in and I will have to remove the worm gear to installl the new 5 pole armature.Moan
. One plan is to push the armature shaft out. With a yardsale mic. I measured about 40/ 1000th Guess what? a paper clip is slightly less. I have the chassis structure on the other side if I pull. Chassis obstructs the access to the lower armature. Not good.So the engine is stripped found some corrosion on one axle. The old motor is dead. It didn't work without a load, (axles removed). The worm gear is sharp.
I did take some Pic,s, but no time today. I used tweezers and my smalllest precision screwdriver for disassembly. Copper contacts could use a cleaning.
You should of seen the size of the shipping box.
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24,588 Posts
Walther's came through today.
Parts are in and I will have to remove the worm gear to installl the new 5 pole armature.Moan
So the engine is stripped found some corrosion on one axle. The old motor is dead. It didn't work without a load, (axles removed). The worm gear is sharp.
I did take some Pic,s, but no time today. I used tweezers and my smalllest precision screwdriver for disassembly. Copper contacts could use a cleaning.
You should of seen the size of the shipping box.
And the size of your magnifying glass too.
I just started working with N and thought they were small. I don't think I would be able to work on Z.
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28 Posts
it's been a long time since anyone posted on the Z scale section of this forum, so I thought I would :laugh:
I wonder if this scale isn't popular in Canada and the US because you may not have the space issues us Europeans have?
In the UK, cellars (or basements) aren't common in more modern houses which normally leaves a spare bedroom (usually the smallest in the house - my train room is about 6' 6" wide) or the garage, which are generally too small to get anything bigger than a Mini in! Also, garages are unheated, not secure and we can't get gun licences very easily :laugh::laugh:
Pete
I wonder if this scale isn't popular in Canada and the US because you may not have the space issues us Europeans have?
In the UK, cellars (or basements) aren't common in more modern houses which normally leaves a spare bedroom (usually the smallest in the house - my train room is about 6' 6" wide) or the garage, which are generally too small to get anything bigger than a Mini in! Also, garages are unheated, not secure and we can't get gun licences very easily :laugh::laugh:
Pete
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Well, I think most of the train guys I know are older, maybe eyesight and steady hands play into the choices of scales.
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28 Posts
It certainly does - I wish I'd thought of that before I started. I only chose Z because of the limited space and a desire to take on this hobby.
If I could persuade SWMBO to let me have a larger area, I'd change to HO in a second!
If I could persuade SWMBO to let me have a larger area, I'd change to HO in a second!
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I've seen Z-scale stuff, it's impressive, but tiny! If I were going really small, I think N-scale would be my lower limit.
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SWMBO ???
I had to look that one up ...
"She Who Must Be Obeyed" !!! :laugh::laugh::laugh:
Love it!
TJ
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28 Posts
Hmm, nice idea, but I didn't think N scale is as prototypical - and I've been a Maerklin fan since 1962!
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45,617 Posts
What's less prototypical about N-scale over Z-scale?
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28 Posts
I don't know, as I've never really been interested in it. I'm only repeating what I was told, and therefore happy to be proven wrong.
From Wikipedia, N scale can range from 1:148 to 1:160, depending on location, which can lead to inconsistencies, but Z scale stays at 1:220
Anyway, I guess it's up to the modeller
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Well, as long as you stuck with 1:160 say for all your stuff, everything would be to scale. I agree if you mixed sizes then things wouldn't look right. O-scale has some of the same issues, there is "scale" and "semi-scale".
Now where in the world would you go to look that up?
Z scale is very interesting to me. I don't have any of it because it wasn't there when I started with trains and HO was what I could afford. Just because it's tiny doesn't mean it costs less. Can you imagine having the job of assembling those little engines and cars? It would be a short trip to Chatahootchee for me. I'd like to have some z stuff though sometime. Pete
Z scale is very interesting to me. I don't have any of it because it wasn't there when I started with trains and HO was what I could afford. Just because it's tiny doesn't mean it costs less. Can you imagine having the job of assembling those little engines and cars? It would be a short trip to Chatahootchee for me. I'd like to have some z stuff though sometime. Pete
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45,617 Posts
In truth, most of the time the smaller stuff with similar capabilities is more expensive. Don't know why the O-scale stuff is so much more expensive than HO or N, that makes little sense.
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10 Posts
I'll jump in and revive the thread!
Actually, the stuff from Micro Trains, and more recently, the injection-molded stuff from AZL is not expensive, $130 for a geep... decoders are pretty cheap too if you run DCC.
Regards, Greg
update: just realized that I helped further derail the original intent of this thread.
I do have some information and links on my site:
http://www.elmassian.com/trains-mainmenu-27/z-scale-mainmenu-108
Actually, the stuff from Micro Trains, and more recently, the injection-molded stuff from AZL is not expensive, $130 for a geep... decoders are pretty cheap too if you run DCC.
Regards, Greg
update: just realized that I helped further derail the original intent of this thread.
I do have some information and links on my site:
http://www.elmassian.com/trains-mainmenu-27/z-scale-mainmenu-108
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28 Posts
I don't have issues with the couplers, generally.
Sometimes, on older carriages, they can be a bit stiff (or slack) but they're not complicated!
Sometimes, on older carriages, they can be a bit stiff (or slack) but they're not complicated!
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239 Posts
The swmbo person is hard to deal with. We live in a four bedroom house, just the two of us moldy oldies, and dammed if i can have a room for an N scale layout. Have considered Z scale myself. Z on a door might be interesting. First, I want to see someone's z scale stuff in operation however.
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