Ztrains: Z Scale Basics: Levels

Share | |

Add Interest To Your Scenes With Levels

In building on our previous Z Scale Basics article which dealt with ballasting your Micro-Track®, I thought we'd now take a look at levels. This article is less of a specific how-to and more of a try-this.

Even if your layout is set in the desert... there are specific features and land contours to be modeled. By raising the level of your track, even by just a small amount, you allow for a world of possibilities and ultimately a much more satisfying layout experience.

One of the more common topics people write to me about when building their layout is height, or specifically the lack of height. Many times people will begin their layout by laying the track right on the base of their choosing be it plywood, MDF or foam boards. It's not until most builders are well into construction that they realize they've boxed themselves in a bit. By laying your track on the lowest part of your layout, the base, you don't leave room for land features such as gullies, rivers or even simple land contours.

Also in this article is our answer to several requests we received regarding Micro-Trains® Line, Micro-Track®. Readers wrote in and wanted to see our sectional track ballasting technique shown in a fully sceniced context... here you go!

To start off with, let's have a look at some prototype railroad shots that are often modeled as "flat" by model railroaders.

Not So Flat
As you can see in the images shown above... areas that are generally thought of , and modeled, as flat are not. There are often gentle rises and falls in the terrain, healthy embankments, washes in the desert, etc. By raising your lowest level of track off the layout base by even and inch or so, you allow for the addition of these interesting features.

For this article we've built a small scene to illustrate just how much of a difference even 3/4" in height can make when designing and building your layout.

1. Go Vertical.
Even if you're not building a mountain scene in Z scale, we strongly recommend going vertical. By building up, you can add great interest to your layout with minimal effort.

2. Ballast.
In our previous article we used

Woodland Scenics Medium Gray, B82 ballast. In this scene we've used Woodland Scenics Fine Gray, B75 ballast. In addition we used the Woodland Scenics N scale culvert, C1162.

3. Fence.
We used the

Micron-Art brass security fence, 91495

4. As Always... Experiment!
We've shown you a very basic scene here... add more bits and pieces to your trackside scenes to create your own style. As you can see even a modest amount of height can add a lot of depth to you scenes. The more interesting your scenes are to look at ... the more fun they are to work on and of course, to run your trains on!

5. Further Reading On Levels
Ztrack Magazine published an article on this very topic several years back in their

January / February 2005 issue titled "Planning a multi-layer layout".