I’m curious where is that shop n the Baltimore area? I accidentally found a HUGE train store in Wheaton, MD. They are collocated with a gun shop called Engage Armament.

We have a little one on the way right now. I remember as a kid how much I loved the N gauge trains my father gave me, I would like to pass on a similar experience to my son.

That’s great to hear! Tracks with inclines can be tricky to do well so I think be leaving them out, at least until you get a good feel for the trains, is a good idea.

On controlling the trains with a 9VDC battery, the Marklin smaller sets did come with a 9VDC controller… of sorts. It’s either on or off which means the trains travel way too fast or not at all.

A nice option is the Snail Speed Controller, sold by Ztrack Center. It allows for really nice slow speed control, you can see them here:

http://www.ztrackcenter.com/electronics

John
Ztrains

Judy

One note on the silver polish, I stopped using this as the dried polish bits left over can get drawn up into a loco’s mechanism.

I tend to favor balsa or bass wood cut into small blocks and soaked in alcohol. This gives you a mechanical as well as a chemical cleaning action.

In rare cases, I’ll use some 1000 grit sandpaper if the rail is badly oxidized. This is basically wet / dry sandpaper used to remove “orange peel” from new car paint.

The real trick however is to clean your rail often enough so it doesn’t require any drastic measures!

John
Ztrains

By the way, a little silver polish on a damp paper towel is a cheap and easy way to clean Z track.

Judy

Good to hear you’ve dug the Z scale out of the basement, now you’re cooking!

As the brick and mortar hobby stores have become more scarce, Z scale too has become scarce in many hobby stores.

Actually Z scale has thrived and grown through the internet, lots of online choices for buying Z scale today.

In recent times Marklin has had major financial issues and as a result, their offerings have decreased. Not all bad news though, companies like Micro-Trains and American Z Line are producing wonderful trains with much improved motors (over the Marklin motors) than run incredibly well.

As far as other brands working with Marklin track… virtually all of these other brands will work with Marklin track.

John
Ztrains

There used to be a bunch of hobby stores that carried Marklin Z around here (Baltimore, MD), but apparently none are left. They all have Lionel or Bachmann now. And there doesn’t seem to be much Marklin Z online either. Will other brands of Z work with Marklin track?

-Judy

I meant to mention this…

If you contact Rob Kluz over at Ztrack Magazine (http://www.ztrack.com) and mention Ztrains.com, he’ll send you a free issue of the magazine!

John
Ztrains

Glad we could be that jolt for you!

Coming to Z from HO is a big leap, lots of time we see N scalers coming over. One thing I’d suggest to get your feet wet in Z is to start small. Ok, no scale size pun intended.

I’d pick up a small amount of track, maybe just an oval with a turnout or two, a loco and a good controller. See how Z feels for you.

I’m sure you’ll be taken with Z scale and I’d like to make sure you get started on the right foot!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us here at Ztrains.com!

John
Ztrains

PS. To get you started, if you contact Rob Kluz over at Ztrack Magazine (http://www.ztrack.com) and mention Ztrains.com, he’ll send you a free issue of the magazine!

The layout I had was definitely not portable and I was forced to tear everything down and pack it away. After reading your article on Z scale I am once again ready to jump back into the hobby. This is the perfect size for me as I am sure that sometime in the next few years I will be moving again. This time I will make sure to build a layout that I can move right along with me.

Thanks for the jolt of inspiration.