Ztrains: The 2005 Z Scale Convention Car

The 2005 Z Scale Convention Car
The Summer of 2005 will be remembered in the Z scale community for the inaugural Z Scale Convention held in Columbus, Ohio. Organized and sponsored by Ztrack Magazine, the Convention was planned to coincide with the National Train Show being held in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio within the same week in July.

Rob Kluz, editor of Ztrack Magazine, asked me if I'd be interested in designing a commemorative box car he was planning as a gift for the Convention attendees. I had previously collaborated with Ztrack on a Marklin 2 car set, so I looked forward to again working with Rob on this new project.

My previous design for Ztrack's Marklin car set was a bit more on the fantasy side of the design grid, certainly it had a European flavor to it. For this car however, Ztrack chose to go with a strong US influence. A Micro-Trains 40' steel box car with a sliding door was chosen as the design base. These cars became very popular in the 1940s due to their strength, long life span, and low associated maintenance costs.

Billboard On Wheels
Some of the most memorable prototype railroad artwork in history has appeared on the 40' box car, more than once referred to as a "billboard on wheels". The idea behind the Ztrack commemorative car was to capture some of that flavor. From the outset there were 2 design criteria that had to be met. First, the car had to "look like it belonged". That is, Ztrack wanted the car to look like it would belong in a prototypical freight consist. Since the 40' box car has had such a long life (there are still 40' cars in service today), the idea was to design a paint scheme that would successfully bridge the gap of several decades. The post WWII steam to diesel transition era seemed like a good candidate for our build date. The second design criteria was to give the contemporary Ztrack Magazine logo a bit of a throwback look. If Ztrack Magazine had been around in the 1940s, what sort of design feel would it have had in its artwork?

After researching such elements as period design tendencies, typefaces, and many actual railroads of this era, the Z Scale Convention car was designed and built. Two railroads in particular influenced both the car colors as well as the throwback Ztrack logo: the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (P&LE) and the New York Central (NYC). Homage is also paid to many of the fallen flag railroads of the era with the Z Scale Convention slogan, "Route of the Modules".

The overriding goal for this Ztrack 40' box car was to capture a place in time in railroad history, and to bring that sense of the past onto our Z scale layouts.

Easter Eggs
In the best spirit of model railroading, we just had to have a little extra fun with the design. There are 2 Easter Eggs in this box car design. For those not familiar with the type of Easter Egg we're talking about, in this context an Easter Egg is a hidden feature or a non-obvious message that is incorporated into the design... somewhere!

May 4, 2008

TimeCast, Historic Miniatures

TimeCast of Shrewsbury, England produces a series of dedicated Z scale, as well as many 6mm, historically accurate European and North American structures that are reasonably priced... and very good.

The thumbnail photo above is actually one of their 6mm scenes with a Marklin box car in the photo for reference. Looks good from here!.

From the Napoleonic era to the fields of Gettysburg to WWII era Germany... TimeCast covers quite a lot of ground.

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