My Z-Scale SD45

[SmolderZ]

I want to show off my Z-Scale SD45 here , I got it for a few months, the track isn't ready yet so it's waiting in my vault.

To bad it was broken, here a closeup of the truck, can you see the damage?

But no worries, I think I can get a replacement truck.
It's still a amazing brass Z-Scale model, American Z Lines makes them. Including shipping costs and the extra costs at the custems it's pricetag is 720USD, and I got 2 more in order

+3 Sante Fe C44-9s

+2 more SD40T-2s Tunnel Motors

All together they will cost a fortune, can you believe I'm a 19 year old student?
I just started with my American Z scale module and I gathered a lot of information about the American railroads, but I still got some question, I hope you guys can answer them.

 

[Drew1125]

Hi SmolderZ!
Welcome to The Gauge!
All the time we've had this N/Z forum, I think you're the first person to feature something from the Z scale faction!
Wow! Size isn't directly related to price is it?
No wonder you have to keep them in a vault! those tiny things are like fine-cut gems!
Can't wait to see some pics of your layout!
Once again, Welcome aboard!

 

[Catt]

Hi SmolderZ,welcome.Those little lokies are really impressive. Please post some pics of the others when you get them.

Please ask all the questions you want. There are alot of great modelers on this forum.I think you will find that we are the most helpful bunch on the web .

 

[SmolderZ]

Great to hear, I need all the help I can get

I forgot to mention that these locomotives have brushless engines and are so silent that you can only hear the gears and the wheels tapping on the rails.

Now this is an old track design of my first 2 modules I'm going to build (305x80cm):

I got the tables and most of the rails, I don't have the turntable yet but that one will come when the plan is finalized and I'm ready to build everything.

I love a turntable, but I can only house 3 locos there, I got to redesign some things to get a extra roundhouse in there so I can house up to 6 locos. And there should be a coaling and sanding area for a future BigBoy!

The upper yard wich consists out of 5 lines right now could be a little longer because I got 28 husky stack trains here that won't fit, I wish I could keep them together on 1 line + 3 SD45s. There should be a container yard with cranes too.

You see one line going around the yard and the turntable, I thought this would keep the yard trafic free when I'm doing some switching in there, but I changed my mind right now and it would be more fun when having trafic on the yard, makes it more exciting

I'm going to study Ray Metivier and SD90s layout more closely, these guys are thinking big!

 

[SmolderZ]

I've been Autocad'ing for a few hours

And this is what I came up with, it's a nice base, maybe I add a extra yard, but I'll have to gather more information about Z scale buildings.

 

[hemiadda2d]

WOW!
That is some sweet macro shooting!
What kind of digicam have you got?

Neat locos, too! That's the first I have seen closeups of AZL products. Do they use Marklin drives, or is this a new drive? I hear these beauts are brass, is that true? If so, that explains the pricetag.

 

[SmolderZ]

The digicam is from a friend, I believe it was a Canon, I'll ask for the right name.

The drives are new, and yes these locomotives are brass.

 

[SD90]

Nice locomotives SmolderZ, how much smaller than N scale are these loco's? Do you have any N scale locos or cars for a comparison? The detail is amazing for such a tiny engine! The SD45 is one of my favourite locomotives, next to the SD40-2, and SD40. I I would love to see 3 of them pulling a train on your layout! Make sure to keep us posted on your progress! Welcome to the Gauge!

 

[SmolderZ]

The SD45 is 95mm long and 15mm wide, I don't know if you have a N-Scale SD45 for comparison

I do have the same 6-wheel diesel locomotive in N and Z scale!, same colors and type, if I putt those together you can really see the difference between the scales, I don't have a digital camera at hand but I'll post a picture some day.

There won't be much progress on the track, I want to buy the second and third SD45 first and that's gonna take a while. When I got those I want to putt some money in the track and complete the first 2 tables, then I'm going to save money for the C44-9s and finally for the SD40T-2s, I hope I got money left for some hoppers and grain cars!

Z-Scale is sooo expensive, if I had chosen N then the whole track would be done by now , but it's ok, I love Z-Scale, the smaller the better. I only have to save some money for the locomotives now, the rest isn't that expensive.

 

[SmolderZ]

Well I did some brainstroming today in AutoCad and this is the result:

You see 2 gray lines with red boxes at the end, those are 2 rails with 2 red container cranes on them.

You can see a BigBoy Yard, I really love that locomotive and I've been told these locomotives come to Z scale some day so it's getting its own coaling and maintenance area. I just found out that a BigBoy would be 18,4cm in Z scale and it wouldn't fit on the turntable! , so I'll have to redesign that part.

You see the building with the question mark?, well I don't know what it's purpose is!, I seen them on Ray's layout too but are they used to load up grain cars or is it something else?:

 

[RAY METIVIER]

SmolderZ

Yes to your question, it's a loadind building. Did you get my e-mail?

 

[SmolderZ]

I recieved it but I don't need the catalog Ray, many thanks anyway

 

[Blake]

SmolderZ, I thought static ship models in 1/700 and 1/1200 scale were crazy (and I build them occasionally). Z scale operating trains must be completely over the top. It's so cool that you are modeling Z and doing it seriously. I do BIG SCALE (well compared to your stuff) I do N scale!

 

[SmolderZ]

I got some N scale locomotives, they are gigantic in my opinion

I've been working on the trackdesign today, now it looks like this:

 

[amtraktim]

Z Scale

Z Scale look better then i thought

 

[Matthyro]

WOW here I thought that N scale was as small as I would go but when I see how good these Z scale ones look!!!
Good looking track plan too SmolderZ.

 

[SmolderZ]

My dream has come true, someone build a Big Boy in Z scale!

Mr Yuji Kuwabara build the locomotive from scratch, and o boy it looks good!

Here's the Big Boy standing on a track placed on a cd-rom, now you know how big it is, it's huge for Z standards!

Some more:

 

[SmolderZ]

Under the boiler pics:

Some facts:
Cast polyurethane (CR300) body with lead embedded
Cast polyurethane driver center
Cast polyurethane side rod and truck side frame
Styrene and cast polyurethane details
Nickel silver piston rod
Nickel silver handrails
Nickel silver scale diameter driver tire turned using the Taig Micro Lathe II
Duracon scale diameter wheel (pilot, trailing and tender) turned using the lathe
One piece brass engine frame milled using the lathe with milling attachment
Brass and nickel silver piping
Decaled rivet instead of actual mold
Home made decal
MicroTrains(TM) coupler
Marklin locomotive gear
Faulhaber Motor

I want to see this baby moving! I hope you guys like it as much as I do, sorry for the many pictures

 

[Matthyro]

That is one beautiful loco SmolderZ
The detail is amazing.
The more photos the better.

 

[hemiadda2d]

Great shots, SmolderZ!
I have some Z, too, well, my WIFE does... I almost begged for the AZL BN SD45 I saw at Caboose Hobbies in Denver... If they had it in GN, it would have been all over but the cryin'!!!
MT Z scale F7 next to an N scale SD40-2: