What made you choose Z scale... finally!

For me it was an instant "I've gotta have it" moment while visiting the Smithsonian. They had it in the gift shop, I'd not seen Z scale in person before, didn't like the size of the other 2 scales I had at home so it came home with me. Took time off to concentrate on the garden railroad but then had to answer the beckoning from that little train in the box

I looked at Z in the '80s but chose #1. This time around I did N, but wanted a small
layout in the office too. N was just too big for what I wanted to do, so I thought I'd
give Z a try. Well, the rest is history, no more N {and I had sound & everything}.Now it is just Z and that's all there will ever be!

My brothers had h0, but when my time came to play with the trains everybody felt that something smaller would be better. Since they had Maerklin we went to a shop that sold that and as the only smaller gauge they had was Z I started in Z. Not much tought or research went into it. I did regret it a bit later as N would have been more suitable (cheaper, more choice, more "playable"). But these days I'm glad I stayed with Z.

45 Years ago, my older Brother got his first Märklin HO Trainset and every year he received additional stuff like Engine, Cars and Tracks. We had a lot of fun to build all that Faller and Kibri Houses and light them up. Thousends of good memories
Choosing Z happends a bit more then 20 Years ago with some Startersets and 1993 with the release of the ALASKA A-B-A Set I've choose USA

I hate to say it but I came to Z out of pure, unjustified, arrogance. A friend of mine was exhibiting a simple Z scale layout (one oval with two passing loops and a freight siding and I had offered to help out so that he could go for meals etc. I had always had a fascination for 'small' items and fell in love with the trains immediately. I had looked round the exhibition and, while there were some excellent layouts, thought I can do better than the others. I had been collecting N scale for my retirement hobby but thought that Z would be best as then the layout could be on one board limited only by the space in my car. So, a year later I went back again and exhibited my layout as a work in progress. It is also a test bed for my still-to-be-started N scale layout.

I have to admit that N scale is still my favourite but I am amazed at the quality and operability of Z trains.

All the best,
Chris.

Jurg,
Ah, Karin will think you are very wise and a good choice to begin with ARR. Her favorite, so you are in good company.
Loren

Purely a matter of space, once I'd decided that it would all work well enough not to be frustrating. I live in a two bedroom apartment and the second bedroom, while reasonable by today's standards, just didn't have enough space for an N scale layout plus a spare bed, wardrobe etc.

We (I wrote we, because here it was a family decision) choose Z because of the space available. Since we don't have a spare room, or a basement or a usable loft we had to limit the scale. The only other option would have been N-scale back then. Another reason was the community I found while searching for information on the net before we purchased the first starter set. First I found the Z-scale list and the answers I got on my first newbie questions were not only very informative, but also the way in that it was given was so that I decided that here I would feel at home. I said I because this side of the hobby is left all to me, since my wife don't want to sit at a computer when not at work. Only when I find something interessting I pull her in front of the monitor so that she can enjoy it too.

Therefore I would like to thank all those who helped us starting and who encouraged us to finally choose Z.

I got into this when my father passed. He was a brass scratch-builder in HO. WHen my brother and I split up the collection, my wife said "you don't get a room you know..." So I started looking at shelf layouts for HO and ran into the Z and the wife shrugged and said "ok"...the rest is history!

Doc

I got into Z because it looks cute.

Andy, that is what all the people say who come to train shows! But very few of them decide to do Z scale anyway.

I had struggled with N-scale for a while, but still found it too big for the places I was living (small apartment, then small condo. unit). Several years ago, I was attending the Pacific Science Center Show , and spent quite a bit of time with "Z-Ambassdor" Jim Glass, and marveling at the Z-scale modules (I didn't realize that what they were, then, but I do now). Flyer from a LHS in hand, I was soon several dollars poorer, but on my way in the hobby.

Mike

I discovered Z while based at Ramstein AB, Germany during Desert Storm in 1990. I attended a train show in the town and also thought about Fleischmann "Piccolo". I then thought about the amount of space that as an aircrew I had in the transit quarters on base and it appeared that Z gave me more. There was a local train group that modeled
small 1m dioramas them put them all together at their weekly train meeting. So, I was hooked and when I returned to CONUS and Dover AFB, I still took some of my trains on the aircraft when I would have a mission to Germany and run them on their club layout.
I really miss those guys.

Robert

I was going to build an HO carnival diorama, and thought Z would be a great miniature train ride for my carnival. I got my first Z Marklin set, set it up to see how it ran, and that was that. The HO carnival stuff is still in the boxes and the diorama turned into a whole lot bigger Z layout under construction now.

Todd

First a little about myself... My father (and I) was playing with TT scale trains when I was little. I got my first set when I was 2 years old (a br80 with 2 donnerbuchses). When I was in elementary school, my father built a layout for me and after a few years I even figured it out how to wire it for automatic operation. Probably this is why I became an engineer. When I was a bit older this layout was crushed during a move, so for some time that was the end of it for me. (I still have my old trains tough.) Not much time ago, when I wanted to start again, so I would do something as a hobby that is _not_ playing computer games, especially not MMO-s. (very bad for your health, job security and even for your family) Since my currently available space is even more limited than it was when I was a child, I had to find a scale that can be packed away and moved. When I had to choose between z and n, I choose z because:
-it's smaller
-the models i like look better than most n scale stock
-i like the classic mechanical and electric design of z scale, it's more servicable
-real metal steam locos are my favourite
-most catalog (non exclusive) models are designed for playing (without being manufactured as playtime category items), so there are less parts to break off (steam valvegears are especially simple and robust, not to mention the robust maerklin couplers)
-the set track system is simple and haven't changed in a while, so you can connect every piece
-everything was backwards compatible, so you were able get spare parts for a 1972 br89 even after 30 years
-there is no official digital system, so i can either run analog or build my own
-it's around half the size of TT (1:220 vs 1:120)
-i can get all the trains for my choice of time and space (epIII/DB )
-i really meant _all_, because mostly it's only one company and only a few models
-i could fit a small layout into a suitcase (and i did exactly that, including turnouts and 2 train cab control)
-if i ever have the time, i could fit a huge layout into the footprint of my old one (1x2 meters or 3x6 feet)

After moving 3 times in the last 4 years, I think the choice was good to use a really small scale (and store everything in a metal coffer). If I had lot's of space, I would have gone and started collecting old and rusting 0 scale trains or if I had lot's of money I would have gone and built a 1 scale garden railroad with live steam. In the mean time, Z scale is what female members of my family like, because it looks cute...

There's that word again...
cute!

Finally a scale that was managable in a small space with intricate detail and reasonable pricing. Went through all the scales growing up and thought it would have ended with N Scale but, despite the variety, the equipment was too mass produced and seemed lacking in quality control, as far as irregular details and coupler designs, granted MT has their couplers in N but at the time I was in it couldn't find them to give the hold on the scale. Granted started with Marklin set and their couplers but, converted when I got back into it in 2007 and have been enjoying it since.

I wanted initially to build the Tehachapi Loop to scale. Z was the only option in the room where I plan my model railroad in my countryside home. To this prospect I purchased an heavy stock of Z scale stuff, motive power, rolling stock, track, turnouts, etc.

Since then my projects had been changing but however I stick to Z scale because:

1) it allows me to build a small layout (55" x 38") with broad curves (14" radius) in a small hold in my downtown appartment.

2) it will continue to serve my purpose of having broad curves and building a full freight yard in a small area even if my future layout will be broad (20' x 13')

3) I don't want to part with my rolling stock including a good number of AZL locos...

Dom

I chose Z scale mostly because of it's unique samll size.

I choose Z scale because smaller is cheaper, RIGHT? RIGHT? RIGHT?