"Z" Scalers

I've notice that there are a lot of you guy's with really good layouts. Some better detailed than some of the layouts of Model Railroader web site. They have very few of us "Z" scale layouts on there site and Model Railroader is not for just HO, O, G, S scales but all scales. We need to let them Know we are here to. the more we let them know maybe the more people will make "Z" scale products. I know this sounds crazy but we have to be crazy to work on these very small layouts and they look as good or better than some of the larger layouts. But some of us have "N", "HO" and know how easy it is to fine things to put on your layout. I get Model Railroader in the mail and not one "Z' scale layout is in there, their are new products but not many shown in model Railroad. We have "Z" scale Mag. but Model Railroader is for all scales !!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I put mine on there so lets show them what we have!!!! Theirs may be bigger but not better!!!!!!!

Thanks,
Walter

That's why I don't buy Model Railroader

BILL

I agree with Bill_O. There is a long history of Z-scale being ignored by the "major" rail modeling magazines. It is not that folks haven't tried. I am sure their are other folks with more knowledge about this.

We have talked about this before in the past. "They" say it is because nobody has written up and submitted any articles on Z layouts.

Taking the specific example of MR, they actually started out in a crazy way in April 1985 - this is what Russ Larson wrote in his editorial: "What's the future for Z scale? I think it can be very good. If Marklin is able to sustain its promotional efforts (...) I think it could even give N scale a run for second place in popularity in the next 5 years."

Crazy. To be fair to MR, they gave it another try in February/March 1986 with their Western Pacific modular layout - and you could still only get an F7A.

Maybe it is indeed time to make the people at MR understand that this is no longer a fairground attraction modeling scale but "real" model railroading. Maybe it would indeed be a good idea to strategically flood them with input at the same time, to make them realize the diversity available today in comparison to yesteryear?

Or is the current generation of editors just not interested by way of principle? I don't know, haven't read MR in donkey's years...

MR has touched upon Z, but not with any real interest. I believe the last article run on Z scale was about Robert Allbritton's Gotthard layout. This would have been in 2007 or 2008. The real issue is that MR is not in touch with the Z community. Last year, I commented in my Trackside Perspective on how MR missed the boat with their 'small layout' issue. They focussed on compact N and HO layouts, but did not even mention Z once. If you are writing on small layouts, how do you not acknowledge Z?

They well tell you no one submits Z articles, but that is not true. I know many individuals who were turned away from MR. We have happily run these same articles in Ztrack.

I would love to see more Z in MR. I think it would go a long way to promote our scale and keep it visible to MR community. I do encourage all of you to at least try.

But here is another interesting thing. I just received my latest issue of MR. All 86 pages of it. Yes 86 pages for a magazine that covers all scales. Our latest issue of Ztrack is 44 pages. How is it we can operate a scale specific issue and run at 50% of the page count of MR?

But too be frank, running a magazine is not easy and that is where I understand the challenges MR faces. We are always looking for editorial such as how tos, layouts, and fresh ideas and approaches. The Z community is amazingly talented and we wish we could share more of the talent with our readers.

We also face the real need for more subscribers. There are historically more Z scalers today than ever. Yet Ztrack struggles to keep 1,000 readers (not including hobby shop sales). We should be much higher, but then again, this is just the way it is today with print publications.

But I digress. Yes, send in those submissions to MR. But do so with realistic expectations. Please though, don't forget about Ztrack and the work we do to support the Z community. We are here for you and continue to invest money in promoting and growing the scale. The magazine is key for this strategy.

If you are not a subscriber, then get started today. Here is a special offer to get you going:

www.ztrack.com/seven/

Rob

Rob is quite right, folks.

I know, 'cause I'm a happy Ztrack subscriber so if you can't find any Z in MR, well... you know where to find it and I highly encourage you to do so

Sorry, off topic but - thanks Rob for an excellent editorial and publishing job

Adrian