The Layout

My track plan originally started life as an N scale plan designed by David K Smith; "Port of Tillamook Railroad", sized 5' x 11'.  With David's permission I converted it to Z scale; he also tweaked it for me.

Not having a Z scale track template and really not wanting to punk down $40.00 for the Marklin template, it was time to jump into the 21st century and purchase track planning software; "AnyRail" it was, David Hoogvorst is a great guy to work with!

So I have ended up with my Z scale layout, 4' x 8' , using Rokuhan Classic roadbed track with a double mainline; 52 feet in length, 2 bridges; 1 Kibri Weser Bridge #37669 and 1 MBZ Large Stone Bridge #16013, there also will be a Peco turntable with 2 Nansen Street 3 stall American roundhouses #044. There is a water feature in the plan; I'll be using laser-cut wood structures, Micro-Trains waterfront series and possibly one from Stonebridge Models.

Starting in the bottom right hand corner the mainline will start its incline; thanks to Woodland Scenic’s for doing the math, I can use bulk foam and shape my own incline. The mainline then passes through a mountain staying elevated across the back and making a turn for the bottom left hand corner crossing the double track bridge and starting the decent to layout level. The mainline then crosses the second bridge and into a hillside and exits the hillside to continue traveling along the mainline or into the yard.

What I'm excited about is that I'm going to try using real stone for my rock ledges. I was able to find at a local stone yard some 'Cherokee Sandstone' veneer. I've cleaned a couple of the pieces and sprayed 2 coats of gloss and 1 coat dull and they look awesome, the colors really pop!

The other structures, is a grain elevator and silos by Z & N Models, 2 firsts there; first Z scale structure I've assembled and the first card stock model I've assembled. Once you get the hang of the card stock assembly it’s not bad and looks pretty damn good! There also is an Ice House and Icing Platform by GC Laser, have not assembled that one yet but I have done other structures by those guys and I like the finished product. The jury is still out on whether I want to put a town on the layout; it would be in the center back of the layout.

That's about it for tonight, until next time.......