So, here is my current Z scale layout. It's all of 20" by 24" and uses Rokuhan track. I enjoy running it, when I'm not busy with writing and everything else. I built it at the beginning of the year. I laid down earth ground cover then painted it white to simulate snow. This layout features in my current run of model railroad videos on YouTube. I'll post the link to the September video in a day or two. I'll also post pictures of the cars I've 3d printed that I run on the layout.
Thanks for all the comments! As promised, here is my September model railroad video: I will post pictures of the cars as I get around to it. I think tomorrow I'll start a thread in the Swap Meet section about the 3D designs I have for sale. Feel free to watch my older videos too. Have a great day!
The buildings are solid prints, so there's no ability to put lights in them. I've found that if you don't make buildings solid prints, at least in Z scale, you have bridging issues with the roofs of the buildings (such as rough spots or actual holes). It would be possible to print buildings as separate pieces, but for such small structures I'm okay with them being a single print.
Nice structure, simple and perspective. 3D trees? Really gives it a ‘real’ cold Winter feel ( would have a bit later in the year though . . try black masking tape for the gravel roads, has just the right Z texture. (BTW, great avatar! )
Thanks! I cannot claim to have done it. A friend & fellow author on TikTok, who is also an artist, does these "chibi reader/author" avatars. She asked me early last week if I wanted one. I was thrilled she asked! It's great and I'm using it almost everywhere.
Here are two photos of the cars I've printed and painted. The first one shows my version of an AAR boxcar & a PS-1 boxcar. The other photo shows my version of a steel double-door boxcar.
Here are two more pictures of cars I designed for the layout. The yellow is a double-sheathed wood boxcar. The other is a single-sheathed boxcar, more like the Fowler type of car. The angles of the braces and the small size makes it look rough in photos. I'm not sure if that's a design I put up at Cults 3D. But it was a good experiment and I have a few of these I can run, so I'm satisfied.
Here's another car I designed, a 40-foot gondola. The main inspiration for my layout is the Howard Branch of the Santa Fe. They moved a lot of empty gondolas to the Moline quarry, so I wanted to make and run a few. I plan to post some of my passenger cars here, and this month's video will feature a short passenger train.
The painting was a bit rough on these, but I designed a couple of wood passenger cars. I did a combine and a coach. They consist of three pieces: a roof, a body, and a floor. I do plan on having these two at my Cults store. I ran other versions of these cars in one of my videos. I think I'll run these two in a video eventually.
Here are two more new passenger cars. Don't know when I'll run them; maybe next year. First is a streamlined baggage-coach car based on a Santa Fe prototype. The other is a streamlined 10-6 sleeper. I plan to have both these up at my Cults 3D store soon.
