| Have
you ZZeen it?
Modules in Z-scale; Zmod
The building has
started for some Zmod
z-scale modules. It has been many plans, but now the building
has begun.
See more abot the standard
here: Zmod
Stay tuned and come back soon for an update:
Last update:
03.02.2006 21:04
Status from the
layout on 15.01.06:
Status from the
layout on 14.04.05:
I lot more
have been done on the landscaping, but there are still a
lot of detaling that should be done. Now it's very close
to the weekend's zmod-show, where we will run our
modules on saturday and sunday. (www.zmod.no)
It's only the electrical connections that need to be
installed before train can run on the module. So it will
be taken out of the road in this unfinished stage. |
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Status from the
layout on 10.04.05:
Ballasting of
the track is finished. Only some cleaning and weatering
need to be done. The rocks have got color and a lot of
the landscape are close to finish.
The roadcrossong is under construction, with the road
and the different buldings. Many options here, but I
think I will have a farm with some horses and a few
other buildings around the crossing.
The river still need coloring, some rocks and "water". |
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Status from the
layout on 04.04.05:
| Today some
pieces of rock molded in plaster are installed beside
the track to form the sides. Some pieces have been
colored before. All the pieces are blended into the
surface using plaster. Next step will be coloring. |
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Status from the
layout on 28.03.05:
Today a
culvert is installed under the track. In the early plans
a bridge should be used, but I had this Woddland Scenics
culvert i N-scale already. I think that will fit my
modul.
The riverbed and the different levels can be seen,
created with pieces of plywood. |
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Status from the
layout on 22.03.05:
Today 2
operations have been executed: The cutting and fastering
of the track on each end of the module. The tracks are
soldered to small screws and the powercables have also
been installed.
Another major activity done today are the painting of
the tracks, using an airbrush. Humbrol Track Rust color
from each side and flat black from topside, to darken
the sleepers, gives a good result. That can bee seen in
the right picture where you also can see the last jewel
I have got, the PRR GG-1 electrical loco from Märklin. |
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Status from the
layout on 21.03.05:
Slow progress
last weeks, but finally I have continued with some
landscaping.
The basement for the river is installed tonight, the
wire for the landscape is installed and the first layer
covering the landscape. This time I want to use wire
instead of foam for the landscaping. Next step will be
to install the culvert where the track crossing over the
small river. |
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Status from the
layout on 05.03.05:
| A lot of work
have been done the last week.
The tracks have been installed today
and the landscaping have just started. |
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Status from the
layout on 27.02.05:
| The
construction of the new module started this weekend and
the woodwork is now close to be finished. |
At left
picture an early stage in the construction can be seen.
On the right picture, a 1:1 drawing of the layout is
placed on top of the module. Some trains, buildings and
cars are installed to test the scene. I think this will
be fine, so the contruction will go on using the initial
plans. |
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Status from the
layout on 26.02.05:
A new module
has been created and is under construction. It will be a
small 120 cm long module, with a scene where the highway
is crossing the tracks in a small town, with some houses
and little action.
Stay tuned for the development of this module.
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Here is the
plan for this new module created using 3rd PlanIt. You
can see the footprints of some buldings and the road
crossing the track. May be some townbuildings, a
gasoline station and a farm can be developed here on
this land.
A bridge need to be installed where the track cross over
a small river and the track creates a small valley on
the other end of the module.
The tracks are going over to the other side of this
module, so it can be used to switch side on the modules,
so the back side will be the front side and front be
back. |
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Now, at 08.12.04, when the building of this module is finished, the
action continues on the modules own page:
Status from the
layout on 08.12.04:
New modules must be made,
to make som more action. One easy way, is to make
endmodules and small stright modules to connect together,
behind the main modules. Some examples of configurations
shown in the sketch.
May be this can be build soon? Who knows. I have some
days off during Christmas time. I have started other
layouts in that time before, so may be this year also?. |
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Status from the
layout on 14.11.04:
It has been a long time
with no new pictures, so I guess it's time to show the
current situation on the module. Only a few minor things
remain to be done.
Watch the action in the valley on this pictures. The GS4
Daylight with the fruit cars is meeting the E8 A+B with
coal. Both models are from AZL. |
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Status from the
layout on 15.09.04:
| The river start to get the
finished shape. One section is near finish, on the other
part the river still need to dry. A lot of bushes and
ground foliages have been added the last days. A lot of
more detailing shall be done, but it is slowly a
progress on the module. |
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Status from the
layout on 26.08.04:
| Tonight both sections are
prepared to install water in the river. One section has
got the first layer of water in the river, and it begin
to be a real scene. |
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Status from the
layout on 17.08.04:
| Both sections are now
close to finish status. Tonight the ballasting of the
tracks are finished and next step will be the riverbanks
and to paint the riverbed with a dark color before the
water can be finished. |
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Status from the
layout on 15.08.04:
| The landscape on one
section has come closer to finished status. Still mor
bushes to add, but the overall feeling begins to look
good. Now the rocks have got some more colors, some
black wash and some white highlighting. The trackbed and
river are still not done. The surface is still wet after
the glue/water solution, so the colors will change a
little when all are dry in some hours. That can
specially be seen on the right picture. |
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Status from the
layout on 13.08.04:
| The first layer of
landscape cover have been installed tonight. Still more
to do about the color, its to little variance in it at
the moment, so when the paint is dry, more different
colors will be applied. The blending into the rock will
also be better. Both sections are at the same stage, as
seen in the right picture. On the top left part on the
right section, the colors are better. |
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Status from the
layout on 12.08.04:
| The bridges have been
finished, all rockpieces have been blended together with
plaster, all tracks have been painted and the first
coloring of the rocks have taken place on both sections
of the module. Even a small part of the section in the
right picture has been colored on the flat areas. A lot
of work have been done the last couple of days and I
look forward to finish it even more. Some more coloring
need to be done. I have only used 2 colors until now Raw
Umber og Burnt Umber. A black wash and some white
drybrush shall be done, to have an even better result. I
really like to use plaster as a base, because the colors
you get, is very nice, compared to paint an opaque layer
with paint. A wash with water and a little color, do the
job, and the colors look transparent. |
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Status from the
layout on 08.08.04:
| The work to finish the
portals have been done and one of the bridges are under
construction. The plategirder bridge is created using 4
length's of N-scale plate girder beams. More work is
still to be done, but hopefully the finished result will
be good. In the background on the left picture: The
beams for the other bridge. The Märklin F7 is doing the
first testrun. |
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Status from the
layout on 05.08.04:
Tonight have the portals
been installed and missing rockpieces are glued on. Only
the 2 single portals are not finished yet. The portals
have been painted flat black and will be given concrete
color later.
Left picture shows one end of the module. In the right
picture the bridge is not installed yet, but the portal
is in place. |
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Status from the
layout on 04.08.04:
Yesterday was near all
plastering of the rocks finished. I run out of plaster
so I need some more....
Tonight I have been working on the tunnelportals, a
total of 2 singletrack and 3 double track portals, all
made of cardboard. I
have used the same design as for one of the portals on
Tunnel 10 in Tehachapi Loop. A picture can be seen. Some
more work need to be done before they can be installed
on the module and the rockwork can be finished after
blending in the portals. |
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Status from the
layout on 01.08.04:
Finally some more have
been done on the module. After months with no action, I
have finally started to mold rockpieces, glue them onto
the module and blend the different pieces together using
plaster. Now all pieces are clued onto the module and
half of one section is finished.
I love to use this pieces, it's fast and they give the
best result with little work. The structures in the
finished rocks are very natural, which is more difficult
to have if you carve the structure directly into the
plaster. |
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Status from the
layout on 26.07.04:
| Read about the action on
28.03.04:
MJ-bladet vol 2-2004 has an article
about the action with ZMOD on 28.03.04. Read
my own article online (only in norwegian language) PDF,
size 1.1Mb
More info about MJ-bladet can be found
on www.mjf.no
(PDF-reader must be installed to read
the article)
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Status from the
layout on 03.04.04:
| For the first time ever,
the ZMOD modules have been on the road this spring.
Watch the action here. Take a look on
the videopage.....
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Status from the
layout on 31.03.04:
In the weekend the module
has been out on the road, in the show held by the
Norwegian Model Railroad Assosiation(www.mjf.no)
on saturday and sunday. Tor-Jørgen Moskaug and myself,
connected together our modules and run a lot of traffic,
both Casey Jones, GS4 Daylight and a coaltrain with F7
ABA and a lenght for over 10 feet. My modules did not
have a finished landscape, but Tor-Jørgen's was
finished. See more at the zmod site: www.zmod.no.
Stay tuned for a video from the action, available soon.
Pictura at right: 10 feet with action, F7 ABA coaltrain. |
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| Casey Jones in action on
Tor-Jørgen's module. |
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| Tor-Jørgen
at right and Svein-Martin at left, behind Tor-Jørgen's
module, very satisfied with the weekend.
A lot of action with
Casey Jones and the AZL GS4 Daylight.
More pictures by
Tor-Jørgen can be found here. |
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Status from the
layout on 24.03.04:
| Tonight I have build the
legs for the module, so its very close to be able to
connect the module with other modules. I have also near
finished the baselayer of landscaping on one of the
sections. Over the station I used screenwire covered
with one layer of gasplaster. On top of that I can glue
the moldings of rock and another thin layer of plaster
to finish the landcscapebase. The F7 with 3 coalhoppers
can be seen in the rivervalley. |
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Status from the
layout on 23.03.04:
| Tonight the first
styrofoam were installed to create the landscape on the
module. I will use a combination of styrofoam and
screenwire. On the right picture you can see the
riverbed at the left side of the track, and also the
rockwall made by storyfoam. The wall shall be covered
with platsercastings of rock, to create a natural look. |
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Status from the
layout on 21.03.04:
| All tracks are now
installed and all tracks are aligned between the 2
sections. All internal wiring are finished and the panel
to select tracks and power, is installed. The panel has
a 4 position rotary switch, three for each track to
route the power to the station track in use, and one
position for no power on the tracks. The same rotary
switch route the power to the selected turnoutmotors
that need to be aligned depending of the track that are
selected. To align the turnouts, only 2 buttons are
needed, one to align the turnouts to the maintrack, and
one to align all turnouts to the selected station track.
On the left side there are 2 switches for routing of
local power to each of the maintrack, if necesarry. The
same switches can be used to route power from mainline
and to the stationtracks. On the right picture, you can
see parts of the wiring behind the panel. Still
some cables to connect.... |
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Status from the
layout on 16.03.04:
| Now all tracks are
installed, only the alignment between the 2 section need
to be done on the hidden station. Wiring is not finished
yet. Very soon now can the painting of tracks start and
also the creation of the landscape. |
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Status from the
layout on 15.03.04:
| The maintracks have been
finished tonight and the necesarry wiring to test the
track are installed. See one minute of action for the
first time on my new zmod-module, where the AZL GS4 and
a Märklin F7 A-B are running on the tracks. The tracks
on the station and all the landscape are still missing.
Next step is to paint the track and continue the work.
Watch the video here; you need Windows Media Player to
run it: Run
the VIDEO. |
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Status from the
layout on 14.03.04:
The maintracks are now
very near finish, the only missing part now is the
connection between the two sections. Today the tracks
are aligned at both ends, ready to be connected to
another modules. Screws have been installed and the
tracks have been soldered to the screws so they will be
hold in correct position, see the right picture.
The rivervalley are also plastered today, so the
landcsape is started to get in shape. All tracks for the
hidden station need to be installed, before the girders
for the landscape will be installed. |
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Status from the
modules on 13.03.2004
The last weeks have the progress been slow,
but now both sections plywood base are finished and tracks are
under installation. There has also been a small design-change
on the trackplan, to make the scene a little more interesting.
Below, on the left side of the layout, the 2 paralell
maintrack are widened just before entering the tunnel, to
create 2 single tunnels instead of a doubletrack tunnel
entrance. This will give a more interesting scene. More
pictures from the module will shortly follow.
Status from the
layout on 29.02.04:
The second section of the
module is already come a long way. On the right in the
picture, the first section with roadbed installed, can
be seen. On the second section, the complete roadbed is
still missing.
The whole construction is very light, and it will be
easy to handle the whole module by one person.
Next I will install the riverbed. I will not use foam
this time, but traditional methods with crosswire(right
word?) covered with i thin layer of plaster and rocks
molded in plaster. The main reason for not using foam,
is that I need all space I can get for the station under
the landscape surface, and I want to paint the river
directly on the plywood bottom.(I know I can paint it
also on the foam, but I do not want that this time) |
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Status from the
layout on 28.02.04:
The building
of the first Zmod-modules has finally started, after a
long time of planning, and many different
configurations. This module, will be a stright module,
length 240cm, with the Zmod-double track visible in a
rivervalley, with some great rocks and with a hidden
3-track station, connected to one of the main tracks. It
will give me the possibility under operation, to set up
new trains, without interupting the traffic on the
maintrack. The length of the hidden tracks is up to
180cm, which let me setup some long trains, ready for
action.
The module is 240cm long, divided in 2 equal length's,
for easier transportation and handling.
The picture at top, left, the drawings in scale 1:1 is
layd out on the floor, and the right picture shows one
of the sections.
On bottom right, the drawing created from 3rd PlanIt,
shows the crossections and the complete length profile
of the 2 frontboards. The drawing is plotted in 1:1 and
used directly to cut the plywood with correct geometry. |
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Extra wide image: 1200
pixels |
Status from the
modules on 10.02.2004(Updated again 14.02.2004 with more
images and some changes in trackplan)
A new variant of the modules from 03.02 is
created, this time with both tracks visible in the valley, and
a hidden station connected to one of the tracks. Even
more action with this configuration. Good on shows.
  |
See the 3D view of the layout:
The valley with the river and doubletrack action. Can
you hear the rumbling between the rockwalls? |
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Status from the
modules on 03.02.2004
Another new Zmod based modul-layout plan has been
developed. I love the planning stage,
were I can sit and dream. Here is a modul with a deep valley
with a river, one track is visible, the other is covered by
the mountains, and have a hidden station. It may be build?
Another dream is a modul
from the westcoast of USA, the SP's Coast Division, where I
can run my orange SP Daylight Express and my passengers can
look out on the waves on the ocean beside the track. Today I
received the March 2004 issue of MR, with some Z-scale scenes,
just like what I have in my mind. Great!!
Status from the
modules on 10.07.2003
A new Zmod based modul-layout plan has been
developed. The old plans from 11.11.02 are gone and may never be build.
The new layout will be a simple layout with very few tracks
and a lot of landscape. Good for running trains at shows. A
hidden station under the mainpart gives some more flexibility.
In both ends, more Zmod-modules can be attached. More details
will be added later on the drawing, or the building will start
soon.
When the modules are in my house, they will be installed below
the mainlayout. The left endmodule, will be located in the
closet, below the helix on the mainlayout. The two layouts
will not be connected together and will work as two separat
systems. Block control will be installed, so more than one
train can run automatically.
The scenery will include a ranch, a mine and a few bridges.
The landscape will be dry american desert, with much brown
colors. There will be 2 tunnels, one to hide the turnouts and
the track to the hidden station, and the other to give the
possibility to create a miningarea on the upper right corner
of the layout.
All major tracks will be on level 0, the hidden station will
be just below. The modules will be build as light as possible,
for easy transport. There will be no backdrops on shows, so
the layout can be viewed from both sides.
Hopefully some more modules will be build by
other Zmod-modellers, so the tracklength can be expanded.
The inspiration for 2 scenes on
the modules come from Model Railroader: Point on the picture
to have a better look:
Status from the
modules on 11.11.2002
At this stage I would like to have 2
modules, each 90 cm in length, with Zmod interface in the end,
so it will form a 180 cm long modul, with zmod configuration.
In the time between shows, I
would like to set it up in the same room as my mainlayout. The complete modul layout can
also be set up as a circular layout on shows.
The modules also have some
cornermodules and a station, hidden from normal view(The brown
area). With automatic traincontrol, a lot of different trains
can be run on shows. Its also easy to expand with more modules
from other modellers.
The configuration on
shows. This can easy be expanded.
The configuration used with the main layout,
at home.
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