Z Pages

Creation actually began in January of 2008 as part of a New Year's resolution to get my trains up and running. I had looked at book and magazines for years dreaming and planning but finally time to make a reality.

I decided on a lightweight bench work with a quick set of supports that I could embellish later if needed. Most books seem to lean toward about 50" as the ideal height but I opted for something a little lower (42") because I thought it would be easier to work on and a better height for my kids to see.

The framing was done with 1" x 4"s topped with 1/8" plywood. 1" x 3" cross braces were added about 18" apart for a little extra support. The plywood was left over from another project so I build the frames to match and ended up with two platforms, 5'7" x 2' and 5'10" x 2'. The legs were 2" x 3" screwed to the underside 1" x 3" supports. An addition 1" x 3" frame was added 6" from the bottom of the legs for increased stability.

All screws were pre-drilled with a counter sink bit to keep the wood from splitting and provide a smooth finish. 1" x 4" were attached with 1-1/4" drywall screws, legs with 2" drywall screws and plywood with #8, 1/2" wood screws. Corner clamps were used to ensure everything was square.

I added 1" pink foam board on top and secured it with Liquid Nails. Not the best choice as it is rather thick and it was difficult to compress the foam against the plywood and force the Liquid Nails to spread out. As a result the foam stood off the plywood a bit in some areas.

I arranged the tables in an L formation and that is where they stood for nearly a year until Ifinally decieded what to do.

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Never had a blog but now seems just as good a time as any to start one. I think that I never really had a good subject to write on but chronicling the creation of my first layout seems like a good place to start.

When I was in high school my parent moved to Japan and I went from a suburban neighborhood to living in an apartment in Tokyo. I had always looked forward to November which is when my dad and I would pull out the boxes of train parts to set up a layout for Christmas. Each year the boxes seemed to grow with more and more stuff but they couldn't make the trip with us to Japan. That is where I discovered Marklin Z. I purchased a basic starter kit and amazingly it fit on the register that was under my window in my room. I was hooked.

While in Japan I collected a few more cars and the T1+T2+T3 and E expansion sets. I even brought some of them along to college and set them up during Christmas. The real excitement came later when I discovered eBay. Years had passed between college and that moment and I had all but forgotten about my trains. After a friend had showed the eBay to me I had fun poking around at all the vast diversity of items available. That is when it hit me and I quickly did a search on Marklin. I was astounded at the listings, over 100 items!

Over the next several years I purchased items here and there and stashed them away in my basement. The trouble began when my wife found the collection. I was surprised and a little embarressed at how large it had grown.  And thus I was given and ultimatum, do something with them or get rid of them!

 It has been nearly two years since that statement and I have finally begun to create. Where it will lead, only time will tell . . . 

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