Z SCALE MODULES IN THE WORKS

so, one of my plans for myself and the train club im a member of is...

www.T-TRAK.org

to have some sort of reperesntation of Z scale T-Trak at the train shows every year.
i had asked the president of the club if he wanted me to propose to the club to make these modules (which would include allocating some fundage for it) at one of the meetings. he never got back with me.

i had handed him some paperwork from the T-TRAK site for Z scale T-Track, last december...
tried several times to bring it up in a meeting beause the club now owns some z scale train cars (no engine as of yet). and i got shelved for another meeting, many many meetings.

finally i just asked him, after a meeting if he wanted me to go ahead and make some then id have them to show the clu, for them to decide upon, or not.
thinking for that was, if they said there was no need for them, or "how would they be transfered, blah blah" or "who would monitor them, blah blah blha" id have them, regardless, and when the club wated to use them, id have them for that reason...

took long enough to get my z scale INTO this club to begin with, but thats another long story for another post...

so, as soon as he agreed to allow mw to just go-ahead and make them for myself to show the club, my next issue was...how would i get them done? craig has no tools to cut anything with...(i really do need to get him some tools for holidays, just build up a set of tools).

i was talking about this at one of the last meetings--or was it when we visited him at his house? i dont remember now, lol (within 3 months) and one of the guys (who i adore! LOVE HIM!) said hed be willing to cut the modules for me...

so ive been waiting for a paycheck that was free and not seriously committed to any funds so much...
and i emailed this guy.
asked if he had looked over those plans and had an estimate for me for cost of materials, and labor included to cut this stuff...

he emailed me back, said he thinks he has most of the materails on hand at his place, and says he thinks to cut them, hed do it for $10-15 per module...not too bad a rate. heck, im not even sure what the cost for materials would be so his qotes fine with me...

anyway, hes gonna cut everything.
i told him id be willing to assemble it, to give me something to do...

then we have to think about track, and purchasing Z scale track.

ive been looking for Z scale structures...
found a CD for sale on Ebay that has over 150 z scale building plan for papaer modules on it..
i was thinking of  printing up the digrams, and then either gluing them to blocks of wood the size they are, or cutting styrene and using the print as a template, might just be easier to glue them to blocks...theyll need some stiffer structure if they will be moved around allot.

cd was being sold for 9.99...gonna have to get that.

this will be so good to have, because we can customize these independent modules anyway we want too, and have any season, any theme, any era wed like on them...
and they arnt that large to begin with...so portability is easy...

MICHELLE

T-TRAK BUTTON IDEA

since i was on such a creative streak with my own division within the train club and making a shirt and buttons, i felt i could go as far as to venture into another division of our club...T-Trak.

i have a couple of modules that the club uses for shows often, but i dont run any trains on them for any reason.
but i AM part of that because i own some modules, and am currently trying to get a module done that is a carnival scene. WITH animation, and lights...

back to my reason for this post...

because i have an attachment to t-trak, i decided to create buttons for that division.

i even put the copywrite (C) on the t-trak name so there wouldnt be any confusion as too ownership and use of the name.

MICHELLE

Z SCALE CLUB SHIRT/BUTTON IDEA

i have tossed around the idea, for a while now, to have a club shirt for MY division of the OKNRAIL train club.

i dont usually participate in anything (much) to do with N scale...even though i do own N Scale cars, and engines. i never run this stuff on the main layout.
and i do own 2 of the modules in T-Track (in N-scale) when thats at shows as well.

i try to focus more on MY scale. which is Z

so, i have a division within the club,m that i actually have a few other members in...
and felt there should be a way to distinguish the difference and yet still be IN the club. not trying to be SO separate as to appear to be a whole different club all together.

the club has Blue and Yellow as its colors.
and it so happens that yellow is MY favorite color...

so i thought, because i mess around on Zazzle.com sometimes to make different custom stuff, id go fiddle around and see if i couldnt make a Z scale T-Shirt, to represent the Z scale division within the club.

so i did.

the front has the Oknrail logo on the chest pocket area

close up of the chest pocket logo design

i felt like the back could be used to explain the Z scale and its differences...so i Wikipedia this info:

i also, because i know some members would prefer to wear the club shirt over my design, made buttons as well. so they can wear those and still represent...

everything on every design can be custom designed. as you see i have my name on the button above.

MICHELLE

OK NRAIL T-TRAK SHOW- NORMAN, OK LIBRARY

T-GUAGE IN MACRO VIEW

im STILL amazed at the details on this small itty-bitty model train i own.

i was goofballing down at the club and took these shots of soe of the buildings and scenic stuff in MACRO, which is a higher quality shot when your taking something close up. which in order to see clearly, has to be done in order to see ANYTHING in these tiny little things.

as a note, the buildings have actual floors, and the floors themselves house a variety of differnt things depending on the building itself.
the office building had desks, and file cabinets, and a staircase.
the home has a 1st floor with a couch and tv, stairs to the second floor, which it has a bedroom with a bed and dresser in it.

unfortunately you can t see that, even in the macro shot. ill have to disasemble them and take more macros of just the interiors.
my question has always been...WHY? with even the naked eye you cant discern the details to any great degree, would you even think to do that?
my husbands answer to that question is: "because they can."
i suppose.

hers the pics. ENJOY!
MICHELLE

me holding my yellow t-gauge

look how small this thing actually is!

my t-gauge next to a standard sized stick of gum.

ON the gum itself.

T-Gauge House. if you look closely in that top window you can see theres somthing 'dark' in there, thats some peice of furniture on that floor.

another shot, "dark object" still there.

same house, now you can almost make out the bed and dresser in this shot.

i lost the bottom floor somewhere, apparently. it has a couch and TV set on it.  wouldnt know that by looking at these few pics tho, very empty in there without at least a floor.

Building, shot of the stairwell

sorry about the tape. the parts done all go together and fit perfectly. the bottoms like to fall off and out, so i taped them.

front of the same building, and you can barely see the floors have objects on them.

different building

again, each floor has something placed on it for depth. great in a macro shot, but to the naked eye, almost impossible to even see that detail.

Z Scale house (chewed lovingly by one of my dogs) and my T-Gauge House. pretty big size differential.

Z Scale Caboose, and my T-Gauge Train Car.

T-Gauge in the front, Z scale caboose right behind, and an N-scale brass caboose furthest back.

sorry about the quality. my T-Gauge against the N-Scale caboose.

t-gauge people and animals. Horses, and cows, and other things i cant exactly make out due to their size. i think its all livestock, or barn animals. by the way..ALL PAINTED!

my husbands fingers to show how very small these items are. i dont think youd see them actually On a display. youd certainly never miss them, and could possibly never find them if they fell off...smaller than a grain of rice these are.