Most commonly, the real trains and railway systems of this world inspire people to want to recreate them in model form. However, there are many ways and many channels through which the incentive spark may catch on; here are some sources of inspiration which had an impact on me.
 
 

JAMES RIVER BRANCH LAYOUT & WEBSITE
 
There are many interesting websites created by modellers of all scales and gauges, but when I came across David K. Smith's Z Scale James River Branch layout and website by chance in late 2011, I was completely fascinated - not only by his superb modelling efforts but also by the approach (you might even say philosophy) to modelling in Z Scale which he formulated.
 
I was so taken by the simplicity of its trackplan and the complexity of its visuals and how it all came together that I felt this to be the almost perfect layout concept for me. If imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery, as 19th century English author Charles Caleb Colton put it, then my subsequent trackplan doodling was nothing but paying the highest respects to David K. Smith and his layout.

In the end my planning diverged, into an urban setting double track layout which ultimately never got built. But it was the James River Branch which set the wheels in motion again for me with regard to Z Scale modelling (which I had dabbled in a bit during the 1990s and early 2000s).

The layout was destroyed in a shipping mishap in May 2012, and when the companion website (which had documented construction of the layout in great detail) went offline sometime in 2013, a great source of modelling inspiration disappeared from the web. For a while, some of the content could still be accessed through the Internet Archive, but as of 2016 even that partial access was no longer available. However, "DKS" had pity on the modelling community, and his James River Branch webpages are back online.

Apart from specific modelling "clinics" which come with a lot of friendly and sound advice, the website also provides a number of trackplans which Smith had adapted to Z Scale, complete with parts lists for Märklin, Micro-Track and Rokuhan.

  


(c) David K. Smith
 
  Beautifully rendered and enhanced with a portrayal of their respective main characteristics and layout building suggestions, they are in themselves a treasure trove of inspiration.

At first primarily dedicated to documenting the concept and progress of the James River Branch layout, it ultimately grew to be a hub of information - and inspiration - on Z Scale modelling.

Smith's efforts were miles above what I will ever be capable of doing (such as scale handlaid track) but that never bothered me for a second.

  
 
Because what stuck from his layout and his website and what inspired me was the realization that one of the prime qualities of Z Scale is, quite simply, the ability to have a lot of creative fun thanks to its reduced size. On top of that, David K. Smith showed that false starts often are, quite simply, part of the modelling process.

And so, many years of accidental modelling later, my Z Scale model railroading may not bear much outward resemblance to David K. Smith's James River Branch, yet most of what is there goes back, in one way or another, to that small layout and that big website. In addition to the actual webpages, another way to get a glimpse of the James River Branch is an article in Ztrack Magazine that featured the layout in its January/February 2013 issue. In addition, Smith's youtube account features a video with previously unpublished photographs.

 

  

 
 

PROTOTYPE
 
Along with layouts, modelling books and hobby websites it is, of course, the prototype itself played a huge inspirational part in my Z Scale modelling.

The atmosphere of real trains is sometimes so concentrated that one picture alone captures it all, frozen in one moment of time. And so, in addition to other material, I started collecting original slides that reflect this perfect railroad atmosphere in many different ways and various settings.
 


CN SD40, Sarnia Ontario, 1968
Adrian Wymann Collection

  


CSX GP40, De Land Fl, 1997
Len Kratz (Adrian Wymann Collection)

  


SAL E7, Richmond Va, 1966
Wiley Bryan (Adrian Wymann Collection)
 


CSX C40-8W, Wildwood Fl, 2014
Adrian Wymann

   Various trips to the US provided the opportunity to railfan in person and introduced me to contemporary railroading in CSX and Norfolk Southern territory.

Seeing the actual trains in 1:1 scale trackside made me realise that Z Scale was ideal to replicate what I was seeing: a series of "railfanning vignettes".

  


NS C44-9W, Bluefield WV, 2017
Adrian Wymann
 


UP ES44AC, Irondale Al, 2022
Adrian Wymann

  


C&O SD40, Clifton Forge VA, 2019
Adrian Wymann

  


N&W GP9, Spencer NC, 2022
Adrian Wymann
 
  There's more on how the prototype provides me with inspiration here.
 
 

BOOKS
 
There is, of course, a wealth of information and inspiration related to railroads and modelling to be found on the internet, but apart from the fact that some of this can be rather volatile it's really hard to beat good old-fashioned books both as a source of inspiration and a toolbox for modelling.
 

My first encounter with North American railroads that made a deep (and lasting) impression was by way of Terry Allen's Encyclopedia of Model Railways (Octopus, 1979). The book was nothing short of a revelation and completely changed my perspective on railway modelling. It also introduced me to the colourful North American motive power and rolling stock, and how modellers ran trains in a way that emulated the real thing. This was followed by a chance discovery of Aaron Klein's History of the New York Central System (Crescent, 1988) in a local bookstore selling overstock titles imported to Switzerland from the US (a business model typical of the days preceding the internet and international online shopping). It provided me with my first introduction to the history of a specific US railroad - and introduced me to the New York Central and its brilliantly dynamic "lightning stripe" paint scheme. I was eager for more, and the very same bookstore provided me with a copy of Geoffrey Allen's North American Railroads Today (Trodd, 1990), featuring a more general overview (and plenty of colour images). My growing interest was focused on Northeastern railroading, and I found that I could get my hands on more books through a model train store specialising in US models.

  
 

 
David Sweetland's Lightning Stripes (Morning Sun, 1990) and New England Rails (Morning Sun, 1989) then introduced me to the New Haven RR with its colourful and pioneering McGinnis paint scheme, and the fascination was pushed into top gear by way of Jack Swanberg's seminal New Haven Power (Staufer, 1988). All of these books provide brilliant browsing material to this day and remain a treasure trove of inspiration.
 
  Two books that have proven to be definitive sources of inspiration are George H. Drury's The Train-Watcher's Guide to North American Railroads and The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. Compiled back in the 1980s (I bought my copies in the early 1990s), most of the contents are therefore very much out of date - yet you'll be hard pressed to find a portrait of railroads (especially fallen flags) of similar clarity and concise nature.  
 
Both are very easy to pick up (not the least thanks to their handy format) but extremely hard to put down. Whilst you could get lost for hours in the Train-Watcher's Guide, you can easily spend entire days perusing the Historical Guide. Both books have long been out of print, although Kalmbach published a 3rd edition of the Historical Guide (which effectively combines this with the Train-Watcher's Guide) in 2013, incorporating Drury's concept along with most of his maps.
 
Adding some colour images and updated information resulted in a fine book, but the enlarged (now coffee table book size) format somehow lost much of the original's appeal.

Another casual purchase that turned out to be a deep well of inspiration is Tom Nelligan's Bluebirds & Minutemen (Macmillan, 1986), a portrait of the Boston & Maine RR between 1974 and 1985, paints a fascinating picture of railroading in New England.

Possibly an Old School perspective on things, but I feel you will usually not find the depth (and accuracy) of information and inspiration online that you can find in a good book - and accordingly, my collection of books focusing on specific railroads or aspects of railroading continues to grow to this day.

  
 
 
 

(ARCHIVAL) FILM
 
As a complement to books, film can be very inspirational too. Even when modelling contemporary railroads, and unless what you are modelling runs close to where you live, film captured by a third party going trackside for you allows you to see trains move - the quintessential form of inspiration. Documentary-style collections can also provide insight and be highly informative.
 
  In the case of "fallen flags" (railroads that have ceased to exist), it is in fact the only means of getting a "trackside impression". It's less about a specific train, scenery or location, but rather more about the general atmosphere and how things moved - although seeing a passing train can also provide insight into train consists that a still image may not.

There is plenty of archival film (originally shot on 8mm, Super8 or 16mm film) available on professionally produced DVDs (and Blu-ray discs too), and very often their quality is (for obvious reasons) so superior to your average Youtube flick that I have found it well worth spending some money on.
 
 

FIRST Z SCALE MODEL
 
Depending on era and area there are a number of iconic North American locomotives that transcend personal taste, but the EMD F7 is probably the all-time all-American emblematic diesel (labelled as such by accomplished railroad expert and author Brian Solomon in his 2011 Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units, which fittingly carried the tagline "illustrated history of North America's favorite locomotives").

The fact that both Micro-Trains and Märklin decided on the F7 for their first Z Scale locomotive is therefore both a logical choice as well as confirmation of the special appeal the F7 holds. And it certainly worked with me when I first became aware of Märklin's Z Scale US models by way of a shop window display in 1984.
 




The models - Märklin Chessie and Amtrak, Micro Trains New York Central

  

The inventor of Z Scale's Chessie freight train set, with its colourful F7, most definitely caught my attention and planted a fascination with these minute models. At the time, however, the price tag was way too steep for my 20-year old self.

A few years later, in late 1990, the price tag hurdle was lowered to affordable levels when a big toy store in Zürich sold off their Z Scale models at half price - and since I could pick up a complete Amtrak train (F7 and six coaches) in one fell swoop, the opportunity was too good to be missed.

But for another 15 years, the F7 would remain the sole ready-to-run locomotive available in Z Scale.

It ultimately did grow rather long in the tooth, but the F7 was a huge inspiration and pull to get into Z Scale.

  

The real deal - Amtrak FP7 in 1976 and New York Central F7 in 1961
 
 

THE "FOR LATER" BOX(ES)
 
I assume every modeller has them - one or (more likely) more boxes full of kits and all sorts of bits and pieces that were bought at a point in time in the past for a layout or a module or a project that, at least so far, has not materialized.

I had indeed accumulated a fair amount of Z Scale items over the past decade, and it was very convenient to actually have those items stashed away and ready at hand when the inspirational flash for my Z Scale layout hit. Rummaging through these boxes will almost always also turn up items I actually forgot I had - and rediscovering them often comes with another inspirational spark.

  

 
And just as importantly, going through these boxes also meant that at least some of those items stored "for later" actually got put to use.
 

SCENES "CRYING OUT TO BE MODELLED"
 
Every modeller knows them - scenes that pop up, often out of the blue, and jump at them with that instant sensation that they "cry out to be modelled".
 
  The sensation can hit in the real world, whilst thumbing through the pages of a book, looking at a photograph or slide, or maybe watching some footage. Sometimes the feeling dissipates almost as quickly as it hit, but some of those scenes stick.

After some consideration, many of those inspirational flashes are ultimately not followed up on because attempting to recreate them in model form would be extremely challenging or even outright impossible. And then there are those scenes whose straight-forward simplicity is what makes them so inspirational - such as a Conrail GP10 crossing a short girder bridge over a secondary road, beautifully framed by lush green foliage. It's a beautifully compact scene yet it oozes railroad atmosphere.

It is highly unlikely that a GP10 will ever be available as a Z Scale model, but in reality any model will do to recapture that atmosphere in model form.

 
It's on my to do list - another characteristic of scenes begging to be modelled. They may never actually materialize, but they provide a general boost of modelling inspiration anyway.
 
 
 

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page created 30 November 2014
page updated 11 March 2024