Z-scale modeling has got to be the tiniest model railroad scale. The scale is 1:220. I like the scale because it is so small. You can build a great layout to fit on a coffee table or even in a suitcase! A typical locomotive measures 2 to 3 inches long. Marklin is german company that created z-scale model railroading. Most of the locomotives and rolling stock are european with some american diesel and steam. Unfortunately, they didn't make the kind of locomotives that I wanted to run - streamlined steam - so I took some time to learn how to make my own. The following locomotives were first modeled using styrene to make a master. A mold was then made of the master and the final shell was cast in high quality pewter. The locomotives were cast in pewter to give them the weight needed for high traction. It was a great learning experience and since then, I've made 6 of each. You may soon see them for sale on this site...

I finished the loco on April Fools day. So I thought I'd be funny to mock-up a box and see if I could fool people into thinking that this was an actual loco released by Marklin. I hid some clues in the picture (One clue is that the Marklin name is misspelled - it says MarkLUM). There are some other clues - see if you can find them....

Can you spot the clues here?

The Baltimore and Ohio Royal Blue. The bigger one in the back is an American Flyer S gauge. I did the tiny one in the front.

Now it has all of the gold pinstriping. One of these days, a tender will show up for the Royal Blue.