Marklin Z Gauge Starter Set - Rambles Review

A thorough look at a tiny train set from Germany. This is one mighty model train. Z gauge is much smaller than O, HO, and even N.
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ITEMS REVIEWED
- Marklin 81701 Z Gauge Steam Freight Train Set

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[keisven]

This was fun to watch. It takes me back to 1976. I was six years old and my father said he was going to buy me a train. We went to the toy store. The man in the store showed us two types of trains. One was H0 and the other was Z. My father asked me wich train I want. He didn’t have to do that. I would have been thrilled to play with either of them. I choose the Z train. I had a blast playing with it. Fortyseven years later the little engine can still pull the little yellow banana car. I have it in the original box on a shelf in my livingroom. 🙂

[HiramNoel-ih]

The happiness that is genuinely satisfying is accompanied by the fullest exercise of our faculties and the fullest realization of the world in which we live.

[seeber]

Ain't no way you thought that the z scale engine would actually have a smoke unit 💀

[nodak]

I didn't even know this size existed. I've never had room for any kind of model train stuff but this might be a game changer for me. All you need is a modest sized table space and you're good to go. I haven't given any thought to getting into model trains in ages, the YouTube algorithm comes through again!

[RonSommar]

I live in Germany. In the late 80s IT was quite popular to build these in the then popular small briefcases used for documents

[josephbrandtner]

Tony: The letter "ä" with an umlaut, the 2 dots above is pronouncdd like the English long "a" sound, like the word, "air" in English, or like Mehrklin.

[thefruitdealer]

I got this set 2 years ago, it still runs perfectly, zero issues. It makes me happy everytime I run it due to the perfect craftmanship in its build.

[Cirithungul]

My Opa joined Marklin after his time in the war. He sent me beautiful train sets on Christmas each year. I still have it all...hopefully for my son soon.

[mph]

If you have a G scale layout, you could have the Z scale run as part of the scenery as a G scale layout within the G scale layout.

[VidClips]

My father and I checked into getting a Z gauge set back in the mid 70's. We went with N instead after our local hobby shop told us only 2 people in town messed with Z gauge then, and both were surgeons. After I held a Z car, I knew why.

[erratic]

This brings back memories. My dad bought me a set while at a conference in Zurich. The locomotive and carriages are identical, and the detail is so lovely!. Only difference is that my set came in a purpose built briefcase, which you could also use to set up the track in.

I lost the rerailer very early on, so became very good at getting everything on the track by hand.

I’ll have to check with mum to see if she still has it in a cupboard somewhere.

[stephenhall]

I lived in Zurich for a year and when I came home I had a small suitcase full of Z Gauge. I love it.

[Artreaus]

Beautiful setup. i inherited a LARGE collection from my grandfather of his Marklin Z Gauge trains (upwards of 3 20 gallon totes), and have been really wanting to find the time to build a large scale diorama with them. This sorta gave me a good push!

[justaboringjoha]

What always surprises me is how the start sets in Z gauge never changed, they still include the same Models as in the 70s, same molds.

[stvg]

About 30 years ago, I build a Z-scale track in a Suite case. Including landscape, a tunnel, a station with a signal, small village, a Forrest, deer, cow-farm on the hill….. Even a small lake in the village… nothing beats this scale.

[railway]

Great review 👍 for me personally it would be to small, but my 86 y.o. dad has started a Märklin Z layout last year and is enjoying it very much (I have a few videos about his layout if interested). Thanks for sharing the video🙏👍🙋‍♂️

[gka]

Very nice video! Thanks for posting! By the way, the Germans call O gauge "Spur Null" which means zero gauge. And the low-sided car is how they call their gondolas in Germany.

[mikechase]

Nice overview of Marklin history, in relation to other manufacturers like Lionel. Marklin’s HO offering is unique in that it is 3-rail track but runs on AC, not the more common 2-rail version in the US which is DC. The center rail carries one polarity, while BOTH outside rails carry the other. Marklin’s HO AC wheel sets are NOT insulated from each other, and will short out on 2-rail DC, unless you replace them with their insulated DC versions. The company makes mostly European models, with some US versions on occasion.

For much of the latter half of the 1900’s, Marklin competed with other European model train manufacturers including Trix, Fleischmann and ROCO, and Japanese manufacturer Kato, each of which offered 2-rail DC locomotives and rolling stock in both HO and N scales. The Trix brand identified specifically that company’s HO offerings, while Minitrix was their N scale brand.

Z scale was for many years exclusively Marklin’s domain. Layouts built inside a standard briefcase were often advertised to showcase its tiny size.

When Marklin Purchased Trix (and Minitrix) in 1998, they gained a huge competitive advantage with 2-rail DC HO scale offerings AND a complete line of N scale products as well for the first time ever. And today it remains a global powerhouse in every scale from Z to G, except as you noted for O scale, and the less well-known TT scale from Eastern Europe.

Z scale’s major disadvantage is the high cost of everything from track to rolling stock, compared to other offerings in N and HO scales.

But still, even a little starter set like the one you bought recently is a marvel of engineering, and can show up in the tiniest of places. Not bad, Marklin!

[stephanweinberger]

The 12V are the supply voltage for the controller. It needs a bit of headroom for its own electronics, to supply +/-10V to the rails.
The capacitor is mainly for radio interference suppression. Usually it should be mounted as close to the motor as possible, but in Z gauge this is often not practical due to the very limited space.


As for German model rail brands, there are actually a couple more – albeit there have been quite a few mergers in the last decades. The other 'big player' in Germany is Fleischmann (since 2008 under the same parent corporation with the Austrian company Roco). Then there are mid-scale manufacturers like Brawa, Tillig (with their TT gauge in 1:120 scale), Arnold (now a division of Hornby), Liliput (now a division of Bachmann), Piko, ... and dozens of other small-scale producers.

[ZNHG]

Ein schöner Bericht über das Starterset in Spur Z. Willkommen in der Fan-Gemeinde. Wir haben von 20 Jahren mit Spur Z angefangen. Neben Märklin befinden sich in unseren Fuhrpark auch Lokomotiven, Wagen und Shinkansen von Rokuhan auf unserer Kofferanlage Japan. Weiterhin viel Spaß und viele Grüße aus Berlin Jens und Sylvia 🚄🚄🚅🚅🚉🚉
A nice report about the starter set in Z gauge. Welcome to the fan community. We started from 20 years with Z gauge. In addition to Märklin, our fleet also includes locomotives, cars and Shinkansen from Rokuhan on our suitcase layout Japan. Continue to have fun and many greetings from Berlin Jens and Sylvia 🚂🚂