Other FR Products.
For other Z-scale links, see Z-Scale Summary index, below, or the full Z-SCALE INDEX.
FREUDENREICH FEINWERKTECHNIK
Z-SCALE 1:220 MODEL RAILROADING
Z-Scale model railroading is modeled at an incredible 220 times smaller than life size, or slightly under half the size of the familiar HO scale, with rails only 6.5mm (~¼") apart.
Z scale is about 2½ times smaller than HO! In Z scale, a scale ¼-mile is exactly (and only) 6 feet; in other words, a mile is only 24 feet!
Because much information about Z scale is in German, you might find Chris Ozdoba's Eisenbahn- und Modellbahn-Wörterbuch - Deutsch-Englisch / Railroad and Model Railroading Dictionary - German-English of value.
One of the finest craftspersons working in Z scale is Harald Freudenreich, proprietor of Freudenreich-Feinwerktechnik [Freudenreich's Fine Work Technology - or words to that effect] in Sanitz in Mecklenburg, in the far north of Germany.
Because I have posted so many images of his incredible work on my regular Z-scale pages, q.v. (index below), they are overloading and the coverage is scattered; this page is a perhaps-vain attempt to organize my FR coverage and free up space on my other Z pages.
See the succeeding Freudenreich-Feinwerktechnik Z-Scale Continuation Page 1.
See also FREUDENREICH FEINWERKTECHNIK's own site:
http://www.fr-model.de/
Almost coincidental with the initiation of this new page, Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik opened a completely new Website, linked above;
it is available in English
(as well as auf Deutsch).
(Please note - the (English) Gallery page has some German text; that will be rectified soon.)
Just for starters, and out of any sequence, here are some images of his detail work:
Hey, who needs 1:440 or 1:900 scales? I received my Boxcab loco kit from Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik and it's a jewel! Look at this!
(photos 07 Oct 99 by and © 1999 S. Berliner, III)
[Instead of thumbnail images, I give you both scale (on my 14' monitor) and enlarged images.]
Harald used a simple hook for a coupler because there's no room for a coupler box; I can't live with that and am busily inventing - wait and see!
I take excruciatingly-close photos, especially of microscopic details on my Z-scale (1:220) equipment, such as:
(photos taken 16 and 18 Oct 99 by and © 1999 S. Berliner, III -
with digital SLR with stacked Zeiss Proxar lenses on a home-made adaptor)
Here's some details for an FR Z reefer:
(photo taken 14 Dec 01 by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[With this kind of close-up capability, who needs enlarged images?]
Freudenreich recently moved to larger quarters in a nearby town in northeastern Germany (Sanitz, in Mecklenburg) and here is his "huge" new plant:
(photo by Freudenreich 2001 - all rights reserved)
It is actually four (4) containers joined together for maximum flexibility and expansion potential; it doesn't take very much room for a small precision machine shop, some desks, files, storage cabinets and work tables! I, for example, have a tool set for my Z work with over 100 tools in a small plastic box measuring only 6" x 11" x 2"H (15.24cm x 28cm x 5.1cmH) and my entire set of Z buildings and cars and locos fit in a bag about 8" x 12" x 18"H (20.3cm x 30.5cm x 45.7cmH) when I moved! The railcar up on the embankment is on the Ostsee-Recknitz-Bahn of the DB, which starts in Wismar and goes eastward to Bad Doberan - Rostock - Sanitz - Tessin [the Recknitz is a little river crossing Tessin (the Tessin in Mecklenburg, not the one in Switzerland!)]; this is all east of Lübeck, just south of the shore of Mecklenburg Bay (Mecklenburger Bucht), the southwestern end of the Baltic Sea (Ostsee)].
FR BOXCAB LOCOMOTIVES
I am a big fan of the early (first) oil-electric (diesel) locomotives that vanquished steam and laid the ground work for dieselization. Their story is told in great detail beginning at my BOXCABS page.
WOW! - There is a Z-scale (1:220) boxcab model!
Image of development model from Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik
with FR Z-scale hopper cars!
Freudenreich makes this fabulous 60-ton Boxcab model with and without end doors; here's the production CNJ #1000 (without end doors) and Erie #20 (with end doors):
[Thumbnail image - click on the picture for the full image.
Photos by H. Freudenreich - all rights reserved.]
{Note that the stacks are now properly offset - gee, I wonder what boxcab fan(atic) pointed that out?}
You know, I say that the M-T Z Mogul is the absolute top of my wish list but actually the 2000 Insider V 32 001 Steam-Pneumatic 4-6-4T #86065 and the 100-ton double-engined LIRR #401 Oil-Electric Boxcab in Z are really that. I chose the V 32 (ordered and received) over a Mogul and have high hopes to build a #401 soon from a Freudenreich 60-tonner! Well, Harald F. didn't like the idea of my chopping up one of his magnificent boxcabs; he just "happened " make a one-off Z (1:220) 100-ton Boxcab chassis. No one else came forward for a Z 100-tonner, but you can see the chassis for LIRR #401 in Z 1:220 (with only one flywheel, after all - no room) right here:
Well, now, guess what arrived on 26 Jan 01 on VERY special order from FR? Yup, a custom, one-off chassis for the 100-ton #401! No one else came on board so I had to go it alone. Here is the new chassis (with the drive gears on the inner wheels and a bigger flywheel), the two chassis compared, the two with the 60-ton body shell propped in place, and a not-quite-sharp-enough extreme closeup of the commutator end, plus a blatant photofake of how the reworked body shells might look:
(photos 27 Jan 01 by and © 2001S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[Instead of thumbnail images, I give you both scale (on my 14' monitor) and enlarged images.]
{Having run out of room on my Z-Scale page 2, I put the pictures of my new (03 Mar 01) Märklin #88065 V 32 001 Diesel-Pneumatic (compressed air) locomotive on Z Page 6.}
[There just "happens" to be a second chassis and body which will be available later in 2002 just in case anyone else is desperate for a #401 of their own in Z; let me know if you're that person (and serious - it won't be inexpensive!).]
(13 Aug 02)
Now, for LIRR (2nd) #402 in Z (custom FR chassis projected for early Winter 2002 cancelled in favor of chopping up a brand-new Märklin #88690 chassis)!
Next comes a powered Baldwin-Westinghouse LIRR #403A in Z ("Ike" - I don''t think I'll bother with #403B, "Mike"; one's enough and the married pair were separated early on) on a drastically-altered early Märklin #8800 chassis!
{more coverage to follow}
Well, now! Harald Freudenreich keeps on amazing me! Here's a little cog railway boxcab electric loco he whipped up for the recent Göppingen (home of Märklin) show; it's on a modified ALCo-GE-IR chassis, drives on the outer axles, and may yet have (possibly-) working cog wheels on them. It's the Swiss RHB (Rorschach Heiden Bergbahn*) Class DZeh2/4 and here are the drawing, the hand-made model in the shop, and the model on display at the show:
(Images Apr-May 01 by H. Freudenreich - all rights reserved)
* - NOT the Rhätische Bahn (RhB Graubünden), The RHB is a 7 km (4.4 mi.) long standard gauge rack railway connecting Rorschach harbour (on the Bodensee ) with the Heiden health resort about 400 m (1,312') higher up, while the RhB is a 1000 mm (39") narrow gauge network in the center of Switzerland.
[Rorschach - doesn't that have a blot on its reputation?
Also - UPPER and lower case in reporting marks?]
And that just filled the preceeding page; so I had to put up this new one and move it!
While we're on the subject of the rack loco, here's a scrap (and unfinished) chassis I was using for an experiment; look at that beautiful machining (by Harald):
(photo taken 14 Dec 01 by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
Harald was here in the U.S. for the NMRA show in St. Louis and then in NYC and area the following week; we had a Northeast/Mid-Lantic Z get-together with him at Ron Ruddell's London Bridge on 21 Jun. Here are some of his latest gems, including a new B&O #1 boxcab, the production RHB lok, its prototype, and the model pulling a train under wire on Harald's own layout:
(Images 18 Jun 01 by H. Freudenreich - all rights reserved)
(Images 18 Jun 01 by H. Freudenreich - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnail image - click on picture for larger image.]
Incidentally, although the boxcabs are on a rigid chassis with dummy inboard wheelsets (outboard on my LIRR #401), Harald does make normal (longer) chassis with rotating trucks; so I asked for pictures of an example of that and here is a bottom view of a production unit and some developmental parts from his 1997 issue of the Be4/4 B-B/Bo-Bo showing just how he does that (Märklin-style, but ach, sehr elegant!):
(Images Nov/Dec 01 by H. Freudenreich - all rights reserved)
You are looking down into the motor cavity in the chassis in the center of the second photo; a Faulhaber motor, with worm gears and a flywheel, goes in there! Look at the reduced pictures, in approximate actual size on my 13" monitor; simply incredible work!
I had noted that better boxcab couplers were in the works; here they are, semi-functional M-T couplers furnished as part of a revised truck cover plate, with an absolutely exquisite new buffer beam and front step etching (now with handrail and cut lever rod and the correct two-rib reinforcement):
(Dec 2001 images by and © 2001 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
FR FREIGHT CARS
Here's a Z-scale (1:220) GN/WFEX reefer model!
Image of developmental 50' model from Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik.
(image courtesy Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik)
Harald has released his three-car set of Green Bay & Western 24'
single-bay hoppers for MoW service (ballast?); these were previously Lake Superior
and Ishpeming ore jennies:
(07 Dec 02)
(Image courtesy of Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik - all rights reserved)
I think I will use one for my Elgin Marbles, instead of the Märklin 8633 [K. Bay. Sta. B.
(Royal Bavarian State Railways) Class Omk(u)] four-wheel gondola with brakeman's
cab, or the 8624 Talbot side-dump ballast cars, they are both the same length; but
the zf314 is a hopper (and American). Perhaps I'll convert it to an Airslide!
Better yet, I blew some pocket change and had Harald decorate a set of EMX cars for
me; here's his photo of #171 (funny, the road numbers are the same as the GB&W's):
(16 Jan 03)
(Image courtesy of Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik - all rights reserved)
The set arrived 22 Jan 03:
(22 Jan 03 photo by and © 2003 S. Belriner, III - all rights reserved)
Great fun; now all I have to do is load them with 1:220 marbles (and find my close-up
lenses or microscope)!
{more freight car coverage is on the FR continuation page.
OTHER FR PRODUCTS
Major oversight! I thought I had this somewhere but can't
find hide nor hair of it. Harald released his New Haven Class EY-3 Box Motor
(Boxcab Electric) and complementary NH 55 Ton 33' Twin Bay Rib Side USRA Hopper:
(16 Jan 03)
Pictures cropped and enhanced from images courtesy of Freudenreich
Feinwerktechnik)
FR builds working Swiss RR signals and a complete Swiss catenary system; in addition, although not products for sale, Harald also presents on his site some really interesting ideas for coupler/truck conversions and for a 9V battery power pack.
FR has just (Aug 2003) released a new U.S. bunk car (in kit form only); here it is in the unpainted original and in two sample paint schemes:
(08 Aug 03) and
(27 & 28 Aug 03)
Pictures cropped and enhanced from images courtesy of Freudenreich
Feinwerktechnik)
You can let your imagination run wild with this car; use it in a work train, tow it in a
freight, set it off on a siding as a tool storage car, add steps and make it a pay car,
put it in the weeds as an off-line crew shack, etc.
{more FR coverage is on the FR continuation page.]
Z-SCALE SUMMARY INDEX
(supplementing the Page Index, at top of page)
Some internal links, which work fine on my home page and others, may not work here! I'm working on it, but haven't a clue; I even just copied the working links over and they may not work here. So, scroll away, if necessary!
[This truncated index is for reference only; see the main Z-Scale Index.]
Z-Scale
Scale and Gauge
Scale Conversion Table
Z-Scale Miscellany
Z-Scale Wiring Conventions
Z-Scale Repair and Hobby Shops
Sub-Z-Scale
Z-Scale Narrow Gauge (really)
(moved from the main Z-Scale page 13 Nov 01)
Z-Scale Meter Gauge
Half-Z Scale - 1:440 Tiny Trains!
(moved from Z-Scale page 3 on 13 Nov 01)
1:900 Scale - Tiniest Trains!
(moved from Z-Scale page 3 on 13 Nov 01)
Zictionary Part 1 ("A" - "M") - lotZ of wordZ
(moved from Page 4 on 31 Jul 00 and split on 28 May 01)!
Zictionary Part 2 ("N" - "Z") - lotZ of wordZ!
Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal RR in Z
Z-SCALE DIMENSIONS (with how to approximate a mile of track).
Overton Coaches, Bobber, Crane and a Boxcab in Z! - plus other neat items.
Wish List - some goodieZ I'd like and some I have,
like Larry Hoff's Bobber Caboose and Crane!
M-T Z SP Moguls - the absolute top of the Wish List!*
Z-Scale Vehicles and Märklin Rubber Autos
Power - Volts, Amps, Watts for Z.
Some More Z (all the latest!)
including new HomaBed Z roadbed.
Even More Z (all the latest!)
including Microscopic Z Accessories.
V 32 001 Diesel Pneumatic in Z.
Yet More Z (all the latest!)
BEDT #14 in Z.
8800 vs. 8805.
On the Ztrack page:
Ztrack Magazine.
Z-Scale Hell Gate Bridge.
Schnable Cars
Sunrise Trail Division (STD) of the Northeastern Region (NER) of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA)
Long Island - Sunrise Trail Chapter (LIST) of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS)
Long Island Live Steamers.
Vest Pocket Railroads You Can Model:
Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad (but see BEDT-Z above)
Degnon Terminal Railroad
Marion River Carry Railroad.
On separate pages:
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga Continuation Page
Berlinerwerke Saga (HO, included with Horseshoe Curve info.)
Berlinerwerke Apocrypha (tall tales of the BW and its equipment and such).
Schnable and other Giant RR Cars.
See the preceding Freudenreich-Feinwerktechnik Z-Scale Page.
See also FREUDENREICH FEINWERKTECHNIK's own site:
http://www.fr-model.de/
Best regardZ, S.B.,III
Someone else signs off, "Be Z'ing you!"
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The courtesy page for Ztrack Magazine is now on its own page, q.v.
Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology
Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher
To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.
To tour the Z-scale pages in sequence, the arrows take you from the previous page to the Z-scale index page, to the first Z-Scale page, then to the Sub-Z-Scale page and continuation pages 1, 2, 3 and on, the Z articles page, the 6 BW-Z saga pages, this FR page, and, and finally to the current Ztrack page.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 2001, 2002,
2003
- All rights reserved.
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