October 2026

What is the Rokuhan Shorty?

The Shorty is a Z scale (1:220) model train powered chassis that measures about 1.5″ in length. While it was designed for Z scale, you don’t have to model in Z scale to use it. If you want to be prototype accurate, there are flavors of HO scale, TT scale and N scale that will happily use the Shorty. Of course you can always simply build a shell in a size that just looks good to you. Freelance the heck out of it using a cheap laser cutter, 3D resin printer or good old styrene or wood strips. And when I say “cheap”, genuinely impressive resin printers and laser cutters can be had in the sub-$200 range. This is a golden era for this kind of creativity.

The idea of a Rokuhan Shorty “world” is something we’ve been talking about for sometime, and yes… we do believe it can be its own world! Bold talk, I know. With the incredibly inexpensive price in the mid-$20 range for this powered chassis, the Rokuhan Shorty is an absolute bargain.

Not that long ago the KATO powered motorized chassis revolutionized model railroading by giving N scale hobbyists ready-to-run, reliable power for custom, narrow gauge and scratch-built projects. We now have this in Z scale but the 3rd party offerings have been far too quiet and frankly, difficult to track down online. This is where we believe we can make a useful difference.

At this time there are very few options for shells for this Z scale powered chassis, but we’re working on that by talking to makers in the 3D printing space.

Is there a reason for the lack of a Shorty dealer push and loco shells?

I believe the reason dealers don’t do more to highlight the Shorty comes down to simple math. The Rokuhan Shorty can be a very, very tough product for a dealer to promote from a business point of view. If you’re a dealer relying on sales margins, would you rather sell a $25 train or a $225 train? Dealers have to pay bills too after all. Also customers are not likely to buy a long string of freight or passenger cars to be pulled by a Shorty, at least not right away as they might do with a larger locomotive. I do however believe there’s a win-win to be found.

We think there are options, not just good ones, but great options. We’re working on a couple of new sites that all revolve around the small trains featuring the Rokuhan Shorty as well as the N scale KATO Pocket Line trains and the KATO N scale powered chassis.

When the early Thomas the Tank Engine trains were made, do you think the makers worried themselves with scale and gauge, or do you think they just let their creativity loose?

The videos shown above are a 2-part project on our Raildig YouTube channel with a Shorty running on the smallest radius track made by Rokuhan with no shell and with a few extra bits and pieces. Not too expensive or too complicated. If you’re new to building, you can see just how simple this little project is. It won’t break the bank and it’ll get you started on your model train skill building.You don’t need a whole lot to get a Shorty up and running!

Stay tuned for lots more on the Shorty, we’re just getting started!

John Cubbin
Raildig | Ztrains | Rokuhan Shorty
September 2026

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Here’s our YouTube channel which features several Shorty videos.