“The inevitable is no less a shock just because it is inevitable.”
-Jamaica Kincaid-
As the calendar turns to 2025, The Hills Line finds itself in an enviable but inevitable place for a model railroad. The final pieces of the layout are being filled in, and I have to determine what’s next for a project that has been a part of my life for the past six years.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still significant steps that need to be taken before I can call this layout complete. I plan on making them and am not in a mindset of throwing in the towel before I see this to the end. But again, the number of steps remaining are dwindling.
Perhaps I should take this as an opportunity to extend my time with the layout and look for places that I can update, correct, or reimagine. After all, progress begets progress, so these new experiences could uncover a set of possibilities on The Hills Line that I never previously realized.
On the other hand, I’ve never found enjoyment in revisiting what I’ve already accomplished, even when the second outcome is vastly superior to the original attempt. Perhaps that explains why I chose to model The Hills Line in the first place following the destruction of the IAIS Grimes Line? I knew I was never going to outdo what I had already done by repeating myself, so let’s go in a different direction.
However, it should be noted that The Hills Line is approaching the age that the IAIS Grimes Line was when I tore it down. The difference is that back then I had no choice in the manner. This time I want to see it through, to allow me to determine the ultimate destiny for this layout.
Until that day comes, however it comes, I keep moving forward.
The Hills Line 
The Hills Line is roughly the same size as my modular layout. When I got to a similar point last year, I removed my large paper mill and reworked it into the corner and ran a new spur in its place. The mill had run for several years and was one of my favorite places to switch. However it had some limitations and I got to thinking about changes.
I took that existing space and did a couple of things. First was I had always wanted the layout to have more shadow box effect. The second was I wanted someplace to ship the grain cars to rather than simply the yard and off layout. I’m now in the process of adding a new grain handling facility, a seed company and a Quaker Oats processing plant to handle all of the grain cars in that former mill space. It essentially becomes a new shelf layout area.
You seem have more than enough room to build a 24-in wide spur (or smaller) somewhere between Stutsman and Hills City Park to add some more industries. Sure you narrow the aisleway but you can build new while still running ops. Looking forward to hear what you decide.
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All good ideas, but at that point I’m no longer modeling The Hills Line. I’d be modeling a freelance railroad loosely based on the prototype Hills Line. That holds no interest to me
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