Truly Complex

Final touches on the southern portion of Eldon C. Stutsman, Inc. in Hills, Iowa. I owe a lot of credit on this project to my friend Murray Bouschlicher for providing me reference images of the complex. Those photos served as my guide for the prototype layout to best replicate it on The Hills Line.

There’s a small shed on the northwest corner of the elevator building. No idea what purpose it serves, but it was a simple project to finish. The same photo wallpaper and laser-cut shingles from the main building were used on the shed, tying both structures together.

I also built the unloading grate between the rails in front of the head house. The concrete is painted and weathered styrene using the same methods for the driveway. The grate was made from Tichy Train Group walkways, trimmed to fit, and checked for clearance. I’m rather happy with how it turned out.

Additional details came from my ever-growing parts bin. Everything ranging from commercial components to piano wire to paper eventually made its way into this project.

Speaking of commercial components, the ubiquitous Rix Products Elevator Kit appears atop the head house. The distributor and spouts were trimmed to match the prototype, then heavily weathered with PanPastels and India Ink.

Signs are ever present throughout the complex. Just as with the main structure, all were made from photos of what’s actually in Hills. The result is a rather motley collection of directional and wayfinding signage. I especially like the facility map.

Knowing where to go extends to the railroad as well. Stutsman clearly shows where each car spot is along the entire industry. While the prototype has eight spots, my version will only offer four. More than enough to keep operators engaged.

The final detail is a set of high-voltage power poles that run parallel to and through the complex. On the prototype, they’re spaced a reasonable distance apart. That’ll assist crews in spotting and uncoupling cars where needed on the model version. The poles were built using large bamboo skewers and insulator arms from the Walthers High Voltage Tower kit. The metal bands were constructed using strips of HVAC foil tape.

This has been a truly complex build for me over the past few months. But I’m grateful to everyone who assisted in making it happen, bringing a truly unique front door to The Hills Line.