ref·use (rĕf′yo͞os)n. Items or material discarded or rejected as useless or worthless In reviewing old photos of the IAIS Grimes Line, one constant that stands out is how clean the right-of-way was. In reality, railroads are filthy, disgusting, and dangerous locales covered with trash and garbage generated both by the act of railroading, and also the result of railroading. I can somewhat justify the clean appearance … Continue reading Refuse
Author: James McNab
City Carton Recycling
Make no mistake about it. The prototype Hills Line exists because Eldon C. Stutsman, Inc., the massive agriculture supply dealer in Hills, Iowa, continues to receive product by rail. However, the secondary customer on The Hills Line also puts on a good show, at least in my modeled era. Space constraints prevented me from modeling … Continue reading City Carton Recycling
Evidence of Things Not Seen
The prototype Hills Line is a combination of the CRANDIC Railway's original interurban line between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the Rock Island's ex-BCR&N line that ran between Elmira and Iowa Junction, Iowa. Both lines are well past the century mark, and therefore littered with railroad relics. I knew from the outset that … Continue reading Evidence of Things Not Seen
Blend
Progress continues on the City Carton area of The Hills Line. Previously I had wrapped up building and painting the large parking lots and numerous roads in the space, as well as constructed the support warehouses for the complex. After the paint and striping was dry, I weathered everything following methods developed by Lance Mindheim. … Continue reading Blend

