Blog

Curb Appeal, Part Two

My last post detailed the start of construction of US Highway 6, a major arterial road in Iowa City and over The Hills Line. As with any scenic element that covers or crowds the rails, I spent time testing numerous trains over the crossing to make sure I wouldn't have electrical or mechanical issues when … Continue reading Curb Appeal, Part Two

Curb Appeal, Part One

Roads and grade crossings on a model railroad are two things that every visitor to our layouts can quickly identify and relate with. That comes from the simple fact that we interact with roads on a regular and ongoing basis. On The Hills Line I've begun construction of US Highway 6, a major arterial road … Continue reading Curb Appeal, Part One

Fahrvergnügen

From my phenomenally-limited and biased research, it seems that I may have one of the few active and functional integrations of Iowa Scaled Engineering's ProtoThrottle with CVP's EasyDCC system. Recently I received an email asking if I could detail my setup on The Hills Line. First and foremost, my CVP/ProtoThrottle arrangement is like a fine … Continue reading Fahrvergnügen

The Case for Mockups

I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to making mockups on a model railroad. On one hand, it annoys me to spend time on something that I know will end up in the trash instead of on The Hills Line. On the other, I really hate redoing things I've already done, so taking the … Continue reading The Case for Mockups