Confession time. As long as I've been involved in model railroading, I've never used static grass. That's not entirely true. For many years I've used the Farm Pasture Blend from Scenic Express as my base scenery layer, both on the IAIS Grimes Line and now on The Hills Line. To my eye, the blend does … Continue reading In The Weeds
Category: Design
The Front Door
Upon descending the steps into our basement, you're presented with the following vista as your first view of The Hills Line. Not exactly what I would call appealing, is it? However, even in this primitive state, this ultimately represents opportunity. This pile of parts will ultimately become the last section needed to complete the layout … Continue reading The Front Door
Mindheim Sound, Redux
"WTF! The whole house is shaking" -My Better Half- Recently I hosted a series of op sessions on The Hills Line. To a person, every single guest present commented on my under-layout sound setup. An update on my arrangement is therefore warranted. The original version of my Mindheim-inspired under-layout sound setup used an old Soundtraxx … Continue reading Mindheim Sound, Redux
Do Over, Part One
"There is never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough time to do it over." -John W. Bergman- As I previously mentioned, my friend and fellow Iowa Interstate modeler Scott Thornton generously gifted me a version of his lattice-truss bridge that he built for his HO scale version of the IAIS … Continue reading Do Over, Part One

