Watch The Hills Line with James McNab on Trains.com Video
Trains.com Video
Purchase the first season on DVD from Kalmbach Media
KalmbachHobbystore.com
Out of the 19 planned structures on The Hills Line, a grand total of two are served by the railroad. That ratio is all together appropriate for the modern era, but means a majority of the industries on the layout are pure filler. The goal then becomes how to replicate these offline buildings so that … Continue reading Iowa Business Supply
"The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!" -Robert Burns, 1786- It's a good thing that I continue to enjoy the act of model railroading. For there are numerous times that I find myself once again enjoying aspects of the hobby … Continue reading To a Mouse
One of the downsides of modeling from afar is the physical distance from me to my prototype. For the IAIS Grimes Line, I could (and routinely did) conduct research to and from work, since I crossed the line on my daily commute. With The Hills Line, it's a two-hour drive one way from here to … Continue reading Reach For New Horizons
As I previously mentioned, the large potable water tank just north of the IAIS deck-girder bridge in Iowa City doesn't play a role in the operating scheme of The Hills Line. However its presence is commanding enough to warrant inclusion on the layout. The tank itself is part of the larger Madison Street Services Building … Continue reading The View from Madison Street
The Hills Line 