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“Do what you do best and outsource the rest.” -Peter Drucker- The oft-quoted statement about model railroading is that its participants must possess a variety of somewhat-unrelated skillsets. Draftsman. Carpenter. Electrician. Scenic Designer. Some basic understanding of these are all required to be remotely successful in the hobby. And so it is inevitable that there … Continue reading Subcontracting
Well... it's not exactly new, since the prototype was built in 1972. Moreover, I've sat on this model since early 2015 until finally deciding to do something about it this year. A little history lesson... Thanks to the direct efforts of my friend and fellow IAIS modeler Joe Atkinson, Athearn released a set of four … Continue reading New Power
There's no such thing as the perfect layout space, and our basement proves that as fact time and time again. Over the lifetime of The Hills Line, as well as other layouts I've built in that space, I've made what I feel are significant compromises to make a model railroad fit in our lower level. … Continue reading Cornering
As I've previously mentioned, a majority of the structures on The Hills Line are not rail served. Including them on the layout remains necessary, since they're essential to setting both era and locale for the layout. The goal then becomes developing methods to construct these buildings in a way that's both efficient and effective. For … Continue reading Surroundings Interiors
The Hills Line 