If there's an advantage to modeling a prototype that only features two online industries, it's that the offline industries tend to be rather simple in execution. Generally that's due to having their backsides visible to the railroad, which lack any loading docks or rolling doors, since they aren't rail served. It becomes a rather straightforward … Continue reading Building The Backsides
Tag: iowa city
Up On The Roof
"And there the world below can't bother me" -The Drifters- In the inaugural edition of Model Railroad Planning, Bill Darnaby mentioned that he was going to have to spend more time on the underbody detailing of his freight cars, since the design of the Maumee Route put the cars right at eye level where anybody … Continue reading Up On The Roof
Thrifty Use of Time
When I was interviewed by my friend Trevor Marshall for his magnificent and much-missed podcast, The Model Railway Show, he asked how I structured my hobby time. I answered that I normally worked in fits and spurts, alternating between periods of rapid completion followed by periods of pure lethargy. A look back at the order … Continue reading Thrifty Use of Time
Fire Sale
I'm getting better, or at least more consistent, with using my Cricut Plotter for scratchbuilding on The Hills Line. While my primary structures, especially the rail-served ones, will always require sturdier construction methods, the majority of the buildings can be quickly and efficiently assembled from styrene sheet. Case in point, Iowa Fire Equipment. The small, … Continue reading Fire Sale

