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Wrapping up the last building for the Maiden Lane portion of The Hills Line. McDonough Structures provides new construction and remodeling services for residential and commercial projects. Their warehouse sits between East Third Street and Highland Avenue south of the industrial spur. McDonough has had a variety of paint schemes over the years. During my … Continue reading McDonough Structures
The sheer amount of structures on The Hills Line built from or including Rix Products components continues to climb. It's almost as if the zoning board of eastern Iowa thumbed through a Pikestuff catalog when laying out the industrial areas around the railroad. My latest project involved the immensely simple Veterinary Associates structure on East … Continue reading Paw-sitive Progress
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
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
The Hills Line 