Watch The Hills Line with James McNab on Trains.com Video
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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
In retrospect, I spent a fair amount of time debating if I should go with Soundtraxx Tsunami2 or ESU Loksound 5 decoders when I made the decision to upgrade my locomotive roster on The Hills Line. Both have clear pros and cons when it comes to their design and execution. Ultimately I made the decision … Continue reading Upgrade, Part Three
"Change is easy. Improvement is far more difficult" -Ferdinand Porsche- For the longest time I told myself that I was perfectly content with using 1st generation Tsunami decoders controlled by my CVP EasyDCC system. After all, I had fully amortized my investment long before construction began on The Hills Line. The sound and motor control … Continue reading Upgrade, Part One
The Hills Line 