Taking Liberty

I consider myself a prototype modeler, but I also have proto-freelance interests. Because of this, I’ve developed a freelance railroad called the Paint Creek & Waterville. This fictitious line is based on a Milwaukee Road branch line that ran in northeast Iowa from the Mississippi River at Waukon Junction, up the steep scenic limestone foothills to the city of Waukon (abandoned in 1973). The branch followed a tributary called Paint Creek, and halfway up the line passed through a small town called Waterville – thus the name. Northeast Iowa is known for its idyllic trout streams, so it seemed only fitting to create a slogan for the line that was befitting – The Trout Route.

​All this to say that I’m going to include a line side conveyor at the end of the Consumers Aggregate spur that PC&W hoppers will deliver salt for the local municipalities to pick up by truck. The conveyor is an exact model of a prototype in my home city of Ames, Iowa, and is offered by Miniprints.ca if anyone is interested. The hopper you see in the photo is under development and eventually will be quite rusted and nasty looking. 

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