The Violet Hill Railway in N Scale

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The Violet Hill Railway in N Scale

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My fictional 1970s-based railroad, the Violet Hill Railway. Connecting Lower Michigan with the Upper Peninsula via the ex-GR&I from Grand Rapids north.

10/02/2026

'Beltline Junction' is the spot where the old (and fictitious) Grand Rapids Belt Line crossed the PRR main at grade. While the transfer wye is still in place to access the stub-ended portion still in use, the mainline due north is long gone. Today, the northbound manifest has an Ann Arbor GP35 in the lead, returning to home rails after assisting a southbound with ailing power.

This scene is a work in progress, clearly! But I wanted to see what this perspective looked like with "real" lighting! Now to actually finish the scene...

08/17/2026

Amtrak 330 has received some weathering, and the decoder was soldered on for better contact. This locomotive was delivered in 1980 (right around my modeled era), but I didn’t want it to stick out in shiny silver! Look for it pulling Shenandoahs across the B&O, and equally diminutive Peninsulas across the Violet Hill!

07/05/2026

In late 1975, Violet Hill RS-2 26 was repainted into a simple red, white and blue scheme to celebrate the coming bicentennial. Around the same time, 40' boxcar 176 was rebuilt and emerged wearing similar festivity. Five years later, both are looking a little worse for wear, but still keep going, the American spirit these days! Happy Independence Day.

05/29/2026

Front End Friday: F3 802A has been out of service for about six years, but I recently found a donor chassis and got it running again. I decided to modify it so only the bottom headlight lights up, and here is the finished product!

05/26/2026

I've been wanting to add some Southern to my roster for a while, so earlier this month when I found the 2815 for $50, it was an easy choice. I've relocated the bell to the long hood as well as adding a horn next to it, and I gave it a light weathering. Except for a decoder and maybe fixing a couple whitish areas (caused by the dullcoat), it's done!

05/15/2026

Dove Lake now has a market! Julie's Grocery, named for my daughter, is situated right next to the Violet Hill branch in town. Here a local led by Baldwin 8048 brings a couple loads off the Feldhak Gravel spur, blocking traffic. Seeing views like this really makes me think I ought to finish scenery through here...

05/14/2026

A forty-foot trifecta! VH 193, wearing the large 'Split Keystone' logo, is sandwiched between two Ann Arbor boxcars in AA's Boat Landing yard. Behind them is the Betsie Bay, with Frankfort in the distance.

05/13/2026

Two more coal hoppers finished up. WM was factory painted, I just added updated data and weathered. B&O was a full repaint. At this point I’ve got enough Chessie-family cars…but it’s a hard habit to break, so there will likely be more in the future.

05/09/2026

Western Maryland 7157 is running out its last miles before traded in on new Chessie GP40-2s, passing B Tower at Ben Junction. This module was a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, it filled my entire car to transport. Hoping to have a good Appalachian scene again in the future!

05/04/2026

“All that glitters is not gold”…or, in this case, how I got gold to stop glittering.

GM50 was one of the first GP40-2s delivered to Chessie, in special gold paint to celebrate 50 years of Electro-Motive. While it was washed and occasionally repainted to keep its shine, it also often looked just as dirty as any other locomotive, so that’s what I wanted to replicate! Here it is, once shiny, now showing off the grime that accompanies railroading.

Address

Cadillac, MI

Website

https://www.instagram.com/violethillrailway/

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