The Hill Valley project involves reworking the existing HO town into a representation of Flagstaff, Arizona in the 1950s. The new scene will emulate the historic depots and businesses along Route 66 in a manner that creates the illusion that the town actually is Flagstaff, when in fact it is just a clever representation.

The design goals are rather straightforward:

1.  Remove the existing fictional Hill Valley and replace with notional downtown Flagstaff in the 1950s (Route 66 bounded by Beaver St. and San Francisco Ave.).
2.  Choose ready-made or kit structures that represent the “look and feel” of Flagstaff, without actually attempting to duplicate Flagstaff. In other words, it is still Hill Valley only refreshed to look more familiar (that is, like Flagstaff).
3.  Minimize the disruption of the hand-laid HO track in the Hill Valley area (this is some of the oldest, if not the oldest, hand-laid track still found on the layout).
4.  Install operating crossing signals.

Shown below are a few photos of the existing Hill Valley area, along with a link that shows a plan of the current area, track and buildings that will be removed, and the future look that will be achieved.

Planned Changes: HillValley_SchematicPlan_Rev1

That’s it for now. In the next installment we’ll see some of the structure kits being built for the area. Check back again soon! – Phil S.