The idea of modeling the Ohio River & Western Railway (OR&W) in On30 stems from the convergence of three events. The first was the production of the On30 models by Bachmann. The second was the publication of Hidden Treasures by Edward Case. The third was my desire to have a model railroad even after transitioning into a life care community. My original idea was to slowly accumulate enough equipment to have a shelf-style switching layout when the time came to sell our house. Since I built the standard gauge railroad at nearly 60 inches off the ground, I realized that I had space at desk-top height to build an On30 railroad now.
The focus of the railroad is Westfield, which is my interpretation of Woodsfield, the county seat of Monroe County, Ohio. The eastern end of the railroad at Bellaire features three staging tracks off a reverted loop. The western end at Mill Run is a two-track return loop. Traveling east-to-west, trains pass through Coats, Westfield, Cumberland, and Freeland. Coats is a passenger platform. Cumberland has small B&O freight station that serves the standard gauge spur, but not the narrow gauge. Freeland is the site of a stockyard and a passenger platform.
The western side of Westfield is anchored by the passenger station and the business district. The industrial area lies to the east. The rail-served businesses include a lumber yard, freight house, team track, coop, grist mill, creamery, general store, and crude oil distributor. The engine service facility consists of a one-track engine house, water tower, coal dock, sand house, and turntable.
The
locomotives and rolling stock are from Bachmann. The On30 code 83
flex track and number 5 turnouts are from Micro Engineering.
Turnouts are activated by Tortoise switch motors. The isolated frogs
are powered by either the Tortoise switch machines or DCC
Specialties Frog ARs. DCC is by Digitrax and features a DB-150
Command Station and a LocoNet Wifi Interface (LNWI). The LNWI
provides wireless, walk around control. The return loops and
turntable are controlled by separate DCC Specialties OnGuard DCC
Circuit Auto Reversers.
