ABOUT MYSELF
My earliest memories of trains go back to when I was 4-5 years old. My grandfather always had a Lionel train going around the base of the Christmas Tree. He also had an O-gauge layout in his basement that lasted until after I graduated from high school in 2011. The countless hours I’ve spent watching those trains go around in a circle instilled a passion for model trains that grew with age. 

I found my footing with HO scale due to limited space and have stuck with it ever since. In the mid 2000s I began creating YouTube content and weathering model trains full time while I was in school. I’ve put the hobby aside a few times over the years when life gets busy and priorities change. 

Weathering model trains has always been my favorite part of the hobby, and I have been gaining skills and improving my techniques with each car I complete. 

In all these years, I’ve never had a full working layout of my own. Every time I’ve gotten one somewhat started it seems like it was time to move; but I’ve found a home at the Zane Trace National Trail Model Railroad Club in Zanesville, Ohio since 2010, and that’s where I’ve operated most of my trains since my home layout has yet to be created. 

I’m currently in the early stages of building the Ohio Valley Terminal (OVT) at home. I’m working on a track plan, but I just have some shelving work done and some foam down. 


ABOUT THE OHIO VALLEY TERMINAL
I created the OVT because I wanted to model and base my railroad in the Wheeling, West Virginia area during the modern day. All the rail lines leading into and out of the city had been abandoned and ripped out in the late 80s and early 90s. 

My railroad is based on the “what if” scenario if the lines fell into a short line’s hands. I’m using the former B&O Wheeling Pittsburgh Subdivision (The Pike) from the east, and the former B&O Central Ohio Subdivision from Benwood, West Virginia and Newark, Ohio from the west to create a very rugged mountain Class 2 railroad in the foothills of Appalachia. 

The OVT fared well in the early days with steady daily coal traffic coming from both the Ohio and West Virginia side of the border. This kept the railroad profitable in the early 2000s, and allowed reinvestment back into the equipment and track infrastructure. With the steady decline of coal mining and the steel industry during the 2000s, the OVT would seek to expand/diversify its rail line and customers. 

In 2008 the OVT purchased the Ohio Central System. This more than doubling our owned trackage (to about 600 miles) and solidified the OVT as a key railroad in the state of Ohio. 

In 2013 the OVT would be in a prime position to capitalize on the natural gas boom occurring in the eastern parts of Ohio, riding the wave of those carloads into current day. Now, the railroad’s traffic consists of natural gas, coal, stone, brick, paper, plastics, coke, construction and demolition trash, sand and steel, making it a far more diverse railroad than what it was just 20 years ago. 

The Ohio Valley Terminal’s motto is ON TRACK, ON TIME.

Website: 

https://www.facebook.com/share/16VYPdcA7y/?mibextid=wwXIfr

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@K-Rail

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/ohiosouthern?igsh=MXN3ZTUxdHpiYmN0&utm_source=qr 

Real World Map:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1t09CnCkeU1SUMEfAJVGcAkYw-_pNh4E&usp=sharing