The Western Ohio Peavine Division HO Scale model railroad was first envisioned in the early 2000s. When Norfolk Southern acquired the Conrail line between Columbus and Cincinnati, my beloved Peavine, I lived near my entire life, was almost immediately downgraded. Up to this point, I had no interest or intention of modeling a specific prototype. Personally, I didn't want the restrictions of recreating something that already existed.

The idea of a regional railroad had interested me since I first learned about the Wisconsin Central. I liked the idea of an operation smaller than a class 1, but still likely to haul full length trains on a system beyond what was immediately modeled. Over time, the idea of a freelanced regional railroad merged with possibility of modeling the Peavine.

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The Peavine division only models the western half of the Peavine from Clare to Sardinia. The layout is a double deck design. The lower deck will feature Clare Yard, the run along Roundbottom Road and Batavia.

The climb from the first deck to the second will be Batavia hill. A single turn helix will be needed to complete the elevation change, but the rest of the climb will be on visible track. At the top of the hill is Summit Road crossing, and the view along the creek. Afton is around the next bend, and is home to several industries. Williamsburg and Mt. Oreb will be combined to make one good town with Sardinia ending with the switch to the Hillsboro Branch and the helix for continuous run.

Operation will focus on the daily Sardinia Turn, which will originate at Clare and be responsible for switching most of the industries along the line. Mainfest trains will originate at Portsmouth and Sharon Yards to shuttle freight on and off the layout. Out of respect for the CCET, who operates the true Peavine these days, a CCET train will operate between Loveland, OH and Eastern Ave near downtown Cincinnati on the ex-Pennsylvania line. The CCET will interchange at Clare.

This will be more than enough traffic to keep the Clare Yard operator busy. Western Ohio trains terminating at Clare will also take advantage of the small engine facilities. In total, a planned operating session will have about fourteen trains daily.

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The time period for the layout is October, post 2006. Late October will give allow me to model the fall color that I really enjoy. It will also be at the height of grain season, justifying the maximum amount of traffic in and out of the grain elevators.

The year I am a little more flexible on. The two years I'm going to build into the history are 2002 and 2006. Those are the years my kids were born. So I am incorporating that into the story of the Western Ohio. Inspired by the CCET's leasing of the Peavine, the Western Ohio initially leased the line from the NS starting in 2002. That will represent when the Western Ohio was first seen on the line.

2006 will be when the Western Ohio purchased the line outright from the NS. That is not inspired by the CCET... Norfolk Southern still owns the line. But purchasing the line gives me the flexibility to do what I want. So any year after 2006 is fair game... for now we'll say it is in the 2010s.