Virginian and Ohio
The Virginian and Ohio is both the name of a fictional railroad company created by W. Allen McClelland and the HO scale model railroad he built featuring this railroad. The V&O is famous in the model railroading world for setting a new standard for freelanced (fictional) model railroads designed to operate in a prototypical manner and was a major influence upon many model railroaders of the time. In 1984, Mr. McClelland wrote a detailed guide to the construction and operation of the railroad.
Model railroad
The original V&O was built in 1962 and was set in the 1950s. The railroad operated from Afton, VA to Elm Grove, VA. In the mid 1970s, Allen McClelland began a second phase of construction that expanded the railroad from Elm Grove to Kingswood Junction, VA. McClelland was very interested in actual prototype running so the railroad constantly moved forward in time. For example, in 1980 (1958 on the railroad), the V&O ran the last of its steam locomotives and switched entirely to diesel. Allen then moved the timeframe of the railroad to 1968. In the late 1990s, the railroad was expanded one final time and was updated to 1975.