About

In the early fifties, my ten-year-old dad started hanging around the tracks on the south end of Circleville on a regular basis, attracted by N&W’s steam locomotives . His ever-presence eventually caught the attention of the second trick operator of the interlocking tower on South Court Street, and that eventually led to an invitation into the tower. Dad subsequently spent many hours in that tower with the operator, Wink Wellington, teaching him how the railroad worked.

That period solidified dad’s interest in railroads, which subsequently influenced his architectural design aesthetic, volunteer interests, and his two sons. Both of us spent our pre-teen and teenage years helping with the family model railroad and on the Hocking Valley Scenic Railroad, of which dad was a founder.

I started my first adult model railroad shortly after my young family moved into our current home in 1994, and eventually decided to take what I learned from that experience and begin anew. After kicking around plans and themes for several years, it occurred to me that Circleville, Ohio, should anchor this new miniature world. It would be a nod to my parent’s (and grandparents) hometown and a homage to the roots of my interest.

After deciding on the location of my modeling effort, I started researching trackside details of the time period that I chose to model (the late 1930’s). Eventually, I gathered enough information that starting a website to share what I have learned seemed like a reasonable idea.

Choosing the name “vi-tower” for the website was a natural choice. VI was the telegraph code for the Norfolk and Western Railway’s Circleville tower that my dad spent so much time in as a youth. 

Thanks for visiting. If you have any questions about anything I’ve posted on the web pages or in the blog section, please don’t hesitate to contact me!