This post will serve as a collection of the most common questions asked by members, visitors, or anyone who is interested in Free-mo and Ohio Valley Free-mo. If you have a questions, please post it and it will be added to the list.

When was the Ohio Valley Free-mo created?
The OVFM was created in October 2003 by John McManaman and Todd Gayhart.

Why was the group started?
The group was created as a way for people to step away from the typical oval style modular layout and move towards more operations and prototypical layouts. There were no other groups in the southwest Ohio area except for groups using the NMRA standards.

What is OVFM's vision for operations?
The vision for the group is to operate switching for grain, coal, automotive and lumber industries. In the future when the layout grows, there will be more oportunities for running unit trains and through freights.

Are you planning on running an kind of time tables during a show with lets say unit trains running point to point and locals doing set-outs and switching at industries?
Time tables are planned in the future when there are more people and more modules. In the beginning we will use a simple car card program that was created in MS Access. There aren't enough modules to run anything but local jobs, so this will work for now. If we set-up with other groups, we'll run under their "authority".

Is there an over all theme or era you are trying to model as a group or it is up to the individual to model what they want?
The chosen locale is southern Ohio, eastern Kentucky and West Virginia in the late summer, around the early to mid 80's. The roads are Chessie System, Conrail and Norfolk Southern. But moreover, it's up to the individual at the moment, but with the option to fit in to a given era, like the 80's.

Are there any meetings I could attend?
Yes. There are planned meetings for the fourth or last Tuesday of every month. There are also proposed construction/operation sessions for each season, or 4 per year. But there may be work sessions during regular meetings as well.

Are there any elected officials?
No. There are no officers for the group. All members hold equal authority.

Do members pay dues?
No, there are no dues. All members are welcome to donate funds to the group for purchaces of equipment or materials to be used by all members, like DCC equipment, group owned modules, advertising, etc.