Found this, while looking for something else.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j0tHHK-LI6Y
Fix it, Joe, please? Can’t from my tablet.
Joe’s not here …
I wonder if there is more?
Most of us “elder model railroaders” grew up “lusting” over John Allen’s awesome Gorre & Daphetid.
“lusting”?
Since big railroads like that were the ones to get the press, I felt like having a nice model railroad was impossible for me. So while I marveled at railroads like that, they also depressed me.
David Maynard said:
“lusting”?
Since big railroads like that were the ones to get the press, I felt like having a nice model railroad was impossible for me. So while I marveled at railroads like that, they also depressed me.
Yeah…“lusting”…as in seeing so much railroad detail and character in a railroad occupying a space less then 4X8 feet. This was about 1953 or 1954. I was 11 years old. John Allen was a master in achieving the look of a large railroad without having one. the layout only became large many years after this time. Tragically, both John and the railroad succumbed at the same time due to a large fire destroying his home in Monterey, CA.
Gary Armitstead said:
Exactly !!.. In 20 years (if I’m around) I will be saying the same thing about Amtrak modeling in the the 1980’s! Yes, I grew up with 1:1 trains running behind my house but only freight trains. At the time they were Penn Central then Conrail and now Norfolk Southern. When I saw that first Amtrak train across the river in Harrisburg highballing I was hooked at age 7…just like the rest of the “elders” at age 7. The 1:1 line behind my house used to run the CVRR Pioneer along with many other now cherished relics.
Gotta love history ! Gotta love modeling Amtrak !
I was jealous, I could never get permission for Floor to Ceiling scenery!
Gary, ok. By the time I saw it, it had been expanded into a much larger empire.
I talked to a guy who had the entire Sunday River Production video, and he told me that Allen’s layout was much, much smaller than he imagined, and, for him, it made the whole concept of that kind of layout seem much more doable knowing it wasn’t this gigantic empire. I think the impression of size and impossibility is mainly a function of Allen’s photography skills. (Kind of like centerfold pin-ups!!!)
I would never downplay or downgrade John Allen’s concept, innovations, scratch-building, detail work, and attention to operations. I wouldn’t downplay his achievements just because he didn’t have a job and could work full time on his creation. I also think the fact that the layout burned down has added to the legend because the layout isn’t around for inspection today. But…the man was a pioneer. Period.
Having said that, I think dozens of modellers today have surpassed Allen’s work in quality by such a distance that comparisons are almost unfair.
John Caughey said:
I was jealous, I could never get permission for Floor to Ceiling scenery!
Me too, but it gave me some ideas . .
John Passaro said:
I talked to a guy who had the entire Sunday River Production video, and he told me that Allen’s layout was much, much smaller than he imagined, and, for him, it made the whole concept of that kind of layout seem much more doable knowing it wasn’t this gigantic empire. I think the impression of size and impossibility is mainly a function of Allen’s photography skills. (Kind of like centerfold pin-ups!!!)
I would never downplay or downgrade John Allen’s concept, innovations, scratch-building, detail work, and attention to operations. I wouldn’t downplay his achievements just because he didn’t have a job and could work full time on his creation. I also think the fact that the layout burned down has added to the legend because the layout isn’t around for inspection today. But…the man was a pioneer. Period.
Having said that, I think dozens of modellers today have surpassed Allen’s work in quality by such a distance that comparisons are almost unfair.
Perhaps, Allen Macllend and Tony Koester certainly come to mind, but John Allen will always be the benchmark by which others are measured.
I went down to Monterey to visit John Allen and his Gory and Defeated railroad around 1970 or '71. I’d read about it in Model Railroader and just had to see it. I spent a long time talking to John and he was a real gracious host and a smart man. A few other guys stopped by to run trains and we had lunch together. As I remember, the layout was down in his basement and plenty big but his little workshop took up some of the space. The whole place was cool (both homonyms) and you could smell the salt air off the ocean - I remember wearing a coat down there. Ironically, most of the layout later burned up because somebody tried to turn the furnace on. Glad John never saw the quick demise of his railroad.
I also think it’s neat that USA Trains paid homage to John Allen’s railroad by releasing a Gorre & Daphetid reefer a few years ago.
Roundhouse did the same thing in HO. I have a set of Roundhouse Sierra passenger cars lettered for the G&D.
John Passaro said:
I think the impression of size
I was looking for a plan in the September 1961 MR when I found this centerfold:
It was labeled “Engine Depot on the Gorre & Dephetid”. Full size version here: http://largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_174/PeterTs%20Folder/Misc%202019%20May%20-%20Aug/20190528_135152-gorre-dephetid-center-spread.jpg
