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Thursday, July 11, 2019

Thoughts on John Allen, Part 2

At the risk of beating this topic from the past to death, I do have a few additional comments I would like to make about John Allen and his legacy, following my first post on the subject (that post can be seen at this link: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2019/07/what-can-you-say-about-john-allen.html ).
     Some additional aspects of his modeling deserve emphasis, and I will begin with another of the famous back-cover ads from Model Railroader of the 1950s. (There is an irony here, in a way, because all of these famous ads were photographed before John began his final version of the layout, the one that became so famous in later years.)


This ad was on the back of the February 1953 issue of MR. Allen had become a friend of Gordon Varney and photographed Varney products for the ads, but note, for example, that the Varney 4-6-0 locomotive in the background of this photo is not lettered. Like Varney’s diesel locomotives and streamlined passenger cars included in some ads, Allen did not actually run most of these products on his layout and didn’t letter them for his railroad.
     The ad shown was intended to promote the steel refrigerator cars spotted at the ice deck, and the stock car in the foreground. Note that the stock car is lettered for Allen’s railroad, the Gorre & Daphetid (intended to be pronounced “Gory and Defeated,” a too-cute name Allen was to regret for years), but the car was never available from Varney in that scheme. More about that in a moment.
     In the prior post, I mentioned the dinosaur switcher that Allen had invented, named Emma. He even used Emma in one of the Varney ads, here promoting the separately available power truck and twin geared drive truck from the diesel switcher shown at right, tellingly still lettered New York Central. This was the back cover in April 1953.


     In the previous post, I mentioned that Allen had a locomotive roster that was well weathered, and it was entirely steam (except for a gas-electric . . . and a streetcar). One of the illustrative photos is the one below, of the garden tracks of his engine terminal at Great Divide on the layout, showing an entirely weathered fleet. This photo, like some in the previous post, is from the Kalmbach book, Model Railroading with John Allen, by Linn Westcott (1981), and is used with permission from Andy Sperandeo. Some of these engines are modified from the locomotive kits of the day, others are modified brass imports. All had working headlights, a far from universal feature in those days.


You have only to read issues of Model Railroader or Railroad Model Craftsman as late as 1970 to notice that very few others were accomplishing this kind of appearance.
     Some years ago I decided I wanted to have some sort of G&D freight car in my fleet, and I turned to the Varney ad you see at the top of this post to know what to do. I used some of the graphics Allen had published to make tiff images, and reproduced them on a laser printer, then applied them to a Train Miniature stock car (frankly, it’s a better model than the Varney stock car). Here’s the result, and you can compare to John Allen’s version in the photo at the top of this post. (You can click on the image to enlarge it if you wish.)


I will admit that this car is rarely part of an operating session, but it was fun to create, and occasionally appears on the layout.
     John Allen’s legacy is now receding into the past, and I know that most younger modelers have little interest in Allen’s layout or photographs. But he was one of the pioneers of much that we do today, from weathering to completed scenery to realistic operation and photography, and his accomplishments certainly have my respect. Of course I recognize the caricatures, some of which do grate a bit, and not all the humor is very funny; those things have to be balanced with the positives. And I guess it’s a kind of tribute that I have a G&D stock car in my own car fleet!
Tony Thompson

9 comments:

  1. Tony -

    Did you acquire in of the historic model railroad kits which the NMRA was marketing in the '80s and '90s?

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  2. No, but I thought it was an interesting promotion.
    Tony THompson

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  3. Tony the Gore & Daphetid is being rebuilt. John's masterpiece is being brought back to life by a retired Museum Exhibit Modeler. Well worth a look and follow the page for updates as construction continues. https://www.facebook.com/Great-Divide-Lines-423511918192732/?view_public_for=423511918192732

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  4. I wish the project every success, and it will be fun to view someday. But my own view is that the GD was a great influence 50 years ago or more, not something that will make a difference today. The same might be said about Delta Lines or other great accomplishments of the past.
    Tony Thompson

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    1. Thank you for that, but so you know, this is not being built to influence anything or anyone. I am the man building it, and I am doing it for the kid in me who still wants to run a train over those incredible bridges and through those tunnels. Thousands of us did. So far, I am receiving more support and encouragement than I know what to do with. This project is massive and John was a brilliant model maker. Randy Decker

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  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgQJV7eu4o0&t=30s

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    1. Thanks for the link to the G&D rebuild project video. I do wonder, though, if this is the best use of someone's resources. They can, of course, build whatever they want.
      Tony Thompson

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    2. I am having the time of my life. I am speaking with so many wonderful modelers who met John and operated at his home in my research to build this as a museum quality project. Each one of them is on a list and waiting to come see the golden spike ceremony John never had. Rod Stewart and George Sellios, Malcolm Furlow, Howard Zane are just a few of well known modelers who endorse this project and regularly comment on updates. Tony Koester did a very nice article in the Model Railroader Annual Planning Guide this past January 2022. And I have Kenichi Matsomoto from Tenshodo in Japan with a group of John Allen fans who await updates and Kenichi and I have exchanged several small projects now. Kenichi is the man who restored the original G&D engines damaged in the fire for part of the model railroading exhibit in the new NMRA Museum Wing in CA and a fun and enthusiastic master modeler as well. There have been had more than one hundred model railroaders who have visited so far and each one believes as I do that this is a wonderful project and gives a slightly better ending to the wonderful story of John Allen who became a legend in the hobby but who's life and work ended in such tragedy. So yes Tony,. I think it is a very honorable and worthwhile use of my professional skills as a Museum Model Builder and it is a wonderful way for me to thank John Allen for inspiring me to prefect these skills and earn an income for my family for so many years. I want the tens of thousands of modelers, who were inspired to get into the hobby (like myself) by John, to be able to see some semblance of the masterpiece almost none of us ever got to see. But you certainly have the right to feel differently I am sure there are others who do as well.

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  6. I didn't mean to disrespect this project, and am sure I will enjoy seeing it. I have tried in both my posts on the subject, to honor John's very real accomplishments and legacy. He was certainly an inspiration to me.
    Tony Thompson

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