John Allen's House

[Anonymous]

About a month ago I visted the site of John Allen's old residence at 9 Cielo Vista Terrace in Monterey, Ca. The new house that was built in the location of the old one looks to be of the same design. Could they have used the old foundation from John's house? If so, would the 'roughed in' cement mountains still in place? What do you think. I think probably not. But could they be???

[Anonymous]

I was at John's house the night of the last operation of the railroad. All was well when we left for the night. John's brother left the main heater burning to keep moisture out of the house. He did not know that John did not use this heater ever. John made the mistake of wrapping tarpaper around the flew behind the Cold Shoulder area. This tarpaper was what caused the fire. John always used the wall heater in the railroad room and let the heat rise to the rest of the house. The house that now stands on the lot is the original house. The fire only destroyed the railroad room. The living room floor saged and the house had alot of smoke damage. To restore the house, all timbers and studs in the basement had to be replaced. This meant removing the remains of the railroad. None of which was salvageable. The house was restored and sold to a neighbor. Or restored after purchase, I don't remember. It was rented out last I knew. It may have changed hands again, who knowes. But the railroad is history for sure. There are a few surviving pieces of rolling stock and blackened structures. They are scattered across the country with various owners.
Cheers to an old friend!

[Anonymous]

Dear Kieth,
I don't know if i believe what you say. i agree with everything except that alot of the stuff you say is from the book Model Railroading with John Allen. i don't mean to be optomistic but i knew all the stuff you wrote and could have written it myself. as for you being at the layout i can't know if that is true. so have a happy life.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kenneth,
It's not important whether you believe me or not. I was not one of the regular operators on the layout. I visited several times and the operators ran on my layout a few times at that time also. I was born and raised in Monterey. Check the MR news March or April issue of MR. I am the owner of John's other surviving loco, among other things. John was a friend of mine for years. In 1961, my uncle Paul owned Fleet's hobby shop on Alisal street in Salinas that John Frequented. Uncle Paul helped to wire John's layout. That was the first time I visited John.
Cheers, Keith B

[Anonymous]

Keith, I would like to learn more about John Allen. Please let me know if I can e-mail you. Thanks

Ken

[snowey]

I'd like to know more, too. Can you also let me know? Thanx.

[Javern]

I read some about him in a few old issues od MR, and am curious to know How old was he when he passed away and what was the cause of death?

[Anonymous]

Hi Javern,
John was only 59 when he died of heart failure. Jim Findley was visiting him at the time. John had a weak heart and always boasted that building the railroad lenthened his life beyond expectation. But look what we ate back then. Lucky we are all not dead. This information is in the book Model Railroading with John Allen.

Cheers, Keith

[Anonymous]

Hi Ken,
I would be happy to talk to you about John or any other model railroad related stuff.
Cheers and Happy Holidays, Keith [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

I put the wrong name on my response below Joe. I ment to put both Joe and Ken. I would be happy to talk with anyone about John or any other model railroad stuff. I posted my email adddress below Joe's response.
Cheers and Happy Holidays, Keith

[Anonymous]

There is a Yahoo! group called "GandD", on the home page for that group at Yahoo! I have posted some photos of the house a 9 Cielo Vista Terrace that I took on our trip in April.

James

[Anonymous]

I have heard a lot about that book. Anyone know where I could get a copy of it?