John Allen

[Anonymous]

just for s & g, have you looked at it in your local library? I live in a small town and our local public library has a copy of it. It's fascinating reading, and yes, it might be a bit dated, but much of what John did on the layout was scratchbuilt or kitbashed (in the case of his locomotives). He did his own hand-laying and spiking track and he was a stickler for smooth operation. If a car derailed, he wouldn't let the operators just put it back on the track and continue running. He would stop the 'fast clock' and investigate WHY it derailed.

Sadly, much of his layout was destroyed in a fire not long after his death. Nonetheless, the G & D lives on. I envy Andy Sperandeo, Linn Westcott, and the hundreds of other people who got a chance to see this marvelous craftsman's work.

[conford]

The Westcott book, Model Railroading with John Allen, is a great book. Looks like it's kind of rare right now. Amazon has two copies listed, one for $40 and one for $299!!!RMC also did a fine 5 or 6 part series on John Allen written by Jim Findley in 1981. This was during the time that Tony Koester edited the magazine. Anyway I think the best suggestion is to use the index -- index.mrmag.com.
Regards
Peter

[CBQ_Guy]

Kalmbach has (had?) a book years ago on John and the G&D. Don't know if it's still available but a copy may be available (if not from Kalmbach) on ebay or through a book vendor, or ASSuming it's out of print, from a discontinued book seller.

[IRONROOSTER]

He was an inspiration. I enjoyed his articles. Although he died about a year after I started model railroading I have back issues with many of his articles and pictures.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info

[Anonymous]

In his day John Allen was the best--he simply had no peer. However, I recently purchased the video that was mentioned earlier in this thread and in the context of a video the G&D appears somewhat dated. I don't mean to take anything away from the wizard of Monterey, he just did not have today's technology, products and techniques available.

[jrbarney]

CNWfan5525,
Admittedly, they're not links to a Web site, but if you do a search at the Index of Magazines in the Title Text category at this site, using the words John Allen, you'll get a list of articles about John and his layouts. You might have some of those articles, depending upon how extensive a personal library you have.
Bob

[Anonymous]

its a very good book -loads of pictures and trackplans - pick up a copy if you find it.

neil

[Anonymous]

At a hobby shop I bought a 1973 (the year John Allen died) binder. The Gorre and Daphetid was in the April issue. Here's a link to a G&D website:

http://gorre_and_daphetid.home.att.net

Sunday River Productions (www.sundayriverproductions.com/model/G_D.html) has a tape on the G&D and Kalmbach had a book Model Railroading with John Allen but I think it's out of print.

[Anonymous]

I need links to pictures or layout plans of any of john allen's layouts.[?][X-)][%-)][sigh][yeah]