John Whitby Allen
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John Whitby Allen (July 2, 1913 – January 6, 1973) was a prominent American
model railroader ''Model Railroader'' (''MR'') is an American magazine about the hobby of model railroading. Founded in 1934 by Al C. Kalmbach, it is published monthly by Firecrown Media of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Commonly found on newsstands and in libraries ...
. He pioneered or developed several aspects of the hobby on his
HO scale HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO. The ...
Gorre & Daphetid model railroad in
Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...
, popularizing them with numerous magazine articles and photographs starting in the 1940s. Allen was renowned for his skill at
scratch building Scratch building is the process of building a scale model "from scratch", i.e. from raw materials, rather than building it from a commercial kit, kitbashing or buying it pre-assembled. Scratch building is easiest if original plans of the su ...
and creating scenery. He also pioneered the technique of
weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...
his models for a more realistic appearance. In addition to his superdetailing of locomotives,
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
, structures, and scenery, Allen was known for populating his model world with scale figures in humorous scenes. Other techniques Allen promoted were realistic train operation and the use of
forced perspective Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It manipulates human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation bet ...
to create the illusion of a
model railroad layout In model railroading, a ''layout'' is a diorama containing scale track for operating trains. The size of a layout varies, from small shelf-top designs to ones that fill entire rooms, basements, or whole buildings. Attention to modeling details ...
larger than it really was.


Early life

Born in
Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...
, Allen lost his father to
typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...
when he was three; his mother died during the flu epidemic about nine years later. Allen lived with relatives in Missouri until attending school in Minnesota. While there, he developed
rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...
, and on the advice of a doctor, moved to California to live with an aunt and uncle. His health improved, but the rheumatic fever weakened his heart. After completing high school, Allen attended
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, and joined the
Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...
(ROTC). He became comfortable around military people, and later recruited servicemen to help run the Gorre & Daphetid. In 1934, Allen and his brother went to the
World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
in Chicago, and saw scale model trains in operation, and he was impressed. He was attending UCLA studying economics, but switched to art school, which he attended for three years, specializing in photography. There he acquired the skills that set his layout and model photography apart. In 1935, John's paternal grandparents died, leaving him about $1,900 ($ today), then the equivalent of a year's salary for a middle-class man. John invested the money with the help of his brother, and in about 11 years, the value was such that he did not have to work. His investments, combined with a frugal lifestyle, resulted in a sum of over $500,000 at the time of his death. After completing school, John and another student opened a photography business in the Westlake Park area of Los Angeles.


World War II

Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Allen and his brother Andrew visited an uncle living near
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
who had a model railroad. He became interested in working on it. When the U.S. entered the war, Andrew joined the military and John offered his services as a photo analyst. Allen came to
Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...
, to visit his brother, and decided to stay. He opened a new photography shop on the main street with partner Weston Booth, and did a brisk business photographing servicemen. In 1946, John sold his business, invested the money, and retired.


Model railroading

Allen said that he got into model railroading just before the end of the war. Due to a limited supply of hobby materials, he began building things from scratch. He spent a lot of time studying and observing railroads in operation, and how prototype equipment was built. Allen built models, then meticulously arranged and photographed them. In July 1946, he published the first of many articles and photographs to appear in ''
Model Railroader ''Model Railroader'' (''MR'') is an American magazine about the hobby of model railroading. Founded in 1934 by Al C. Kalmbach, it is published monthly by Firecrown Media of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Commonly found on newsstands and in libraries ...
'' magazine: "How to make realistic model photos." Another photo was used for the cover of the December 1947 issue of ''Railroad Model Craftsman.'' Over the next three decades, Allen produced many articles and photographs for prominent hobby magazines. His last feature article for a major model railroad magazine likely appeared in the March and April 1971 issues of ''Railroad Model Craftsman.'' Allen also devised or inspired trends and ideas in the hobby. In 1948, his two-stall enginehouse took first award in the national model-railroading contest in the structures category. Wrote Westcott: "It aroused comment because John had modeled pigeons and their evidences along the ridge of the roof. Pigeons and other animate detail, once considered un-acceptable in this hobby, were given another look; and many a modeler began to humanize his railroad. While '
weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...
' was not entirely new, the work of Allen and a few others in this period showed how effective it could be in adding atmosphere to otherwise very stiff-looking modelwork. This also created a trend." Allen also devised " Timesaver", a well-known
model railroad Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are Model building, modelled at a reduced Scale (ratio), scale. The scale models include locomotives ...
switching puzzle.


Gorre & Daphetid

Allen's model railroad, the
HO scale HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO. The ...
Gorre & Daphetid, has been called "the world's most famous model railroad." Allen built three versions, each larger than the last.


Early version

He moved into a house in 1946 and began construction of the first version of the Gorre & Daphetid. (The name is a play on words; pronounced "Gory and Defeated.") In 1953 he needed more space, and decided to move. He offered a railroad for sale, with free house. When no one was interested in buying the house with the railroad, he dismantled it. The original by G&D was saved and incorporated into the final version, while other parts were given to friends.


Final version

Allen moved to his final house, chosen for its unfinished basement. He excavated the basement, poured a concrete floor and prepared it for construction of the final layout. He allocated about half the to the layout, with the remainder used as workshop and storage. Allen built a scale model of the house to aid in planning, in addition to models of the layout he planned to build. His planning was very thorough. Early plans included the use of real water in scale rivers and lakes. Construction began in January 1954. One feature of the layout was Devil's Gulch, a part of the basement not excavated, but shaped, with concrete poured over it. Allen constructed the layout almost completely by himself. He devoted the next 20 years to this project. During this period, Allen revolutionized model railroading with realistic operations, lighting (including night lighting), and weathering of models. He used forced perspective to enhance the illusion of realism, and only allowed photography under his conditions.


Death and fire

John Allen suffered at least one heart attack in the 1960s. As his health declined, he continued to work to complete the Gorre & Daphetid. In a telephone conversation with Linn Westcott, he suggested that he would drive the last spike in the spring of 1973, and that Linn should come for a visit then. In 1972, he was already suggesting that things might not be going well, and wondering "what to do with the railroad" in letters to a friend. He suffered a fatal
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on the evening of January 6, 1973.


Fire

Ten days after Allen died, some of his friends gathered for an operating session and discussion on the preservation of the railroad in accordance with Allen's wishes. When they left, someone set a small gas furnace in the train room to 65 °F. Allen had rarely used the furnace, because he liked to keep the house cool, or possibly because it was not vented correctly. He had covered it with
tar paper Tar paper, roofing paper, felt paper, underlayment, or roofing tar paper is a heavy-duty paper used in construction. Tar paper is made by impregnating paper with tar, producing a waterproof material useful for roof construction. Tar paper is ...
. This caused a fire, investigators later determined, according to Linn Westcott's book ''Model Railroading with John Allen.'' The fire was quickly reported and extinguished fast enough to save the house, but it destroyed the final, still-unfinished incarnation of Allen's railroad. Linn Westcott was asked by John's brother Andrew Allen to see whether the layout could be salvaged. They tried to save the "French Gulch" section, but it collapsed as they moved it after two hours of work. The damage was mainly contained to the layout room, and the house was rehabilitated and sold. A few model railroad items attributed to Allen survive and have been authenticated.


Legacy

The first wide public mention of Allen's death was an obituary penned by editor
Tony Koester J. Anthony Koester, more commonly known as Tony Koester, is a well-known member of the United States model railroading community. Along with his friend Allen McClelland and his Virginian & Ohio, Koester popularized the idea of proto-freelancing wit ...
in the March 1973 issue of ''Railroad Model Craftsman''. "John Allen was an institution, Although his material had appeared in print on countless occasions (the December 1947 issue of ''Railroad Model Craftsman'' featured a John Allen cover), reader enthusiasm for his well known HO scale Gorre & Daphetid never wore down," Koester wrote. "The hobby has lost an all-time great." The April 1973 issue of ''Model Railroader'' magazine contained an
obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...
by editor Linn Westcott and a cover photo of Allen. The January 2003 issue of ''Model Railroader'' contained a remembrance of him 30 years after his death. Former ''Model Railroader'' editor Linn Westcott's final book, entitled ''Model Railroading with John Allen'', was published posthumously in 1981. Westcott died in 1980 while writing the book. It contained various quotes and photographs from Allen demonstrating his techniques. There is a video about John Allen's railroad by ''Sunday River Productions'' called ''The Gorre & Daphetid''sundayriverproductions.com
with footage shot by Richard Reynolds with a small intro by Glenn Beier who also operated on the G&D. Glenn Beier says "it is the only motion picture ever made of the world's most famous model railroad". Until February 2007, only a VHS copy of the video was for sale. Now both VHS and DVD versions are available.


References


External links


Gorre & Daphetid Yahoo Group

John Allen's Gorre and Daphetid Railroad - A Reminiscence
website featuring photos of the G&D
Audio
John Allen discusses freight car operation on the Gorre & Daphetid in 1971 * Model Railroading With John Allen: The Story of the Fabulous HO Scale Gorre & Daphetid Railroad (Paperback) Linn H. Westcott Kalmbach Pub Co.(July 1981) * Model Railroading With John Allen: The Story of the Fabulous HO Scale Gorre & Daphetid Railroad (Paperback) Linn H. Westcott Kalmbach Pub Co.(1982) ASIN B0032AW8BE * Model Railroading With John Allen: The Story of the Fabulous HO Scale Gorre & Daphetid Railroad (Hardcover) Linn H. Westcott Kalmbach Pub Co.(July 1996) * Model Railroading With John Allen: Expanded Edition (Hardcover) Linn H. Westcott Benchmark Publications (2011) ASIN B004L18IN0 {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, John Whitby People from Joplin, Missouri Model makers Rail transport modellers Allen Whitby, John Allen Whitby, John Allen Whitby, John