Model Railroading With John Allen

by Linn H. Westcott

Written by Linn H. Westcott, this hardbound title tells the story of John Allen’s spectacular HO-scale Gorre & Daphetid (pronounced Gory and Defeated) Railroad, a miniatured world complete with towering mountain ranges, deep chasms spanned by meticulously crafted bridges, great smoky cities, and a thousand smaller details.

The original Model Railroading with John Allen was published as a 144-page softbound book by Kalmbach Publishing in 1981. Its contents traced the development of his famous layouts with track plans and sketches, plus black and white, as well as color photos. This new, expanded edition adds new content to the original, as well ad reproductions of advertising photos that John took for Pacific Fast Mail, and a complete list of John’s photos and articles compiled by Jeffry L. Witt.

John Allen devoted the last 20 years of his life almost exclusively to model railroading, elevating it from a pastime to the status of art. Model Railroading with John Allen: The story of the fabulous HO scale Gorre & Daphetid Railroad, published almost ten years after his passing, is a record and celebration of his life’s work.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Railways

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1981

Reviews

[Michael Carnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic inspiration. The story, the pictures, the diagrams, the details are all wonderful and inspiring. There is a sad overtone to the entire presentation though in know that days after John Allan's death the entire work of art, his life's work, burned to the ground. Seems it really was a reality that was created by his pure strength of will, and with that will gone so was the world he created.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rare behind the scenes view of perhaps the world’s most detailed and faithful model train layout and landscape, hidden in a humble private home in Monterey, CA. The creator John Allen even introduced the idea of faithful “scale time” (married to eg 1:16 scale distance), which the trains’ schedules faithfully followed. A time capsule of a beautifully hidden moment of dudes being dudes, now sadly destroyed by fire.