John Allen is probably the most celebrated, imitated and honored model railroader in history. Many great model railroaders have paid homage to him including George Selios.
I have added my name to that list. No not to the great modelers, but to the list of people who have paid homage on their layout.
I now have the G&D spread and of course they have their own private drover’s caboose.
The G&D spread, Al Gorre and Ben Daphetid, have the largest spread in the country. For you history buffs, this is before Al Gorre invented the telegraph.
One of the top hands, GW is known for his extraordinary abilities as a wrangler.
My floor to ceiling gorge with double water fall and high bridge is inspired by him. The hunting scene was influenced by his imagination though he never did such a scene. I just donated a copy of MR with pics of his first layout to the club for their fund raiser. Someone else can now see how it all began. Everytime I work on scenery of concoct an unussual scene I think of his influence on me decades ago. Only now do I have opportunity to allow that influence to do something. I hope to try some sway back cars someday.
For a treat find the BOOK Railroading with John Allen OR the VHS on the G&D both are a must if you are into the man and his masterful way of bring things to life. When you see his figures it is hard to belive they are WAX.
Chip I agree the man was a true artiest in more ways than one.
I believe his goal was operating a model railroad as a railroad. Most people miss that aspect of the John Allen experience. His articles in the mid-60’s about operating were really great.
He is undoubtedly the “most celebrated, imitated and honored model railroader” in the United States, but that’s as far as it goes. In the rest of the world, there are many railway modellers who have never even heard of him. His fame is not as widespread as you seem to believe.
No, I haven’t, nor would I want to. I’ve never been impressed by Allen’s modelling, nor that of his followers like Furlow and Sellios. I prefer realistic modelling.
Unfortunately for poor old John his work is taken out of the context of when it was being built. He introduced “realistic modeling” in the 1950’s. The overall layout looks like a fantasy. The individual scenes show his move toward realism. His article’s in the mid-1950’s about weathering were ground breaking. The use of smaller rail was revolutionary, code 70 in a world of standard 100. The structures that he built that had a super realistic look like his engine house.
John Allen should not be judged by “the followers” who are merely characature modelers but by his work in relation to the time period in which he was working. It is a shame some of those “followers” never looked outside and modeled real life and instead poorly counterfeited his work.
He is my inspiration to model realistically and not just build “model trains”.
Well, Wagon Wheel Gap and Yuba Summit (east approach) on my Yuba River Sub are close to becoming floor-to-ceiling scenery (I’m waiting until I’ve got everything else just about finished so that I don’t start rockslides moving stuff in and out of the layout).
And I’m looking in toy stores to see if I can find an appropriate “Gertie” for my yard (Allen’s famous Stegosaur switching dinosaur). I think I’ll pass on the trestle-lynching scene, though. He was a remarkable model railroader–I’ve just about worn out the videocassette made of his layout.
Tom
Ho boy! Now you’ve done it!. This exact thread went on for 200 posts on the Bachmann website. Soon there will be discussions about Furlow and Sellios and how dirty and unrealistic their modeling is. - Nevin
Neither Furlow nor Sellios are realistic modelers. They do charicatures. That seems to be the present trend in modeling. If you go to meets the dioramas that win the awards are not the most realistic but the most cluttered, over weathered and fanciful. We are seeing a trend away form realism. On the MR DVD most of the layouts are fanciful.
Not that there is any thing wrong with that point of view, but it would be nice to see a Jack Burgess style layout once and a while in the magazines. See my first layout tour on my Santa Clara convention page:
I grew up seeing John’s work…I was not impress and I was not the only one.You see Allen,Furlow and Sellios are all overrated by those that are easily impress.Sellios layout looks like the movie set out of the “Popeye” movie and has no real bases for major east coast cities in the 30s.Furlow is another John Allen wanna be.
No, I haven’t, nor would I want to. I’ve never been impressed by Allen’s modelling, nor that of his followers like Furlow and Sellios. I prefer realistic modelling.
All the best for the New Year,
Mark.
I must disagree about Sellios his work may be cluttered and have a depression era look to it but it is still fantastic on all levels, that being said to each his own this is a hobby not a job.
During the Great Depression major New England cities looked nothing like the F&SM. Nor did the American Southwest ever look like any of Furlow’s layouts. Great modelers? Yes, absolutely! But should one really be revered for building a Disney-like layout?
And, yes, everyone has the right to model as they please. But the observer should never be so naive as to take absolute fantasy for reality…as so many do today in the cases of the three modelers (see the discussion of Allen, Sellios, Furlow, and 1940’s film noir’s influence on the hobby a year or so ago here).
I disagree. Furlow is pretty much a law unto himself. Although there are characatures, that is where the similarities stop. Furlow’s work is a 3d expression of his art–his real life profession. Allen had a sense of humor, sure, but Furlow carried his work to a world all to itself.
I don’t know that I buy the “caricatures” argument. All art involves some degree of abstraction, and no image is ever a perfect representation of reality. People enjoy the GD Line not because it was a perfectly rendered version of reality, but because it was an effective work of art. It’s hard to define just what that is, because everyone takes something different away from it, but I’ll hang my hat on the empirical hook, and note the sheer number of people who came away from either personal visits or magazine viewings with an impression of a fantastic achievement. I know a guy at my LHS who’s made it a point to collect every single article ever written about JA, and there’s a Yahoo group devoted (and devoted is the word) to the GD Line. Similarly, I’ve met people from time to time who operated on the GD when stationed in Monterey or who paid it a visit, and with one exception their reaction was essentially the same: “I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.” They felt it was memorable and beautiful, and even inspirational.
His work defends itself by surviving, just like anyone else’s. Like it or not, it will be discussed as long as the hobby is around, and that endurance alone is a sign that there really is something there. I’m less familiar with George Sellios’ work, but he’s making a living by doing it, so there must be some demand for it.
allen , furlow and sellios should be admired for their artistic vision , and the work they’ve done to create that vision in model form . like any work of art their modeling appeals to some viewers and not to others
Not to sound negative, unless you present pictures of your work you shouldn’t criticize others. Most people who object to Sellios, Furlow, etc. usually pour their scenery out of a Woodland Scenics box, and air brush everything roof brown and grimy black.
If you have an objection show that your work is better before tearing down others. Personally I find their work over cluttered and cartoonish.
Click image to enlarge
My California in the 1870’s, with the soon to be replaced On30 tunnel portal
