Allen McClelland

[drgwcs]

Allen McClelland had the courage to do what most of us in our senior years are not doing. That is he and his wife decided to downsize, so the first version of the V&O was ended and a smaller one built. Then they decided that they really needed to move into senior or assisted living and that version too was ended. A friend of his had Allen built a portion of the V&O on his layout where they interchanged so Allen was able to keep his hand in the game until the end.

The key thing is that as heartbreaking as this is for his family and friends (and admirers) Allen made choices that avoided burdening his wife. I can tell you that many model railroader widows end up cursing the layout they are left with (and the husband who built it) because it makes the house unsalable until it is removed.

As in so many aspects of his modeling and his writing, Allen had the gift of being able to look ahead and plan for what was coming.

I met him twice, very casually and can tell you that he must have been extraordinarily patient and kind because he was surrounded by modelers who all wanted his attention and alas some of them could be real jerks about it.

Dave Nelson

Several years ago he was selling a bunch of equipment at the Dayton train but I can not remember if it was when they downsized from the first layout or the second time when layout 2 was dismantled. I got to meet him but all the V&O labeled stuff was gone early on the first day. He had just a few things left that were other railroads when I was there.

[slammin]

I learned of Allen’s passing while I was in the hospital recovering from open heart surgery. I met Allen in the mid 60s. While I never had the honor of operating on the V&O, I visited the layout many times over the years. An innovator and a true gentleman, he will be missed. RIP Allen.

[John-NYBW]

I’m afraid I come bearing sad news. According to several model railroad Facebook pages, Allen McClelland of Virginian & Ohio fame has suffered a massive stroke. I don’t have much else in the way of details.

I’ve been a huge admirer of Allen and his layout. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

I’m just getting back into trains after golf season has ended and being briefly sidelined by a medical issue. I am just catching up on the news. This is indeed a sad development. The Virginian and Ohio probably had the greatest influence on the layout designs of my last two layouts. Prior to that I had been planning a bowl-of-spaghetti layout so the V&O’s linear design with the mainline only passing through each scene one time was a real eye opener for me. Allen McClelland is truly one of the giants of this hobby.