Hey guys this is Dave Breman the loyal and devoted John Allen Fan. I’m having to use my buddy Jason’s computer since the power at my house is out. I am trying to follow in John Allens footsteps and model the Gorre & Daphetid. John once wrote that the only real railroad that came close to mathing his would have been the Colorado Midland. Johns G&D was a Mountain Division of a larger bridge line. Since I do not have the space available to build a large mountain railroad, I’m going to model a branch of the G&D that runs through the foothills of the Akinback Mountains from East Divide (hidden staging) North East to a connection with the CB&Q at the town of Frisco. The time period will be the spring of 1929. I want to try and take pieces of several small roads like the Nevada Northern, V&T, Yosemite, Colorado Midland, Sierra, and the California and Nevada. Other than using older/smaller equipment, lighter rail, poor ballast, what other things should I try to do to draw my railroad together to try and make it fit the prototypes above, and into John Allens over all theme? I’m trying to give my locomotives the family apperance, they are all oil burners or will become so shortly, the weathering will appear that they are driven hard but kept up. Does anyone have any ideas to help push me along? I appreciate the help. Dave
One of the things that made the G&D successful was it’s overal cohesiveness, which you’ve already hinted at. You mentioned giving the loco’s a “family” appearence, and that’s a good start. But there’s more to it then that.
John’s color palette was very earthy for the most part. subtle browns, reds, and lots of greys were the colors he used most. Very few of these were of a bold nature, but rather, he preferred more reserved shades, often using very similar shades throughout an entire area to give it that overall feeling of belonging there. He would then use a slightly bolder color to give a few points of interest their “pop”. The trains (mostly the cars, but not always) used the most color because they were the stars of the show. Colors were still laid back, but they had a bit more boldness to them then the surrounding scenery.
Another thing that added to that cohesiveness was the archatecture styles. Within a given area the styles of the buildings were all quite similar for the most part. The city had mostly large buildings of a more “modern” nature, though a few older styles were still present to give the city some history. The small towns had more antiquated buildings in various states of disrepair. The styles and time periods represented were, for the most part, very similar within each town. The buildings that your attention was to be drawn to usually had a little more ornate trimmings and were closer to the front of the layout.
These are all things that you can do too. I’d suggest that you study his pics and if you have the chance to get a copy of the VHS tape by Sandy River Productions (I think?), which last I heard was not in production any more, then by all means do so. The movie is in mostly color and it’s of good quality. It’ll give you a feel for the layout that regular pictures just can’t convey.
Thank you for the reply Phillip. I will take your recomendations to heart in selecting my structures, and when it comes time to start planning scenery and painting rolling stock.
Dave
Your Public Library might use the E- network to acquire the 1981 book of John Allen’s railroad that is in full color. Ask your librarian about that book or go online at your public library’s website and see if you can find it under “John Allen” or similar searches.
I know that the Arkansas Public Library already has a copy that can potentially be shipped to your library for borrowing.
Not sure if you have the original book about the G&D, but here is a great site that has alot of pics of it.