Does anyone remember the project layout called the Jerome & Southwestern that was done in the early to mid eighties? I believe it was done by John Olson, but I could be wrong on that.
I always like d the waterfront scene & wanted to incorporate that into the layout I’m building now but I don’t have any issues that go that far back.
Sure! The J&S was indeed an effort by John Olson and was a project layout in the pages of MR. Later, the story appeared in book form under the name of something like, “Buildiing An HO Model Railroad With Personality”, published by Kalmbach and the layout was used to illustrate a number of Like Like ads. As I recall, the trackplan was relatively simple, but the layout was cleverly scenicked.
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL3194518M/Building_an_HO_model_railroad_with_personality
Olson was a favorite author of mine among the MR contributors and his layouts far superior to his contemporay Malcolm Furlow, in my mind. I believe he also created the Back Alley & Wharf RR for MR, another small but interesting layout.
I’m sure the appropriate back issues of MR are available from Kalmbach…or at least photo copies of the article (the project ran over many months).
CNJ831
Here are the (9) Model Railroader “matches” for John Olson’s 1982-1983 series from the new Train Magazine Index, and here’s Building an HO Model Railroad with Personality.
The Back Alley & Wharf was an extension of the J&S, and I believe it was included within the J&S article series. As for your Furlow/Olson preference, I tend to agree. I believe Olson was publishing articles on backwater shortlines much earlier, so would that make Furlow an Olson wannabe?
Just askin’
Tom
Thanks everyone, I’m glad I’m not the only one that remembers that far back!
The Back Alley & Wharf is actually the portion I’d like to incorporate into my layout. I still have alot of planning to do and I’m realizing just how much I don’t know about planning a layout.
As far as the Olson/Furlow comparison, I don’t remember alot of Olson’s work besides the J&S, but he was an excellent modeler. Furlow had a different style and I remember his San Juan Central project layout. That was very nicely done also, but I will say that John Olson’s work seemed to capture a little more “realism” and was slightly better written.
Olson’s appearance pre-dated that of Furlow by a number of years. I seem to recall that when Olson first surfaced about 1976 he was doing western narrow gauge modeling. Pictures of a section his layout, refered to as Mule Shoe Meadows, cropped up initially in Trackside Photos, I think, and then as an MR article. He went on to do several project layouts for MR. The only one of these I found disappointing was his Mescal Lines, where he swapped his realism modeling style for caricature/fantasy. Thereafter, Olson moved on to the Disney Company and unfortunately we saw little further from him in MR.
Furlow’s efforts were almost always in the caricature/fantasy style of modeling, something I’ve never cared for. I consider its use as typically for the purpose of covering up the hobbyist’s lack of ability to accurately and artistically model reality.
CNJ831
I seem to remember seeing john Olson’s byline in RMC during the 1970s.
Olson was probably a better model railroader than people gave him credit for. However, it was the late 70’s and early 80’s (ironically enough, the time period that I model), and that meant that it was the Malcolm Furlow and John Olsen Gorre-and-Daphetid-Copy-a-ganza at MR Magazine. Every month that went by featured something by these guys who were not so broadly hinting that they wanted to be the next John Allen, to the point of slavish emulation.
At least it was better than the Tony Koeaster and Lionel Strang V&O lovefest.
I wasn’t even a teenager back then but I do remember the layouts/projects they were building at that time. As I have never seen photos or articles of the G&D I never did see the “cloneism” but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. Looking back now it does seem both modelers were very similar in the eras/locations they modeled & built layouts for.
Michael, I actually own a photocopy of this project layout, the Jerome & Southwestern. Let me tell you about how I became interested in both prototype and model railroads; I am an actually re-aspiring artist, all or most of my works will consist of turn-of-the-century rural and/or narrow-gauge and logging railroad scenes. My career as a railroad enthusiast started after purchasing a special issue of Model Railroader magazine. The cover contained a picture of Geoff Nott’s freelance Leigh Creek Lumber Co., a logging model railroad layout. I was in search of an interesting rural railroad scene for my idea portfolio, and FOUND IT! I was so ecstatic and I decided that railroads will become the center of the universe in my art career. That moment branched out a hobby of railroading. In 2008, I became a member of a local prototype railroad club called Tower “A” which is actually The Cincinnati Railroad Club. It is located behind the Cincinnati Museum Center at the Union Terminal. And since I obtained that photocopy of the Jerome & Southwestern project layout, I am seriously considering holding a membership in The Jerome Historical Society. I would like to start an academy for individuals who want careers in the field of railroad history preservation and also model railroad clubs that want to model excellent top-museum quality layouts; I am inspired to create a workbook based on The Jerome and Southwestern project layout so that individuals can learn step-by-step how to build this layout; not only this workbook but another one on model railroad photography. Since I was inspired by Geoff Nott’s Leigh Creek Lumber Co. and the late John Allen’s Gorre & Dephetid model railroad layouts, I am going to draw out a museum-size sample model railroad layout called Baldur’s Gate thru Nugget Creek. This layout will consist of two cultures of The old west and The Rennaisance. It wil
Depends on who you ask.
Never cared much for Furlow ,Olsen or J.A’s Gorre-& Daphetid even though I grew up in the G&D era.
Of course that could be because I never cared for whimsical modeling.
I built that dockside section of the J&S into a layout back in the early '80s. It was fun to operate. I didn’t make the John Allen clonism connection, at least that I remember, but I did really enjoy the series. This thread brought back a fond memory. Dan
I have both the Olson J&S book and Furlow’s narrow gauge one. I consider both to be some of the best and most creative project layouts in MR. Not because they are hi fidelity models of a real railroad or even a V&O/AM proto freelance, but because they shows how to capture the feel of a location and era in a very small space. Much of what people call “whimsy” or “caricature” was creating the emotion and capturing the imagination of a world somewhat analogous to forced perspective. While obviously anything can be overdone, in a hit-you-over-the-head manner, I think the J&S captured the feel very well.
In contrast for example, some of the latest project railroads, such as the WSOR, Bay Junction, and this year’s Winter Hill, while all far more realistic in design and operations than the J&S, also took up significantly more room that many of us don’t have. That’s the key. Olson, Furlow, and even John Allen weren’t modeling a photograph of a real thing. They were creating a three dimensional painting.
If those layouts where paintings instead of model train layouts I would rank them with Picasso.Whimsical yet charming in their own rights…
Again I never cared for whimsical modeling…
I have an original copy of Model Railroading with John Allen which I thoroughly enjoy. That man was timeless in the field of model railroading. But he was somewhat under-rated. I reckon his illustrations of his plans for the Gorre & Dephetid Railroad are timelessly amazing. I am seriously inspired to put my artistic skills to use. Not only in the field of model railroading, but I plan to build a collection of drawings/watercolors based on my book, “Mineral County.” So next year, for Summer Rail 2014, I plan to show off my works especially to promote my book. If you plan on being in Cincinnati around this time next year, stop by the Cincinnati Museum Center where Summer Rail is held every year and see me. Oh and by the way, how did that layout you built back in the 80’s turn out? Do you still have it? Some of my pictures will include some cool rail action, but not a liberty to describe any details of the included subjects in them though I am tempted. Copperlode
Which is a reasonable way to look at things, as different forms of art, though I would place them more in the genre of Hooper’s “Nighthawks” than Picasso, though I would also agree that Olson’s later work (at least as shown in MR) was more akin to a Picasso with it’s wild rock formations and stereotypical bandito’s. While neither Nighthawks, nor Picasso were photo-realistic images, Nighthawks evokes a moody feeling, whereas the only feeling I get from a Picasso is one of confusion. [*-)]
Speaking of “Nighthawks” there was a article in MR back in the 80s(?) where the author resized a small magazine size “Nighthawks” to HO and used as the interior of a restaurant. The end result look good.