Pacific231G Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Folk songs (especially the Country and Western variety) often have trains as their theme but I've never before come across one about the model variety. This is by Larry Penn and seems to have been recorded in about 1980 For those who've not heard of him John Allen was the builder of the Gorre and Daphetid Railroad at his houses in Monterey California. in the 1940s-early 1970s. He pioneered many aspects of Amercian model railroading. He is regarded there as something of a legend being seen by many as the greatest ever model railroader. The G&D grew from a 6ft8ins by 3ft8ins folded figure eight into a vast basement empire with floor to ceiling scenery that required eight operators for full scale operation. The final layout did though incorporate the first one. He's often been credited in America with turning model railroading into an art form (perhaps in the way that John Ahern was here) but his layout was destroyed in a fire three days after he died of a heart attack in 1973 (the fire was caused by a small gas heater that his friends hadn't realised that Allen never used so switched on by mistake) a "gandy dancer" was the slang name for a section-hand and translates (more or less) as a platelayer . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now