BIO
For 25 years, I have lived in Colorado. My passions are golf , travel and designing model railroads.
With the advent of DCC, designing model railroads that operate prototypically has been my main focus. Most of my designs incorporate prototypical operations. Whether, I'm designing a small shelf layout or a four level museum layout: operations is always the focal point.
The Late Allen McClelland and the V & O
Most track planning and design professionals consider John Armstrong "the dean of track planners". Anyone remotely interested in track planning and design, has seen or heard of John's famous "Givens & Druthers" questionnaire, which my questionnaire is loosely based on.
While John certainly deserves the title "the dean " and has impacted my design philosophy. The late Allen McClelland's Virginian & Ohio layout has had the most influence on me. When I mention the name Allen McClelland to the young model railroader or newbie, I get a blank stare or asked "Who?"
In early 2023, Model Railroader and Tony Koester published "Allen McClelland & His Virginian & Ohio - The man who changed everything". Tony talks about three of Allen's modeling philosophies, that have largely gone unnoticed by the average model railroader. Three phrases [from Allen] have influenced my design philosophy, for years.
"Good Enough"... Allen was not a big fan of having expensive brass engines or craftsman quality structures on his layout, even though he was fully capable of building craftsman quality structures. Many of the structures on the V&O used black card stock for rear walls! Allen's theory "if you can't see it, don't model it."
"It's already been done"... Allen was a big fan of not over thinking things, if you are having trouble figuring out something, look to the prototype, 99.9% of the time "they've already done it".
"Beyond the basement"... Allen built the V&O based on the concept the layout was not a singular entity, but a very small part of a much larger national rail system. Allen was one of the first to use staging as a major component of his layout and operating scheme. Allen always thought of his layout as a transportation system, not just a model railroad.
With the advent of DCC, designing model railroads that operate prototypically has been my main focus. Most of my designs incorporate prototypical operations. Whether, I'm designing a small shelf layout or a four level museum layout: operations is always the focal point.
The Late Allen McClelland and the V & O
Most track planning and design professionals consider John Armstrong "the dean of track planners". Anyone remotely interested in track planning and design, has seen or heard of John's famous "Givens & Druthers" questionnaire, which my questionnaire is loosely based on.
While John certainly deserves the title "the dean " and has impacted my design philosophy. The late Allen McClelland's Virginian & Ohio layout has had the most influence on me. When I mention the name Allen McClelland to the young model railroader or newbie, I get a blank stare or asked "Who?"
In early 2023, Model Railroader and Tony Koester published "Allen McClelland & His Virginian & Ohio - The man who changed everything". Tony talks about three of Allen's modeling philosophies, that have largely gone unnoticed by the average model railroader. Three phrases [from Allen] have influenced my design philosophy, for years.
"Good Enough"... Allen was not a big fan of having expensive brass engines or craftsman quality structures on his layout, even though he was fully capable of building craftsman quality structures. Many of the structures on the V&O used black card stock for rear walls! Allen's theory "if you can't see it, don't model it."
"It's already been done"... Allen was a big fan of not over thinking things, if you are having trouble figuring out something, look to the prototype, 99.9% of the time "they've already done it".
"Beyond the basement"... Allen built the V&O based on the concept the layout was not a singular entity, but a very small part of a much larger national rail system. Allen was one of the first to use staging as a major component of his layout and operating scheme. Allen always thought of his layout as a transportation system, not just a model railroad.