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John Whitby Allen (July 2, 1913 – January 6, 1973) was an American model railroader who created the famous HO scale Gorre & Daphetid model railroad in Monterey, California and authored numerous magazine articles on model railroading starting in the 1940s. Allen was renowned for his skill at scratch building and creating scenery. He also pioneered the technique of weathering his models for a more realistic appearance. In addition to his superdetailing of locomotives, rolling stock, structures, and scenery, Allen was known for populating his model world with scale figures of various kinds which helped him present humorous scenes to visitors to his layout and viewers of his photographs. Other techniques Allen promoted were realistic train operation and the use of forced perspective to create the illusion of a model railroad layout larger than it really was. == Early life == Born in Joplin, Missouri, Allen's father died of typhoid fever when he was three, and his mother died during the flu epidemic about nine years later. Allen lived with relatives in Missouri until attending school in Minnesota. While there, he developed rheumatic fever, and on the advice of a doctor, moved to California to live with an aunt and uncle. His health improved, but the rheumatic fever weakened his heart. After completing high school, Allen attended UCLA, and joined the ROTC. He became comfortable around military people, which later resulted in servicemen being recruited to help run the Gorre and Daphetid. In 1934, Allen and his brother went to the World's Fair in Chicago, and saw scale model trains in operation, and he was impressed. He was attending UCLA studying economics, but decided to go to art school. He attended art school for three years, specializing in photography. There he acquired the skills that set his layout and model photography apart. In 1935 John's paternal grandparents died, and his inheritance was about $1900 (the equivalent of a year's salary for a middle class man). John invested the money with the help of his brother, and in about 11 years, the value was such that he didn't have to work. His investments, combined with a frugal lifestyle, resulted in a sum of over $500,000 at the time of his death. After completing school, John partnered with another student and opened a photography business in the Westlake Park area of Los Angeles. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Whitby Allen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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