John Whitby Allen - Death and Aftermath

Death and Aftermath

John Allen suffered a fatal heart attack on the evening of January 6, 1973. He had previously suffered at least one heart attack during the 1960s. Although he wasn't feeling well, he worked at completing the Gorre and Daphetid. In a telephone conversation with Linn Westcott, he suggested that he would drive the last spike in the spring of 1973, and that Linn should come for a visit then. In 1972 he was already suggesting that things might not be going well, and wondering "what to do with the railroad" in letters to a friend.

Ten days after Allen died unexpectedly of a heart attack, some of Allen's friends gathered for an operating session and discussion on the preservation of the railroad in accordance with Allen's wishes. When they left, someone set a furnace in the train room to 65 degrees. Allen never used the furnace and had covered it with tar paper. This caused a fire, which was quickly reported and extinguished fast enough to save the house, but it destroyed the final, still-unfinished incarnation of Allen's railroad. The damage was mainly contained to the layout room, and the house was rehabilitated and sold. A few model railroad items attributed to Allen survive and have been authenticated.

According to Linn Westcott's book Model Railroading with John Allen ("The Book"), the fire was determined by an investigator have been started from a small gas furnace. John rarely used the furnace, because he liked to keep the house cool, or possibly because it was not vented correctly.

Linn Westcott was asked by Andrew Allen (John's brother) to investigate if the layout could be salvaged. The fire caused extensive damage. They tried to save the "French Gulch" section, but it collapsed as they moved it after two hours of work.