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If you don't know who he was or read his articles then you're missing out on a great man and his contributions to model railroading. He was known as the "Dean of track plans" and knew Frank Ellison. I believe he passed away some years ago, and I once had an Allen Keller video of his layout and interview - which was perhaps the best video and interview I have ever experienced. I sold or gave away all my VHS years ago, and now regret parting with the John Armstrong video. Does anyone know of any DVD's of his layout - "Canadaigua Southern" and/or interview? I tried in vain to find one using the usual internet search engines. I recall John was working on his layout for 50 years, LOL! He modeled in O-scale - outside rail, and built some of his steamers. It was a great interview and video of his layout - Allen Keller made some of the best train videos. I no longer have a VHS machine, so I am hoping someone made a DVD, but it seems like a long shot.

Last edited by Paul Kallus
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John Armstrong is my all-time model railroad hero because I have similar interests in train operations and engineering and track planning - but not so much in building detailed buildings and scenery. He was a prolific author on model and real rail railroad subjects. However, I gather that his home layout was not detailed and finished to the extent that is generally featured in the hobby magazines. There don't seem to be so many photos available of his home layout. John Armstrong passed away in 2004 at age 84.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Armstrong_(model_railroader)

Last edited by Ace

Part of John Armstrong's layout was removed and purchased by a compatriot of his who lives near Laurel, MD.  John's layout has been incorporated in to this man's very extensive 2 rail layout which is featured in the current Great Model Railroads published by a well known organization in Wisconsin.

Last edited by rheil

A labyrinth is a good depiction of what I recall seeing of the video of John's layout...I also remember John commenting that once he engineered a scene he would move on to another - sometimes resulting in sparse details. Despite that, out of the hundreds if not thousands of layouts I've read about, watched on video, and seen in person, his stands out as one of the best, probably due to his track plan and the interview - a really neat guy who lived and dreamed railroading in all its aspects.

In this age of Information Technology overload where we want everything on the internet and within a few seconds its a shame we've lost the media transformation to keep layouts and interviews like John's alive. The same is true of Delta Lines - and who knows how many others. I imagine the same is true of more important subjects in science and literature.  

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