Sad news........Gene Allen has passed

[Gary Armitstead]

I was browsing the Backyard Railroading Facebook site and noticed the very sad email:


<<Tony Burzio
3 hrs · Cape Coral, FL
Got this in the e-mail this morning.
"It is with a heavy heart that the founder of Allen Models, Gene Allen has passed away. Gene has helped build numerous models in the live steam hobby including the ten wheeler my dad owns. Gene was in good health till about 4 years ago, at age 90 still running the American he built. Gene will be missed. "
Timothy Lewis
Vice President
Chula Vista Live Steamers>>


I know many of us have built his locomotives. He was always a gentleman and a real asset to this Live Steam community. He WILL be missed

[blff cty lcmtv wrks]

i, too, am saddened by this news. gene was the standard by which all of the live steam vendors out there need to live up to. when you placed an order with gene, you never had to worry whether or not , and when you would get your order. if it was not available, you would be given a good reason and shortly after you parts would show up at your door.

i remember the very first time i placed an order for the mogul kit way back in 1978. i totaled up the cost and asked him if he wanted me to send him a check for the parts cost, and send the shipping cost when i got the order. he said just send him a check when i got my order, as he wasn't sure what shipping would be. he didn't know me from adam, and yet he trusted me for the cost of the kit. you don't screw with someone like that.

gene leaves behind quite a legacy in all the allen locomotives that are running around out there. i can account for several of them. i still laugh when i think of the ups guy lugging all the boxes of tender wheels up my steep driveway, wanting to know what the heck i had in the boxes. that was the time i ordered 112 wheels for a truck project for a friend.

gene sold a quality product that was delivered in a timely manner. i never had a part that even vaguely looked like it may be defective.

this is to the whoever is now in charge of the allen models, inc. you have some really big shoes to fill. i wish you well. don't run it into the ground.

so, gene allen, rest in piece. now you are able to see all your steam engines running around and you can check them all out and see if everybody is running the properly

respectfully submitted
big c
bluff city locomotive works
memphis shop

[makinsmoke]

I ran into Gene along with K Vollrath, Fred Springer,
Harry Bean, and many others I hold in high esteem over several years at the Comanche & Indian Gap Railroad.

Being new in the hobby I had no idea at the time who most of these folks were or their impact or their significance.

A few years later ordered all of the castings for the ten wheeler from Gene 2004-2005. Yep, "Send me a check
for the parts and I'll let you know how much the
shipping is."

I'll keep those letters in my files.

A giant in the hobby, and as nice a guy as you would ever know.

Truly Allen engines should have their whistles tied down and their fires dumped on this day.

Brian

[Steve Alley]

The passing of Gene saddens me, I did not get to meet him as I was working with a friend to make contact first to see if he would see visitors. This was in the motion but now I totally miss the chance to introduce myself and inform him that I am or will keep Allen Models up and running in his name sake. I had so many question that I need to ask him about the product line and who in the industry that he used in the past for material and such. I was ready at a minute notice to go see him. I thought that this weekend or next or even in the middle of the week it was going to happen. I feel so bad that I just didn't pick up the phone and called. I was inform that the phone number that we had was not connecting to him. We were checking to see if there was a new contact number or what was the best way to get a hold of Gene. I call Marty and he had the same number and I past it along to my friend. Now I wish the family the best. If anyone here knows about the services Please post or call me at 775-782-3800 it would mean a lot to me.

The history of Allen Models should be post in his name sake. If you or any one out their has a story to tell about him, this is the best place to tell it. The man was not at the very beginning of our hobby but he sure put a mark on this hobby as so many others. Rest in peace Gene.

Steve Alley
Allen Models of Nevada
Gardnerville, Nevada

[10 Wheeler Rob]

Gene was one best vendors in this hobby to deal with. I bought a complete set of unmachined 10 Wheeler castings from a fellow who had purchased them from Gene, when I inventoried them there was a missing part. I contacted him about purchasing a replacement and explained that I had repurchased from someone else. He sent me one free of charge, which was way beyond any expectations, during machining I had a couple of defective castings that he also replaced free of charge as well.

Rob

[JD Johnson]

Gene was so great with the customers. He and I spent much time on a phone call when I purchased my castings for the mogul I am building. He even gave me a birthday gift on one occasion, a set of blueprints for the air compressor/water pump I want to build.
He was very sharp and knew me every time I called. He was a very kind man. I ask God to provide comfort to Alma and his family at this time. We have lost one of the great ones in our hobby indeed.

JD Johnson, Morehead and North Fork Railroad Historian

[cbrew]

Gene was a great man, always willing to help with hair brain projects, for example, adding the consolidation baker valve gear to the ten wheeler chassis,
I gave him a call and chatted about my idea. i asked if he was willing to send just the baker castings and a a few key drawings for machining lay out.
well i did received the castings. plus 8 or 9 sheets of drawings and a couple sheets explaining how he designed and setup the gear on the consolidation. from that,
It was straight forward making the design changes to adapt the baker gear to the existing ten wheeler chassis.

[PeterCraymer]

Gene was a great gentleman. As already told, he would share any and all info he could to answer a question. I one time asked him about a discrepancy on the print and he went and pulled them and told me that nobody ever pointed that out to him before! On another occasion, I had soldered the ends on the leaf springs and quenched the spring and it promptly broke and fell off! I called Gene to request a price to purchase a new spring and he said he would just send me a couple and explained what I did wrong. I went for months one time and forgot to send him a check for the shipping. When I figured it out, I called and told him my mistake and offered to pay more or whatever and he just said that he figured I would get around to it and that he just wouldn't send any more parts for future orders until that bill was paid. He really set a high standard for a simple and relatively easy to build product with great service. He was direct and didn't fill you with a bunch of crap, but rather would say to ignore this or that and here is what is important for this part. I hate that I was never able to meet him in person. I am sure that those close to him appreciate him even more than we can imagine. Thanks for being you!

Peter

[NP317]

As others have shared here, my telephone dealings with Gene were ALWAYs friendly, direct, and trusting.
I am grateful to have dealt with Gene, and built the Ten Wheeler that we still enjoy.
Rest Easy, Gene. You have left a huge legacy of positive energy with countless people.

My dealings so far with Steve Alley, the new purveyor of the Allen Line of live steam products, suggests that he is carrying on the same tradition of quality in both products and service. Help him do this. We are a community.

I suggest that 2016 will be a good year for many gatherings of Allen Locomotives, to honor Gene.
Make it so.
~RN

[Gary Armitstead]

Some folks may not know that Gene was a docent and volunteer contributor and helped quite a bit in the restoration of the Victory Ship U.S. Lane Victory, docked in San Pedro, CA. He served as Chief Engineer on the ship when it went to sea during public tours.

He was also an accomplished horseman and during the time I was dealing with him (1980 and beyond), he was riding into the coastal foothills above Goleta as a hobby.

My first meeting with him was November 16, 1980. Gene invited Dan O'Brien, my Dad and I up to Seymour Johnson's place to see Gene's new ten wheeler (we were in the "thinking" process of building two ten wheelers). We all walked up to the station and Gene was just coming 'round the bend. He pulled up, we introduced ourselves. Right away Gene hands me his gloves and says "Here kid, try it out". Well I had never run a steam engine 1:1 or model, never ran a riding scale engine of any kind. He says, "I'm right behind you. I will tell you what to do. If you're going to build one of these, you might as well start learning today". That's just the way Gene was. AND I have had the "bug" ever since that day. We bought two ten wheelers that evening when Gene took us back to his shop in Goleta.

Later as I was starting to build, I had numerous questions. I would pick up the phone and give him a call. He always recognized my voice and asked what he could help me with. He loved to talk and before you knew, an hour had gone by. He would easily explain what had to be done, what was critical and what was not real important. Great teacher!

Per the suggestion above, I'm going to talk to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Board about having a "whistle" salute by all the Gene Allen locomotives at the club during our 60th Anniversary Meet next month.

I will miss him. Rest in peace Gene.

[lrdg2150]

I owe it all to Gene Allen.

John

[Oilcan]

I, too, am building one of the Gene Allen Mogul designs. My contacts with Gene were always most pleasant. He will certainly be missed.

Neil