Malcolm Furlow's San Juan Central - A Rare Survivor

 Not many model railroads outlive their creators.  Fortunately, this one hasn't, but has survived several changes of ownership and multiple moves, and has come to rest at least temporarily at the California State Railroad Museum, thanks to the generosity of Bob Brown of the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette, the current owner.  

Malcolm Furlow's San Juan Central, built as a project railroad for Model Railroader, is a rare exception.  Interestingly, the engine servicing facility section (identified in the plans and articles as "Montrose") bears a striking resemblance to pictures of the "Cascade Creek" section of his original Denver & Rio Chama Western.  On this section of the railroad, as on others, the scenery is used judiciously to split the railroad up into sections, with trees, hills, or buildings providing a sense of separation between the portions of the railroad.  This furthers two purposes: it makes the layout seem larger than it is, and it makes the discrete scenes easier to photograph, since a hill or a line of trees, properly positioned, make an effective compositional element and prevent other scenes from crowding into the shot.

Montrose Yard

One of the most remarkable aspects of the layout is the sheer amount of visual interest that's packed into a small space.  Even thought I have his book, and have a good visceral idea of how much space it takes up, my instinctive reaction on first viewing it was how small it seemed.  Stepping back to take a couple of views, I got a good sense for how much is packed into a very small space.

Station and buildings at "Tincup"

In spite of its comparatively small size, the vertical scenery limits your ability to survey the entire layout from any one point, even if you stand back a bit.  The picture above and the picture below were taken from opposite sides of the "lobe" that holds Tincup - but the hill makes a very effective scenic divide, with each isolated from the other.

Although the layout is not big, the vertical scenery helps to disguise the fact

While Malcolm used many commercial structures, he also built his own bridges, and expended considerable effort to ensure that they "fit" the terrain - not just in the sense that they are carefully embedded in the ground, but they fit our image of the era.  He was willing to take that so far as to use lumber of smaller-than-scale size to create an impression of "spindliness" in the viewer.  

Fascia boards subtly emphasize the elevation changes

Furlow's great scenic interest has always been vertical terrain and its concomitants - pine forests, white water, and the slopes, peaks, and gulches of the Southwest.  Using foam and a great deal of effort, he managed to avoid one of the great scenic problems of the typical layout - the effect of a tabletop.

Consistency of finish helps to create a unified scene

Because it was envisioned as a project layout, virtually all of the structures come from kit sources, and are recognizable as such.  They range from the ubiquitous and highly adaptable Woodland Scenics cast building kits, like the yellow structure in the picture above, to the high-end Scale Structures Miners' Union Hall and Rick's Place, both adapted to fit into the small pie-shaped wedge of buildings at the center of this picture.  Some were classic shake-the-box kits, like the AHM Rico station in the picture below, which was shorn of its baggage room.  Probably no more than $9.95 back in the 1980s, good preparatory work and attention to the finish of the building ensure that it "fits" seamlessly in with the more expensive and elaborate craftsman kits.

Station at Tincup

Almost the only completely level space in the photo above is at track level - a phenomenon that aficionados of Colorado railroading will recognize.  The bridge on the other size of the scene is the centerpiece of the kind of modeling he liked best - high mountains, deep chasms, water and bridges.  

He was never averse to using commercial products if they suited his needs, and the Montrose yard is a good example of how it can be done without a great expenditure of money.  I am not ordinarily a fan of commercial backdrops, but I found the blending of the old Walthers mountain scene into the foreground to be a surprisingly effective effort.

The Atlas turntable at Montrose is an inexpensive and space-conserving solution

I spent a lot of time looking at the layout and making the mental notes that would turn into this article.  The layout repays close study, and there is a lot to be learned about the design and building of scenery from it.  While it has never been a surprise to me that John Allen started out as an artist, after viewing this layout I can see how Malcolm Furlow ended up as one - because in this project layout, he created something that was designed to be viewed, photographed, and enjoyed, and he did it very successfully.  I'm grateful to Bob Brown and to all of the other people whose efforts allowed this layout to survive so that the public can enjoy Malcolm's artistry.