Walter Allen

The late Walter H. Allen is presented with the Live Steam Magazine Award for his work in handling the now defunct Pattern Pool. Walter was a charter member of NELS and once had a track at his home in Portsmouth, NH. BLS 40th Anniversary Meet at Pioneer Valley 1972. Photo provided by Bob Hornsby.

William C. Fitt wrote the following about Walt in Modeltec Magazine, August 1986:

The late Walter H. Allen started the Pattern Pool many years ago. He collected patterns from the Live Steamers who had obtained the castings they needed and had no further use for them. He warehoused, cataloged and loaned them to anyone with access to a foundry or, if casting service was unavailable, Walt took them to a local foundry for castings and shipped them to the hobbyist. Those who borrowed patterns usually returned them in short order and, if necessary, did any repairs or painting before returning them.