Seems like a good start...

Interesting that all of them, with the possible exception of Lance Mindheim's layout are freelanced.  Here are a couple more:

Tony Koester's Allegheny Midland

RPI's New England Berkshire and Western - while fictional, all the scenes on the layout are based on and compressed from real places.  

Iconic Model Railroads ...

"Iconic" is a pretty strong word ... basically a representation of the group as a whole.

I think John Allen's Gorre & Dephetid is certainly iconic.  Difficult to imagine a "model" railroader who is at least not familiar with the name and most could probably describe it to you.

If I had to add another, I'd likely go with Allen McClelland's Virginian & Ohio as it certainly had me fooled into thinking it was modeled after a real prototype ... I recall being quite surprised when I learned that it was completely fictional.

Yes, both of my choices are examples of free-lanced railroads ... but the V&O was very much prototypical in my mind.

edit: I'd forgotten to mention that one of the things about John Allen's G&D were its humble beginnings.  John started with a rather smallish (less than 4' x 8') layout that just expanded into the railroad empire that everyone knows.  That one could start so small and simple and end up with something so grand was quite inspirational for me.

In the beginning

    First layouts I recall being noteworthy were Ellison's ,Allen's( although I looked forward to seeing more articles on the Alturas and Lone Pine than the G&D as I thought it looked more realistic) Then a long came a new level of design and scenery realisim with the V&O/ AM/Midland lines  concept, and layouts like Hitchcock's Santa Fe and Barrow's Cat Mountain. Also about this time the Reid Bros. showed how great N scale can look. The level of reality keeps increasing with the works of present day innovators like Mindheim, Confalone, and Mark Dance. It's been a great ride and I'm looking forward to seeing where it leads.  Note, Only named a few guys in each category but there are many more equally as good, and many club layouts that are top notch and innovative such as the RPI layout and the big Tehachapi layout in San Diego..DaveB

My Mt. Rushmore

Lasting Impressions.

You do know this may drive each one of us crazy because as soon as we hit post another will come to mind.

The layout that put me over the top and showed what could be done in our hobby was Whit Towers' Alturas and Lone Pine RR. I had the pleasure of running about once a month for a few years on the layout in the early '90's with a group out of Garden Grove. Whitney was such a great host and made us all feel so very welcome. He always seemed open to people taking on unfamiliar jobs so he could almost be guaranteed a good laugh from situations created. He always enjoyed running Alturas yard, but allowed me in there a few times for laughs. Rather than take on another job that required standing he would sit in the end of the isle to"coach", but he spent more time laughing. I had the pleasure of running Lone Pine a couple times too, but one of Whit's friends Jeff Wilson(?) seemed to always desire that job and a crowbar was needed to pull him away. He just wanted to make sure the yard ran smooth as it dictated how smooth the session would run overall. I'll stop now, but I cannot say enough about this layout and host and I am so humbled and honored that I had the opportunity of experiencing some time with Whit and the Alturas and Lone Pine RR. Baker couplers included.

Others that come to mind, currently;

Gorre and Daphetid

V&O

Siskiyou Lines

Cumberland Valley 

There were so many more and to be honest small layouts that were more realistically obtainable for me, but I have long since retired those magazines and I cannot recollect the names. Shameful, I am. 

Another was my late Uncle George Pearson's garage layout in Moorpark CA that was never published, but sticks with me to this day.

And....

One of my favorites not listed yet...

..... Frary and Hayden's Carrabasset and Dead River. for the Short-Sighted and Narrow-minded set... Jose.

More options

Minories by C.J. Freezer

The SAP Line by Carl Arendt

Another one

Another that instantly springs to mind for me is Bruce Chubb's Sunset Valley, although, that's probably due to C/MRI more than anything else.

Mike in CO

C'mon Guys!

8 replies and no mention of John Armstrong's Canandaigua Southern.  Truly a classic operable railroad, and a good example of his best track plans.  My personal favorite track plan of his was in an MR article entitled "To Hardscrabble the Hard Way", an HOn3 pike, my first exposure to double decking a railroad.

Jeff Fry

Will Tennessee Pass really fit down here?

Lynn St. Laurent's

Icons or Favorites?

A lot of people have layouts they personally like, many of which I've barely heard of.  I'd say the list of true icons - layouts nearly everybody knows about and that have long-term influence in the hobby - is very short.

Two or three entries are probably undisputable:

• Virginian & Ohio.
• Gorre & Daphetid.
• Delta Lines.

Beyond those, what layouts have been truly influential?  The scope of awareness and/or influence may trump other qualities.  Are some famous layouts just me-too projects?  Are some of the very best layouts not really icons, at least not yet?  Has enough time passed for us to reach a conclusion that something isn't a flash in the pan?

A short list of possible icons:

• Midwest Railroad Modelers club.
• Cat Mountain & Santa Fe.
• Franklin & South Manchester.
• New England, Berkshire & Western.
• MR project layouts; Clinchfield, Jerome & Southwestern, San Juan Central.
• HO Railroad That Grows.

Well everyone knows what I'm going to say....

John Allen and the Gorre and Daphetid.   Most iconic layout I can think of.  It influences me to this day.  Also,  I can think of several modelers who maybe didn't have as well known layouts but who I feel were iconic and very influential in the hobby Bill McClannahan, Linn Wescott, Jack Work, Malcolm Furlow. etc

Michael

HO Railroad That Grows.

That'd be the Jerome & Southwestern. A favorite of mine.

Re: Bill

The HO Railroad That Grows was one of the early beginners' books from Kalmbach.

Here's one version of the cover:

And another:

Home layout versions of this were prolific back in the day.  If any project from Linn Westcott was a hobby icon, this one would be it.  It pre-dated John Olson's Jerome & Southwestern by over a decade.

oops!

Sorry, you are right... the J&S is the Model Railroad with Personality!

Chapter 9 is "The J&S Grows" - My favorite part of the J&S.

Jerome and Southwestern

is another good one that I couldn't think of.  How about the "San Juan Central" or "The Clinchfield".  Maybe neither is iconic but both opened peoples eyes up to what was possible in what were then not very popular scales.  N for the Clinchfield and HOn3 for the SJC. You would have to consider them at least "significant" layouts in the hobbies history.

Michael

....

Ahhhh the magic  and personality of the Jerome and Southwestern 

Pendon Museum

Not originally intended to be a layout but the railway seems to have been so inextricably linked into the scene in the era in question that they couldn't do without it.

Buckingham Great Central.

I would say Kingstorre but I don't know how iconic it could be; I don't even know how many could possibly have seen it, ditto Tetley's Mills.

One I can name from way back is Mareeba Trainland, but that doesn't seem to be terribly iconic as the layout seems most like- well it was a tourist attraction, and totally freelanced and really entertained children, don't know much about the philosophy of the layout design and certainly can't ask now.

List

I know I'm going to forget some that were really influential to me, but for starters, my list would be:

• Eric Brooman's Utah Belt
• Jim Hediger's original Ohio Southern
• Doug Lefler's Lenawee Central
• Bob Rivard's Soo Line

Perhaps odd that I ended up a prototype modeler when three of my four favorites were proto-freelance, but I continue to highly esteem them all.  Mr. Rivard's Soo Line was what really got me thinking about prototype modeling.  My aching back would never allow me to take it to his level of "realism at all costs" design, but I'll never forget the experience of visiting the prototype scenes he modeled on my way to visiting his layout, and then seeing them in model form.  That experience changed the hobby for me.

More recently, Jack Burgess's Yosemite Valley and Lance Mindheim's Downtown Spur have continued to be major influences on my layout's focus and operation, respectively.

Icons, (Inter)Nationally?

Dear Shadow,

A quick run thru AMRM, most any East Coast Aussie model railway exhibition of significant size over the last 20 years, and the likes of John Dennis's "Narrow Gauge Web Exhibition" website,
http://members.optushome.com.au/jdennis/ng_webex.html

shows that Aust and NZ has modelling skills and results which can easily stand proud besides the leading Nth American "Icons" (irrespective of the prototype/"outline" being modelled).

That they are only really known amongst their homeland,
(with the possible exception of "Geoff Nott and the Tuesday Night Modellers"
c/o "Leigh Creek Lumber", "Red Stag Lumber", "Muskrat Ramble", and "Smuggler's Cove")

is what causes me to hesitate offering them up as "Iconic"
(certainly they are Iconic here in Oz, but Iconic worldwide?)

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

The alcoted list...

First the obvious ones; Gorre & Daphetid, the Delta Lines, and another vote for the Alturas & Lone Pine (I also thought of it as a more realistic G&D).

The most influential for me personally was the V&O, I probably wouldn't be in the hobby now if it wasn't for the various articles it spawned.

Additional iconic layouts for me (already mentioned) are the Utah Belt, Cat Mountain & Santa Fe (original layout), NEB&W, and the La Mesa club layout.

Not mentioned yet (I don't think) are Jack Ozanich's Atlantic Great Eastern, Rick Ridout's L&N Henderson Sub, and Canada's own Aberfoyle Junction.

One word

Elwell

Iconic???

Lorell Joiner's Great Southern Railroad.

Bruce Chubb's Sunset Valley.

Please include these in the conversation.