The Norfolk & Ohio is considered to be one of the great model railroads of any scale seen in print in the 1950s, the second feature article on the layout being published in the November, 1958 issue of Model Railroader. That article was reprinted nearly in full in the 1980 Kalmbach publication Classic Articles from Model Railroader, but only nearly in full and the elements not reprinted there are worth an additional look.

First up is the cover photo and banner. This was a super railroad in so many ways, obvious seeing that scratchbuilt N&W Y-6b 2-8-8-2 articulated. Flipping inside to the index page you would find this description.

A VISIT to the basement of Carl Appel’s home in Allentown, Pa., is an enlightening experience. MR first took you there to see his OO gauge Norfolk & Ohio back in August, 1948. Since then Carl has expanded his rolling stock roster, built new locomotives and made additions to the layout itself, and thought that – this month – the time was ripe for another visit to the N&O. So on pp. 28-35, we show you – with improved photographic techniques, too – how his railroad looks today. It is, without question, one of the most inspiring pikes in the country.

There are also two more photos of the layout and models that were not reprinted in the Classic Articles book. One is a close up of his scratchbuilt model of a N&W Class J 4-8-4, and the other this overall view of his engine terminal. The caption reads:

The engine terminal at Island Yard is geared to service the N&O’s big, modern power. In the background are an eight-stall roundhouse, power plant and water tank with treatment plant. Up front are the coaling station, sand house and tower, and ash pit with crane for ash removal.

Note also that what makes the scene so realistic is the big yard is not stuffed full of cars like would be seen on the typical layout of the time. He clearly had enough cars to stuff it full, but also had an eye toward creating a realistic scene of modern railroading of his time.

One thing that always puzzled me about the article itself was that there was no reference made to Schorr models but you can see in photos in the article that Appel owned at least a string of Schorr RDCs and maybe a couple gondolas. The answer to that was a very unusual (for MR) formal “correction” that ran in the next issue. In December, inside a red text box, they note that they had “overlooked an important source of OO gauge supplies.” Fred E. Schorr “has 50 and 70 ton hopper cars, covered hoppers, Alco diesels, cabooses and RDC’s.” I hope that correction drove a few new sales to Schorr. This really was not such a bad timeframe to be an OO gauger for the OOldtimers who had stuck it out.

For more on Carl Appel, please see this article with quotes from his obituary.

Return to the main article on the Norfolk & Ohio layout