Model railroad equipment built by the same builder often have similar features. There are a group of common features seen on these cars built by Carl Appel, the builder of the great Norfolk & Ohio layout that was twice featured in the pages of Model Railroader (more on the layout here).

As mentioned in a recent post, Carl Appel used early Kadee couplers. But there is more to it than that, Appel had a level of detail he wanted for the coupler area and the brake details, distinctive enough to identify cars built by him but not decorated for his personal road.

I have as of now eleven cars with versions of the same Kadee coupler setup from his layout. Five of them I have written about before, in an article about Appel hoppers. Today we begin our look at six more, the first group of three being his take on Nason Easy-Built cars.

These are venerable Nason models, as they were introduced to the market in late 1935. All three include as built include some Scale-Craft parts, in particular SC ladders being seen on all of them.

The boxcars are the PRR X-31 models, which stand out from the other boxcars in the Nason line and to my mind one of their more desirable models. They were really contemporary models as well, the prototype cars date to 1934. The two cars as built by Appel are basically identical (but the ends are managed differently) and have the same printed sides, so they are both the same car number.

Where he goes above and beyond the average build is on the brake details and couplers.

The air hoses and lines bent from fine wire are great details. One curiosity is both cars have a series of holes in the bottom of the car. I have owned these cars for a few years and I have a hazy memory that there were thin lead weights screwed into the bottom of both cars when they came to me. I removed the weights, visually they were problematic, and I did not yet realize these were Appel models. These cars are relatively light (certainly lighter than the reefer seen next) and it is possible he added the weights when he added the new couplers.

The final of the “Nason” cars is this reefer. Looking at it, initially you would certainly call it a Nason car. It has Nason sides and ends, a Nason frame, Nason hatches, and Nason trucks. However, for sure the roof is not a Nason roof and I suspect strongly it is not a Nason body as it is 44’ long. The car in the background is a very stock version of this kit for comparison. The roof has metal ribs on it that are similar to Famoco/Eastern ribs, but they are a different brand.

Although not visible in the photo, the truck bolsters are Schorr plastic bolsters, and the frame used by Appel is the boxcar frame not the reefer frame seen in the comparison photo (the stock Nason model is on top). My guess is the Appel model could be a 1960s build using vintage parts. All three are great cars.

When this series concludes we will look at cars built by Appel using postwar Scale-Craft reefer bodies.

Continue to Part II