As noted in my book, the final locomotive introduced (in 1940) by Nason Railways was their boxcab “Diesel.” I put that in quotes, as actually it is a model of a New Haven EY-3 electric, reimagined (as it were) by Nason as a Diesel, for which there was undoubtedly a larger market.

Recently a partial kit for one of these sand-cast bronze beauties passed through eBay. I did bite the bullet and purchase it, as I’ve long wanted to build one of these with a better drive and detailed to more closely resemble an early Alco/GE boxcab Diesel. And these almost never come up for sale.

Those that saw the listing will note that I’ve sorted it out, and only the parts that are actually Nason parts are seen here, with my nicely built up example. Also, the kit box seen here (that was in the lot) is of the period, but it is in fact for a boxcar.

As there were parts of a motor and such in the lot, I needed to compare parts with my built up example, which gave an opportunity to look more closely at the drive. What a job it must have been to build! This builder really was a craftsman. Or, as I say, the things people did before TV and the Internet…

This is another view. The motor shafts are directly geared to the wheels. My model is not operable presently, I would need to replace the rectifier. I am happy to leave it as a shelf model for now, especially as I plan to build up the parts, with again an eye to making something close to an Alco/GE boxcab of that time. I’ll have to make a roof, among other tasks, but I look forward to starting on this one.

To close, here another view of the built up model seen in the book (on page 42). It’s the opposite side seen in the book and a bit sharper to see. For sure this is a model to keep your eyes peeled for!