Nason Railways was the first major manufacturer of OO gauge equipment and supplies. Founded by 1933 by Hugh R. Nason in New Rochelle, NY, Nason Railways was producing a full line of American OO by 1934. They operated from several different addresses in Mount Vernon, NY after 1936. The image below is from their 1940 (6th edition) catalog.

Nason sold a full line of products and was the key initial manufacturer of American OO. Their kits in general are characterized by the use of many sand cast bronze parts and are very much in the style of O scale models of the period.

Their OO gauge products are not as commonly seen as those by Scale-Craft (introduced in 1937) and Lionel (introduced in 1938) and are certainly models for the OO collector today to keep in mind.

Locomotives

Locomotive kits were available in three versions, ranging from un-machined, rough castings to complete kits; all were sand-cast bronze.

• 2-8-0, Reading, introduced in 1937
• 4-6-4, NYC, introduced in 1936
• 4-4-2, PRR, originally produced in 1937 by Star-Continental Models of Brooklyn 
• PRR P5-A electric, their signature model, introduced in 1934. One is seen below, without pantographs, with one of their reefer models 
• New Haven boxcab “Diesel” switcher

Passenger cars

Nason passenger cars were produced in two styles. The first models introduced in 1934 had cast aluminum sides, ends, and floors. Models of this design included:

• PRR P-70 coach
• PRR PB-70 combine
• 12 section Pullman, 
• All-service express car. 

These original models were joined by 1936 by “eazy-bilt” cars eventually all with stamped brass sides but initially only the coach was stamped brass. These included:

• PRR P-70 coach
• PRR PB-70 combine
• PRR diner
• PRR postal
• 12 section Pullman
• Observation. 

Gas-Electrics

Also produced were three models of gas-electric cars of B & O design; a coach, a coach-baggage, and a coach-baggage-mail. These have a sand cast bronze front end that makes it very easy to differentiate them from the comparable Scale-Craft models.

Freight cars

And they made freight cars too! The line included:

• Sand cast steel boxcar
• Steel boxcar with printed cardstock sides 
• PRR X-31 automobile car
• Wood or steel reefer with printed sides
• Flat car with printed sides
• Steel gondola with printed sides
• Wood caboose (with card sides). 

The reefers and boxcars with printed sides were marketed as “Easy-Bilt” models. These were introduced in late 1935 and were ground breaking models for the time. All of the printed side cars were were made for Nason by the O gauge manufacturer Westbrook, who produced the same models in O gauge. As a result, many of the OO sides still have their “W” codes (W-26, etc.) related to Westbrook production. These same sides were sold in kits of two other brands of OO freight cars, Page Scale Models and Yardmaster.

And more

In addition they sold track supplies and other items of use to OO gaugers of the time including very early on a pair of cast aluminum structure kits.

While in business after WWII, Nason Railways due to the changes of the market and ownership changes only managed to sell from old stock — boxcar, reefer, and caboose kits, in addition to various parts (especially for the 2-8-0. Their advertising ends in 1947 except for one final ad in 1950. Myron Davis marketed some Nason products on his own later, including the P5-A and the sand cast boxcar, and Guild worked to release an updated version of the Atlantic.

As a leading and long time maker of OO some of their models are fairly common but all are still desirable, especially so their locomotives, and other models are only rarely seen or only rarely seen in good condition. This is a line the American OO enthusiast needs to be familiar with.

Updated 2021-22. For much more information please see my book.