# No AF Experience. Anything good here?



## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Can you AF people tell me anything about them? I am 100% O scale, so I know nothing about S scale equipment.

My old friend is going to give me these engines, plus all the track, transformers, and everything else that he has. He said very specifically to sell them if I can. He is just a bit on the lazy side.
There will be one more puffer, he said a 4-6-4 but he lost the pic to that one. And all the cars will be given also.

Thanks in advance for any help on this. I could go look on Ebay, but I prefer the real knowledge from here.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

No pics Ron. Looking forward to seeing them.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Us guys here will be happy to help you out. That 4-6-4 sounds like a Hudson to me....S scale is 2 rail track, lots of accessories, and the Plasticville stuff fits just right within the O scale and S scale layouts. There's new stuff coming out everyday for the S scale folks from Lionel and MTH.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

My dense moment for the day......I forgot the pics.
Here they are.

The puffer has some rust. I don't know about the other one, they lost the pic they had of it.
But the diesels look really good from here.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Nice.. The 300 Atlantic is an entry level into the world or flyer, but a great little engine!!The Santa Fe diesels are highly sought after, but AF diesels are known to be finicky. Keep the service up on them and you'll be fine. Nice score.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I agree with what flyernut said. Your friend wants you to sell them. The steam engine is easy to put a price on. The diesel set not so easy. Steam engine in the 20 to 25 range.
As far as I know the 300 does not have the choo choo sound nor a smoke unit. Wow the
diesel is tough. If you have the passenger cars it could be worth 300 to well over 1000,
depending on exact condition and how it runs. I see these all over the place on price.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

I did look on Ebay. Interesting about the prices, isn't it?
Some guys are really proud of their pieces, price-wise, some not as proud.

I saw this exact set for $500.00 on Ebay. I think my buddy said he had the freight set for the diesels. 

Well, nothing to do now but wait till I physically have them in my hands. The little steamer, if it wasn't so rusty would probably fair better.
But I'll rely on the diesels.

Trivia: my very first train set was an AF passenger set. It was an A unit, with four cars, the chrome ones. My dad was a switchman for the Milwaukee Road. Everything we got "just happened to fall of a boxcar".
My first bike.
A sack of potatoes each week.
My brother's first bike.
All of those "Just happened to fall of a boxcar".

Thank you, Mopac and flyernut. I appreciate the info on these two poor little orphans.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

RonthePirate said:


> I did look on Ebay. Interesting about the prices, isn't it?
> Some guys are really proud of their pieces, price-wise, some not as proud.
> 
> I saw this exact set for $500.00 on Ebay. I think my buddy said he had the freight set for the diesels.
> ...


Don't be afraid of a little rust.. Here's a picture of a 322 I bought several years ago from a guy in Florida. It looked like it sat on the bottom of the Everglades. I can't seem to find the after picture but it came out fine. I sand-blasted the boiler, cleaned all the running gear, and of course serviced it. It now runs great and looks good.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

It's the one in the middle.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The 300 steam engine has unpainted plastic tender and engine shells. What I see on them is dirt, not rust and the lettering looks perfect. They will clean up to look new.
The only damage I see on the diesel set is broken/missing horns on the cab roof of the two PA units. The decals look perfect. These are the more common 3 digit variation. When checking pricing the 5 digit variation will be priced much higher as they are relatively rare. The lettering in the nose decal can vary with some impact on value. Some say "Santa Fe", some "Chief".


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

I have revamped two other steamers before. Not as bad looking as this one appears.
But the turned out real nice.
I won't touch the diesels. No experience with that chrome look, so I don't want to mess it up.

Oh that is interesting about the numbers. And the letters.

Nice job, flyernut. Hard to believe they're the same engines.
You gave the gift of plastic surgery to the little guy.
And also life in general.

Amflyer, I am kinda confused. (Not so hard for me to do) By unpainted shells, do you mean unpainted as a redo? or is that the way they came from the factory, black without the need for paint?
It does look like rust, but yeah, dirt can be brownish-red also. But the wheels on the tender look like real rust to me.

My wife gave me an idea. Since S is a bit smaller than O, she thought of keeping one of the sets to set up in the living room. Set up a shelf layout, near the ceiling.
That's not a bad idea. I hate to sell everything off, I feel like a money-hungry grabber, but what else to do when they're not the scale you usually run?


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Just to add a couple of things, hope I'm not butting in here. The 300 appears to be a 1952 production with reverse in boiler and no choo choo or smoke. Also the tender trucks are the longer 3 spring type "D". The Alco set is 1954 production with 2 motor 470, 471 with Air Chime Whistle, and 473 dummy with a headlight. They have" American Flyer Lines" stamped on the side of each unit that appears only on the chrome 1953 set or the satin silver painted set from 1954. The nose decals should be the "Chief" vs. the "Santa Fe". from my observations "Santa Fe" came on the 360 PA's and again on 1955-56-57 470's. Of course with the availability of replacement decals things could be different. I'll post a few pics of my chrome vs. satin silver paint later today, just give me a little time. I would listen to your wife and keep them, but that's only me. Be careful if you try cleaning the diesels as the decals don't need much help falling off.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

All as Cramden says. To directly answer your question about my comment, the 300 you have is molded black plastic. No paint was applied at the factory. The tender pickup wheels are likely brass, so they may look like rust but are not. The other tender wheels are black plastic.
Remember since most AF equipment is scale sized (passenger cars are slightly shortened) the minimum track diameter is 40". But don't tell the wife that just yet.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Here's a few pics showing the difference between chrome and satin silver paint.






































Hopefully you can see the difference, the chrome appears darker in the pics.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I didn't realize the 300 came in plastic,(bake-lite). I learned something today, explaining my post about sand-blasting the shells. Don't try it with plastic,lol.....


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

300’s were made in plastic, I do not think it was Bakelite. The reference guides list them as black painted over black plastic. That is a surprise to me.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

I never gave it much thought about painting black plastic boilers and tenders black. I had to go look in some of my guides. Apparently it was done to 282,283 boilers also. Maybe the finish of the bare plastic was unacceptable. I do know that Flyer painted certain plastic freight cars the same color as the plastic; e.g. yellow over yellow plastic and green over green plastic as well as painting over completed PA bodies with a different scheme. The 466 Comet over chrome Santa Fe shells is one example. Too bad some of the questions will probably remain unanswered.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Light years of difference between the chrome and satin finishes!
Both have their own particular appeal. 
I asked Phil for any pics of the cars that go with the engines.
He said he didn't have any pics, but that he is not above doing a few.
So we'll go on hold till those come in.

So the tenders are the pick-up's for power for the engines. I would not have guessed that.
And yes, if the wheels are brass, rust is not an option.

Cramden, I am interested in the joints on your tables. The work is like no joint I have ever seen. Very nice indeed.
And she never reads my forums, so the news will come out when the shelves are built.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Ron, can't take credit for the bench work. That is Mianne bench work. I decided that buying vs. building was the way for me. It's a great product and very versatile. It can be added to or changed relatively easy. Here is a link to his web page.http://www.miannebenchwork.com/


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

cramden said:


> Ron, can't take credit for the bench work. That is Mianne bench work. I decided that buying vs. building was the way for me. It's a great product and very versatile. It can be added to or changed relatively easy. Here is a link to his web page.http://www.miannebenchwork.com/


Wow. That's some craftsmanship there. But you do pay for it for sure.
They would probably stand up to our Los Angeles earthquakes.


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