# Jack panel plugs and other rookie questions



## TheNEMOexpress (Oct 13, 2014)

I dug out my dad's old American flyer stuff. There are 5 or so engines in various amounts of disassembly. After looking them over, the 322 AC looked the closest to running. It was taken apart And missing some screws but I managed to find enough to hold it together. I'm still missing some so that's my first question. Where is the best place to find which screws I am missing and where to actually buy them. Next is the jack panel. It has wires with no ends running from the tender. In a box of parts, I found some pins or rivets that are split and I slide the wires in the slot and then push them in the jack panel. It doesn't seem like they are meant for this but they work. So what actually goes on the wires for the jack panel and where can I find that? Thanks for any help.

As for the engine, I cleaned everything up and hit it with some wd-40. I found a wiring diagram and got the tender wired up and it runs like a top. I'm totally new to trains. I recently inherited an early 50's lionel set which got me started. I remembered the American Flyer set of my dads and dug it out and started looking into it and working on it. I can see how this gets addicting.


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## carinofranco (Aug 1, 2012)

it is always nice to get dad's stuff back up and running. do you have any photos you can share? split pins are used when converting link couplers to knuckle couplers, so that may be what you have found. keep us posted.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Hello, and welcome... If you need ANY parts for that flyer, PortLines Hobby Supply is the ONLY place to go.. Great guy, Doug Peck, super service, and he usually has anything you want, in way of flyer parts, that is,lol. Pictures are the most important thing you can post here, especially if you're new to flyers and to the correct terminology. Meaning no dis-respect, but we all must get on the same page so that we don't give out bad advice. Ask any questions you have, and we will do our very best to help you along. I have 2 Hudson's myself, a sit and a sib loco. Both run great and among some of my favorites.:smilie_daumenpos:


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## TheNEMOexpress (Oct 13, 2014)

Thanks guys. I'll post pics later. Flyernut, from prior reading I gathered that Sib is smoke in boiler but sit is smoke in ......? So will portline have the correct jack plugs? Is there something else that you guys use that works well? Thanks again.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

TheNEMOexpress said:


> Thanks guys. I'll post pics later. Flyernut, from prior reading I gathered that Sib is smoke in boiler but sit is smoke in ......? So will portline have the correct jack plugs? Is there something else that you guys use that works well? Thanks again.


sib= smoke in boiler...sit=smoke in tender... Doug will have the 4-prong jack plug.. Just tell him you need a 4-prong male jack for a 322. The jacks and jack plugs are on ebay quite often, you can check there also. There's female jack panels and male 4-prong plugs now on ebay, but they're pricey.. Stick with Doug Peck at PortLines.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

PortLines has the plug you need for $3.95...plus shipping.. Buy some extra stuff as the shipping costs hurt. Buy, say, brushes, brush springs,rivets, etc... When you arrive at the PortLines web-site, go to the left side of the site, scroll down to af parts and click it.. You can chose from "steamers general", or to Hudsons. I usually stay right at the steamers general as most parts inter-change with all other steamers.
s


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## llskis (Apr 11, 2013)

TheNEMOexpress said:


> ISo what actually goes on the wires for the jack panel and where can I find that? Thanks for any help.
> 
> As for the engine, I cleaned everything up and hit it with some wd-40. I found a wiring diagram and got the tender wired up and it runs like a top. I'm totally new to trains. I recently inherited an early 50's lionel set which got me started. I remembered the American Flyer set of my dads and dug it out and started looking into it and working on it. I can see how this gets addicting.


Good luck with your project. Below is a good book to get (Port Lines & etc.) Also I would not use WD-40 on internal engine parts. Use Radio Shack#64-4315 Contact/Control Cleaner.
Larry


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## TheNEMOexpress (Oct 13, 2014)

Not trying to argue but why not wd-40? I've always thought it was pretty safe for electronics type stuff.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

TheNEMOexpress said:


> Not trying to argue but why not wd-40? I've always thought it was pretty safe for electronics type stuff.


Wd 40 will tend to attract dust, and it will gummy/sticky up after a while.
Some of the grease you use will harden like cement too.

For cleaning brake cleaner works good.

You are best just using motor oil (sparingly) instead of lube grease when you service.
Mostly everything can be lubed with automobile motor oil, on worm gears a lot use a lithium grease.


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## daveh219 (Sep 16, 2012)

NEMO..I to started with my, dad' strains he gave us in 1955...all AF. Also, you are at THE best forum for AF problems and/or questions. Suggestions forPortline and Doug are totally warranted. Good luck and as others have said pictures are great


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## PhoebeSnow (Mar 1, 2014)

NEMO I found this site last year after I found my parents AF sets (a freight set w/ a 325AC engine and a three car streamline passenger set w/ a 334 DC engine) in their attic after they passed. They had been up there for over sixty years and were in bad shape when I found them but with the info I received from the members on this site and from Doug at Port Lines I now have them restored and running. I started last January and figured I'd be doing good if I had them running by this Christmas but between this site, Ebay and Port Lines I had them running in two months. I'd like to put in another plug for Port Lines they are great and on numerous occasions found his prices on parts to be significantly less the Ebay.


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## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

NEMO -- check this site for exloded engine views and parts lists. This will help identify the parts you are missing. Also steer clear of WD-40. Use an electronics spray cleaner that is safe for plastics. It leaves no residue when it evaporates. Have plenty of Q-tips and paper towels to do the cleaning -- there's 60 years of old grease and oil gummed up in there.....

This website page is the first for your 322. The next couple are the drawing and parts list. If you back out the website home page, you'll find there are many such views for various Gilbert Flyer products. Save the website in your favorites.

http://myflyertrains.org/gallery/album209/322_1


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## TheNEMOexpress (Oct 13, 2014)

Here are a couple of pics. I got the S scale setup around the outside edge of a 4 x 16' platform. I had a trestle set so I elevated the S scale and will eventually add another 4 x 8' sheet of plywood and run the O scale track underneath the S scale to get to the otehr part. The engine has made several laps and is still running good. Of the four or five engines and tenders, there were no shells for the tenders. I bought a cheap one on ebay that I dont think is the correct one visually but I think will fit. Anybody know of a different source for shells if that one doesnt work? Also, the rear truck(I think) for the engine doesnt seem to be correct by the pictures ive seen. It looks like most of the pics I see have a 2 axle truck and the hitch or drawbar(again not sure on technical term) actually hooks to the shell of the train, not the truck. Is that how it should be. For that matter, this may not even be the correct tender but I think it is. There was one other tender I believe that had the relay on it. Where could I find the correct truck and hitch other than ebay. I dont think Portlines had either one. Thanks for all the help thus far.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

That is not the correct tender for that engine.This is what the tender should look like. I have 2 Hudson; a sit and a sib. The tender shells are exactly the same except for a small refill hole on the tender top for smoke fluid. The tender chassis you have looks to be a 5 digit tender chassis that someone rigged up to work with your 322.I have a 21105 atlantic with that exact tender chassis, and it's all original.


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## TheNEMOexpress (Oct 13, 2014)

Im guessing then that the tender in the top right of the pic should go with the 322 and the one I have hooked up belongs with the 290 or 21035. Im also assuming that the way that one is hooked to the 290 is correct and my rear truck should not be hooked to the tender at all? The truck like what Im using now is the only thing I have available so can I run it without? I will try to find one but I assume if they dont hook to the tender, they are just for looks?


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

The tender in the upper right hand side of the picture is the correct one for your Hudson. The tender chassis that is hooked up to your Hudson now, belongs to the 21085.. 21035 is not the number, 21085 is the correct number.If you look more closely, you'll probably see someone scratched the middle of the 8, making it look like a 3, and not a 8.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

The engine chassis in the lower left hand side of your picture belongs to the Royal Blue engine, # 350. The tender chassis directly above the fore-mentioned engine chassis also belongs to the Royal Blue, engine #350.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I don't see a tender chassis for the 290. It should be a sheet metal tender body, with sheet metal trucks.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Your last sentence lost me, lol. You must have a tender with the engine to run it on your layout, unlike Lionel, which doesn't need a tender. It looks like you're missing all the correct shells. The Hudson shell can be found on ebay, as well as the rest of the shells. You can run just about any tender with your Hudson, as long as it's a 4-wire jack and jack panel.I was just assuming you wanted the engine/tender back as original.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

The 2 wheel chassis, directly below the Royal blue shell, belongs to the 303 Atlantic engine. You should unscrew the "strap" that screws under the chassis as it's not the right one for that particular engine.The smoke unit, aluminum-looking thing inside the 303 shell, also belongs to the 2 wheeled chassis.The chassis under the 290 shell I believe is the correct one for that shell, 290. What a mess,lol!! We'll get it straightened out!!!:smilie_daumenpos:


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

You're also missing all the side linkages for all the engines too. Unless you have them and are not showing them.


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## TheNEMOexpress (Oct 13, 2014)

flyernut said:


> Your last sentence lost me, lol. You must have a tender with the engine to run it on your layout, unlike Lionel, which doesn't need a tender.


In my last sentence I was referring to the "truck" (probably wrong term) on the back side of the engine. The engine is supposed to be a 4-6-4 but they way I have it is a 4-6-2 because that's how the tender is hooked to the engine and I don't have a 4 wheeled one. If I switch to the correct tender where the strap hooks it to the engine body, can I run it as a 4-6-0? I assume the trailing truck is just for looks if the Hudson is setup correctly? Or does it actually serve a purpose? I want to find the correct one but I'm just asking for the time being.

And I do have some of the side linkage. Im sure it's not all there. I'm hoping another box shows up with more parts and all of the tender shells but no luck yet.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Not to worry. You can run the Hudson as a 4-6-0 or 4-6-2. 4-6-4 is the correct arrangement as per the original engine, that's all. And you can find the "trailing truck" on eBay if you want to go original.The correct term for the set of wheels under the cab is "trailing truck".As for the side linkages, they can still be found on ebay as well as PortLines. That's the least of your worries. The hard part will be finding the correct shell. I have an extra, but because they are hard to find and pricey, I have to keep it...Sorry...It all boils down to originality. You can run it any way you'd like, it's YOUR engine, and besides, it's a TOY. Personally, I would bring it back to original, as those Hudson's are sure pretty. We here can help all you want, and even do it for you!! You pay shipping both ways, and if I have the parts on hard, parts are on me.. But if you're like the rest of us here, you want to do it yourself.. These loco's are so simple to work on and get running it's crazy.:appl:


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## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

Here's a Hudson on eBay that seems to offer most of what you need except the tender. Hopefully the price will hold out to grab it somewhat cheap....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Fl...el_RR_Trains&hash=item20f396ba7f#ht_82wt_1153


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## TheNEMOexpress (Oct 13, 2014)

Thanks for the heads up. I'm probably going to hold off for a while. I'm still hopeful that another box turns up with my missing parts.


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## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

Whenever the bug returns to grab you, be sure to check back with us. We can certainly guide you to get those babies together correctly and running.


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