# My introduction to S scale



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

On ebay I made a low ball bid, never expecting to win it. 

My bid was $16.01, someone bid $16 and stopped. I won it for a penny.

Should be here tomorrow. I have no idea what it is or if it runs. Looks pretty common. Any information regarding it would be appreciated.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

They all run.....even that one, with a little coaxing.


----------



## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Great way to start with an American Flyer steamer. She sure needs a bath.
Its a 302 Atlantic locomotive. Should have choo choo and a smoke unit.
As you dig into it bring your questions back here. It looks complete. Don't lose
any parts. Polish the metal tender wheels. Thats the power pickups. Put some smoke fluid
down the smoke stack before you try to run it. It should run on AC or DC. Other
common problems are the wires to the engine plug. You will be an American Flyer
mechanic in no time.

I did not notice at first but that is a 1948 302. Die cast body and metal hand rails. You got
a deal. Looks like it has not run in years. Grease may be hard. Clean and relube. It will run
again, just needs some TLC.


----------



## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Looks like a 1948 4 piece Atlantic engine. Boiler, smoke box front, steam chest, and pilot are all separate parts. There should be a date stamped on the inside of the boiler unless due to the condition, it's not legible. All of the parts are readily available from parts suppliers or ebay. Gilbert made thousands of these Atlantics. If the weight on the tender link coupler is brass, then it's probably a 1948 variation. Flyernut has posted many repair threads on these and all of Flyer steamers, a search will yield you everything you'll need to rebuild it if you choose.


----------



## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

Nice find. It should clean up nicely. They are usually good runners, but make sure you oil and grease it before running it.

If you have questions there are many people here that can help. Don't be afraid to ask.


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Thanks for the welcome to S Scale, long term HO guy here but thought I would try something different. Besides, I like taking lost causes on and making them new again.

I actually looked for the worst example that I could find. 

Got to evaluate it first but perhaps a complete disassembly is in order and being die cast maybe a light media dusting of each piece in the sandblaster. 

AC or DC, will my DC HO power supply work or should I look for one of the early AF/Lionel transformers?


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

The rust will be your biggest problem..On the boiler shell, and associated hard metal pieces you can glass bead them or sand-blasted.. On the other pieces, you can use evapo-rust, which is a rust remover, but it won't do anything for the pitting, and it will remove the bluing.Any problems with your re-build, contact us here in the forum, and if you don't want to under-take the process yourself, send it to me,and I'll fix it. "We have the Technology". Just pay the shipping both ways....


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

flyernut said:


> The rust will be your biggest problem..On the boiler shell, and associated hard metal pieces you can glass bead them or sand-blasted.. On the other pieces, you can use evapo-rust, which is a rust remover, but it won't do anything for the pitting, and it will remove the bluing.Any problems with your re-build, contact us here in the forum, and if you don't want to under-take the process yourself, send it to me,and I'll fix it. "We have the Technology". Just pay the shipping both ways....


Tempting offer.

I received it yesterday, finally. I could have walked to Connecticut and got it sooner. 

Heavy thing, I thought I was unpacking a brick. Poorly packed, it rattled around in the box tearing one end but no damage I think, hard to tell. 

Totally interesting when compared with HO and other lower sized engines. 

I have to find some track and a power supply and the time to work on it.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Good deal for the price.
Just get it running and leave it as is.

It has a nice patina. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

That thing is a rust bucket!!!! I take back my offer,lol... Not really...You have a nice 4-piece boiler 302 there, one of my favorites. All the shiny pieces are available new such as the hand-rails and linkages...But you can also hand-polish them using some 2000 grit wet/dry paper. This is a great little loco to get started on, you'll like it. There should be plenty of tutorials on here on how to fix what-ever..I once bought a 322 Hudson from a guy down in Florida, and it looked like it sat in a swamp. Today you couldn't pick out which one in my stable of 6 Hudson's.


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Thanks, Do you have a link to a parts source for these or is ebay my best bet? I'm thinking electrical and gears. Decals? 

Just got this today, not any better. First layer off then disassemble, bead blast and make one good engine out of the two. Hope to save the cabs as is. 

The first two letters in hope is HO....


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

For parts, go to Doug Peck at PortLines Hobby or to Jeff Kane at the Train Tender.Both are great sources, however Jeff sells some items in bulk, making the purchase really cheap.. Ebay is a last resort.


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

flyernut said:


> For parts, go to Doug Peck at PortLines Hobby or to Jeff Kane at the Train Tender.Both are great sources, however Jeff sells some items in bulk, making the purchase really cheap.. Ebay is a last resort.


Thanks, I will look them up.

I have been checking used AF transformers on ebay, prices are all over the place. $3.00 to $53.00. Is there a particular one to look for, or beware of?


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

rsv1ho said:


> Thanks, I will look them up.
> 
> I have been checking used AF transformers on ebay, prices are all over the place. $3.00 to $53.00. Is there a particular one to look for, or beware of?


A great little tranny is a 8b, I have several in use... Some of the heavy hitters are the 30b and the 22080 and the 22090..You can also use just about any Lionel tranny, in fact, some of the guys here prefer them.. ZW's are popular, and you can run 4 trains with just one tranny.


----------



## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Simple is usually good, the 12B per Flyernut or a 4B. I recommend a minimum of 100W rating which these are. 15B's, 19B's and 30B's (or their 5 digit counterparts) are good but with the Deadmans handle and rolling contactors maintenance can be more demanding.


----------



## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

AmFlyer said:


> Simple is usually good, the 12B per Flyernut or a 4B. I recommend a minimum of 100W rating which these are. 15B's, 19B's and 30B's (or their 5 digit counterparts) are good but with the Deadmans handle and rolling contactors maintenance can be more demanding.


Over my many years of collecting/buying American Flyer, I have all sorts of AF transformers, 30B's, 19B's, 15B's, 12B's, etc. but the one transformer I found the best all around was the 2 275 watt Lionel ZW's I have. It just comes down to whatever works the best for your situation. Of course affordability can come into play as well. As Tom says, the minimum rating should be 100W.

Kenny


----------



## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Kenny, I also use a ZW. What a wonderful transformer. The thing I like is it has a start
voltage of 2 volts. AF transformers start at 7 volts. Much slower starts and slow running
with the ZW.


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

What about the 100W 1283?


----------



## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I know nothing about the1283. Is it a Lionel transformer?
100 w should work.


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

mopac said:


> I know nothing about the1283. Is it a Lionel transformer?
> 100 w should work.


American Flyer.

$12.99 with free shipping. Cord needs replacing otherwise it's reported as working.


----------



## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

That transformer was made back in the mid 1930's to run trains with different operating characteristics than the Gilbert postwar trains. I would not use it. While it will likely work the minimum starting voltage is 8V or slightly higher, the opposite of what we would want.


----------



## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

mopac said:


> Kenny, I also use a ZW. What a wonderful transformer. The thing I like is it has a start
> voltage of 2 volts. AF transformers start at 7 volts. Much slower starts and slow running
> with the ZW.


Couldn't agree more mopac. That slow start feature and slow running capabilities is one of the things that drew me to the ZW in the first. Much more realistic not to mention that 7 volt start with an AF transformer can be aggravating when trying to do rail yard moves. 

Kenny


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Thanks, If I ever get deep into S scale I will find a better power supply. At $12.99 with free shipping I didn't lose much and he certainly didn't make much money on the sale. I imagine it's quite heavy.

It will provide me a power source to check the function of the locomotive, I have no idea if it even runs at this point.


----------

