# American flyer?????



## dozer

Hi guys, I haven't been on here for awhile, but I just got something from a friend that I thought you might find interesting. It's a very old, very heavy AF Reading lines 4-4-2 steam engine with a metal tender. In the box is also a plastic chrome american flyer passenger car set, #'s 660, 661, 662. one says Pullman, the other two say Baggage with one of them having a vista dome on it. Also, there is two gondolas # 631, a chemical Gulf car # 625G, and a red caboose #630. These things are all in very good condition! There is also a ton of electronic stuff, one is an American Flyer air chime steam whistle (has a big ol' can on it), the other looks like the power pack, says Miles Per Hour on top and has a push button and two lights. The lever looks to be missing tho. Also, a dual lever gizmo of sorts with two green bulbs up top and two red below. A board of sort that has a row of 8 red push button contacts on top and a row of green push button contacts on bottom. Also, something badged a "manual uncoupler". It has a real nice 90 crossing section of track plus a whole bunch of two rail track, some heavily rusted. I will try and get pics up soon. Any info greatly appreciated! 


Mike.


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## dozer

Well, I found some info.... The engine is the model #300ac with knuckle couplers and metal tender. 1950. Awesome!


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## tjcruiser

Pics! Pics! Pics!


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## dozer

The passenger car set is from 1952! This way too cool. I love the history behind these old trains. I found out the steam engine with the cars and track was all a set from 1950.


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## dozer

Well here's the original catalog listing of the set 
http://www.myflyertrains.org/AF_Catalogs/D1578/AF_catalog_page6.htm


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## Stillakid

Dozer, Way Cool!
I've got 2-300's. One is the 300, the other a 300AC. Both with tenders. They're good runners, but lack the smoke and choo-choo. Regardless of that, I really like the detailing and pulling power. Hope you'll post pics. 
Enjoy

Jim


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## Rich_Trains

Dozer,
That sounds like a great find. Even better is having a friend that's generous enough to give you a vintage American Flyer set like that. Please post some pictures when you get a chance.
Rich


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## Reckers

Dozer, handle those chrome cars with care---they are valuable! Wrap them in something soft to avoid scratching the chrome, then look on ebay at the prices before you decide what to do with them. If they have knuckle couplers, they've been altered: let me give you some info prior to sale, if you decide to go that route. 

The 300AC is a lil beauty: I have one. It originally came with a link coupler instead of a knuckle, as did all of the #600 series cars. The double-lever thing is the switch for turnouts. The manual uncoupler is a piece that clips onto a track: hold the little lever down as cars pass over and it raises up between the tracks to disconnect the couplers. Terrific find, and congratulations! Welcome to S scale land, the pinnacle of model railroading!!!!
:appl::appl::appl:


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## dozer

some pics of just the engine and rolling stock.


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## dozer

Reckers said:


> If they have knuckle couplers, they've been altered: The 300AC is a lil beauty: I have one. It originally came with a link coupler instead of a knuckle, as did all of the #600 series cars. :appl::appl::appl:


 Actually, according to the American Flyer web site, this engine did come with knuckle couplers, but only the metal tender version in 1950 like I have. Thought that was pretty cool.


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## Stillakid

Dozer, nice!
You going to do any painting?
One of my 300's............
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=3757&page=5


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## Reckers

Dozer, not to make an issue over something that doesn't matter, but I'd like to chase that a little further. First, I'm not right---I'm simply looking at some sites that say something, and they can be wrong, just like I can.

That said, here's where I'm looking: http://www.trainweb.org/s-trains/FAQ/locospecs.html

Now, what also leads me to suggest yours was modified is this: your cars should also have the link couplers. AF used a system with 600-series for link coupler cars, and 900 for knuckles. It's been a common practice to convert them over. The way you can tell for sure is if there is what looks like a split rivet connecting the knuckle coupler to the truck's stem. If you plan to sell any of them, particularly the chromes, you might want to convert them back. This assumes I know what I'm talking about, and that's not always the case. It's a great acquisition, though---congratulations!


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## Reckers

One more post and I'll stop. *L* If you keep them and want to talk through any of what you're working on, I'd be happy to help.


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## dozer

Hey Reckers, I appreciate your input, I don't find it negative atall so please, teach away! I'll show you what I'm looking at though. maybe between the two we can come up with the correct answer lol! Look down to the 300 ac with metal tender info. http://americanflyerexpress.com/Ame...american-flyer-products-passenger-cars-03.htm ooops, go to the steam engine header lol...


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## Reckers

dozer said:


> Hey Reckers, I appreciate your input, I don't find it negative atall so please, teach away! I'll show you what I'm looking at though. maybe between the two we can come up with the correct answer lol! Look down to the 300 ac with metal tender info. http://americanflyerexpress.com/Ame...american-flyer-products-passenger-cars-03.htm ooops, go to the steam engine header lol...


Okay, I've gotta give that one to you---you're right! Do you think they adapted the cars?


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## dozer

Reckers said:


> Okay, I've gotta give that one to you---you're right! Do you think they adapted the cars?


 Yup, the cars were adapted to knuckle couplers. I think this set is going to be a shelf display queen lol...


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## tjcruiser

Just peeking in on this AF thread. Very nice stuff there, Dozer. Those passenger cars are beauties. I do hope you'll invest a little t.l.c. to clean things up and get 'em all running again.

Very nice, indeed!

TJ


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## dozer

tjcruiser said:


> Just peeking in on this AF thread. Very nice stuff there, Dozer. Those passenger cars are beauties. I do hope you'll invest a little t.l.c. to clean things up and get 'em all running again.
> 
> Very nice, indeed!
> 
> TJ


 I'll definitely clean them up, but doubt I'd ever run em'.


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## Reckers

Please be careful on the chrome jobs---okay, I know I sound like a broken record, but should you decide to part with them, they're very sellable and will bring a good price. To me, the locomotive is the most endearing piece of the set, but there were lots of them made. The chromes, in contrast, are fairly scarce.


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## Reckers

Oh, and a suggestion? If you can find the time to oil and lube the engine, I think it'd be worth it even for a shelf queen. Your grandchildren might appreciate inheriting something that wasn't frozen with rust, y'know?

Regards,


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## dozer

I hear ya  Wife and I don't have kids though, so no worries there lol....

I may put them up for sale, but not on ebay that's for sure.


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## tjcruiser

Just to ask/clarify for naive me ...

These are "S" gauge AF's we're looking at, right ??? (S scale cars running on S gauge track ???)

Thanks,

TJ


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## dozer

Um, well as far as I know yes, lol..... they are 2 rail, bigger than ho but not as big as O.


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## imatt88

Dozer,


Very nice set! Congrats. Let me know if want to sell the loco:thumbsup::laugh:

I just picked up some AF stuff, but I am having a very hard time securing an engine to go with it


Cheers, Ian


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## flyernut

dozer said:


> I'll definitely clean them up, but doubt I'd ever run em'.


Go ahead and run them.. That's what they're for.. I'm new to this forum, but not to AF. I have approx. 25-30 engines, with about 200 pieces of rolling stock, switches, etc. I just love getting a basket-case loco and turning it back into a great running toy. When Gilbert made these engines, they were built to last!! With about an hour of TLC, this little engine will be running great!!! About those couplers, my local shop charges about $2.50 per truck to change them back, including parts. I need to get the install tool some day!! Nice engine though..I believe I have about 20 301's,302's, and 303's, but no 300's.


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## dozer

flyernut said:


> Go ahead and run them.. That's what they're for.. I'm new to this forum, but not to AF. I have approx. 25-30 engines, with about 200 pieces of rolling stock, switches, etc. I just love getting a basket-case loco and turning it back into a great running toy. When Gilbert made these engines, they were built to last!! With about an hour of TLC, this little engine will be running great!!! About those couplers, my local shop charges about $2.50 per truck to change them back, including parts. I need to get the install tool some day!! Nice engine though..I believe I have about 20 301's,302's, and 303's, but no 300's.


 Well thank you but these are now sitting on a shelf near my layout and that's probably all they'll ever see of a track again. I just don't have the space to run any more trains or track.


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## Reckers

Welcome to the site, Flyernut! Always nice to see another S scaler show up!


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## Big Ed

Reckers said:


> Welcome to the site, Flyernut! Always nice to see another S scaler show up!



Looks like an S revolution!

Man Len, that must have been some kind of ad that you made up.
S modelers coming out of the woodwork. O scale people buying S, HO modelers buying S, N,Z,and even T scale people are buying S.


But I want to let all you new guys know that Reckers is the
King of S here.

Remember when there was only one S man here?

Maybe I will get some S too!:laugh:


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## T-Man

I'll second that!


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## Reckers

Gosh, guys....*looking down modestly, rubbing my toe in the dirt*...ya make me blush!


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## tjcruiser

Royalty payments, I tell you ...

He's after the royalty payments ... 

TJ


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## flyernut

Reckers said:


> Welcome to the site, Flyernut! Always nice to see another S scaler show up!


Thank you!. My dad had flyers when I was growing up, and I always loved the way they smelled when blowing all that smoke into the basement.When I had my 3rd child, a boy, I got him started in O scale Lionel. But after going to train shows and seeing all those flyers at great prices, I jumped right back on them.As a kid we had the (now) collectible and expensive sets. Missouri Pacific passenger set from the 60's, a 355 Baldwin set from the 50's, and K335 Northern set from the 50's, and a common 302 frieght set from the early 50's.While I was in the US Army back in 1970, Dad sold all the trains, but kept the plasticville, for $50 bucks!!!!!! This included tons of track, rubber roadbed, switches, etc, etc, etc. I have now acquired all those sets except for the MP, just can't afford that one being on disability, plus numerous other engines and rolling stock.From the get-go, I learned that if I wanted to collect and run flyers, I'd better teach myself to fix them. The only thing I don't do is quartering, and I let my local shop do that. I can't justify the cost of the tools vs the amount time I would use them. I'll be going to a great train show Sat. at the NYS Fairgrounds...


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## tjcruiser

Flyernut,

Very nice bio! Welcome to the forum. I'm a Lionel O guy, though I share that same sense of interest / joy in fixing up old clunkers and turning something from a trash pile into something that has a renewed lease on life. While I tease Reckers and the forum S gang endlessly about the superiority of O over S, I've very much enjoyed looking over the shoulders of our S guys as they've worked on their various projects. There's a lot of commonality between Lionel and AF, and as you said, these things were made to last if treated with a little t.l.c.

Thanks for your military service, by the way!

Cheers,

TJ


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## flyernut

Thank you for your "thank you". I've posted a bunch of pictures over on another thread, I believe it was "american flyer layout?? Could be wrong...It was "parts of a layout.


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## Big Ed

After looking at all flynut's flyers, I think we might have a new KING of S.

Sorry Len.........I know you wouldn't want to be Queen of S,
how about Prince of S?

You can still be credited of being MTF's, first S scaler on the site.
And bringing S to where it is today on the site.:thumbsup:


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## flyernut

big ed said:


> After looking at all flynut's flyers, I think we might have a new KING of S.
> 
> Sorry Len.........I know you wouldn't want to be Queen of S,
> how about Prince of S?
> 
> You can still be credited of being MTF's, first S scaler on the site.
> And bringing S to where it is today on the site.:thumbsup:


I don't have the room to show all the engines at once. Maybe bit by bit, but not all at once.


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## Reckers

Ed, you and T-Man were the first S scalers on the site...I simply followed in your footsteps and learned what I could! Flyernut can be King of S scale with my blessing: I came here to learn about trains and stayed because I like the people so much. I would like to retain, however, my position of Honorary Chief Mountaineer of New Jersey!


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## flyernut

Reckers said:


> Ed, you and T-Man were the first S scalers on the site...I simply followed in your footsteps and learned what I could! Flyernut can be King of S scale with my blessing: I came here to learn about trains and stayed because I like the people so much. I would like to retain, however, my position of Honorary Chief Mountaineer of New Jersey!


Karumba!!! I've only been here a week and already titles and degrees!!!! Let me show you all a few pix of my treadmills I built for my flyer trouble shooting. Wife wants to go to the farm so I'll be back in an hour with some pix.....


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## T-Man

Your 302 collection impressed me!
Both of my engines have problems.


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## tjcruiser

Reckers said:


> I would like to retain, however, my position of Honorary Chief Mountaineer of New Jersey!


Too funny! You'll have to learn how to yodel ... get some good resonance off of those huge 80' NJ mountain peaks!

TJ


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## flyernut

T-Man said:


> Your 302 collection impressed me!
> Both of my engines have problems.


I've got more 302's than I can handle!! What's the problems with yours??? Shoot me a pm and I'll see what I can do to help you get these going again. They're super easy to fix, believe me, and parts are all over the place to get and keep them running. I found out that if I wanted to collect/run flyers, I'd better be able to fix them!


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## Big Ed

Reckers said:


> Ed, you and T-Man were the first S scalers on the site...I simply followed in your footsteps and learned what I could! Flyernut can be King of S scale with my blessing: I came here to learn about trains and stayed because I like the people so much. I would like to retain, however, my position of Honorary Chief Mountaineer of New Jersey!



I was only kidding you Len, your still the KING OF S here.

If it was not for you promoting S, there would be no other S people here.
You even got an S put in the forum, before you S was not mentioned.
Plus you are preserving history! :thumbsup:
Refusing to by parts off "A chop shop".

If anyone tries to dethrone you, Knights in shining armor will come a storming.

I'm sure T man will epoxy them up or electrocute them with one of his electrical projects.:thumbsup:

TJ will bath them in Muriatic acid and paint them.:thumbsup:

Choo choo will make them miniature, half of what they are now.:thumbsup:

Timboy will plaster them with oatmeal.:thumbsup:

Shaygetz will preach to them till they go deaf.

Still a kid will do something. edit, Throw his parts at them.

Ian will just throw them away.:thumbsup:

B&M will ban them for life.

And Tankist will take their picture...WITH A TIME STAMP!
(I still want to know how one gets so much info from a time stamp?)
There are others I forgot.
Big Ed will be there if all else fails. I will bore them to death with history.

To the KING of S.......:worshippy::worshippy:

Now....stop picking on my mountains!


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## tjcruiser

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

(OMG ... I think I just peed in my pants from laughing so hard ... excuse me while I go change ...)

TJ


We really need a "Hall of Fame" section here on the forum ... posts like that really deserved to be enshrined somewhere.


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## Reckers

ROTFLMAO!!!!!* Ed, that was priceless, and thank you. In fairness, Stillakid has done as much as I have to advance S scale on this site; the interest that so many of you took in helping us, teaching us, and occasionally bludgeoning us into learning about trains has been invaluable. If I'm to be "King of S Scale", then my thanks and the thanks of all other S Scalers on the site to the rest of you for making a space for us and encouraging us----Thank you!imp:*


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## flyernut

Reckers said:


> ROTFLMAO!!!!!* Ed, that was priceless, and thank you. In fairness, Stillakid has done as much as I have to advance S scale on this site; the interest that so many of you took in helping us, teaching us, and occasionally bludgeoning us into learning about trains has been invaluable. If I'm to be "King of S Scale", then my thanks and the thanks of all other S Scalers on the site to the rest of you for making a space for us and encouraging us----Thank you!imp:*


And may I add I had no intention of accepting the honor.. I would rather be a princess, silly!!


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## Reckers

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## flyernut

dozer said:


> some pics of just the engine and rolling stock.


Just bored and looking through some older posts. Could that loco be a 4-piece 302? The reason I say this is I don't see the reverse lock-out lever in front of the sand-dome. I think all the 300's have the reverse in the boiler, and the 4-piece cast boiler 302 have the reverse in the tender.


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## Reckers

Tim, I always suspected you were a damsel!:la:


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## Reckers

I could take my glasses off---that made my ex-wife quite attractive. *L*


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