# Original owner of an AF set



## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

I was reading some older posts tonight and saw a bunch of you guys wondering what kid owned their locomotives and sets when they were new. I happen to have my original 302 engine set from 1954 with the card board trestle set. It was a Christmas morning in 1954 surprise. I had seen this train set somewhere and dearly wanted one. I wanted an American Flyer train set because they ran on two rails just like the real thing. No three rails for me. When it came time to see Santa, I told him I wanted an American Flyer train set. To my horror he thought I had said "crane set" when he repeated what he thought I had said as he slid me off his lap. I was horrified since my parents were standing right there and heard him. I just knew I would be getting a stupid crane for Christmas. That train was set up Christmas morning half way under the tree and half way out in the open in a figure 8. What a relief and surprise. It has been in my glass case for years. I don't know what happen to the original box. It was stored away along with other AF stuff when I lost interest and got into cars and hot rod building so all of my train stuff was put in a box and forgotten about. There is more to the story but this is long enough.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I too have the joy of still having and running a 282 I got when I was 5 years old.
A different story than yours. Its a long story also that I will not get into too much now.
I got mine used in 1955. My uncle had got it new for Christmas in 1952 or 1953. He
got tired of it and gave it to me. He was older and I think he got more interested in real cars and real girls. My dad worked for a business that sold the 282. I do know the joy
of a little boy and his American Flyer train. Its the only toy I have from when I was little. Really glad I still have it. Both my dad and uncle are gone but I think of them when I run the 282.


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## Kelpieflyer (Jan 9, 2012)

I received my first AF set in 1969 when I was 6. It was an All Aboard set that must have been an old stock set after they went out of business. An 8 panel set, I still have all the landscape and buildings, although they are a bit beat up. The engine had to be rebuilt several times, and some of the cars have broken couplers. I have since added quite a bit to my AF collection and this set still works and I wouldn't give it up for the world.


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## flyguy55 (Apr 20, 2015)

I too have my original train set from 1956 it is a 293 Meteor freight set.Has set box original car boxes all packaging still runs great.The funny side of the story was in early 60s I ventured into HO with a number of engines and cars.Those HO items all ended up in garage sale land in the 70s.Somehow and thankfully the Flyer set escaped garage sale horror and lived to fight another day.Must have been buried too far in attic for anyone to see.....


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I also have both of my original sets and all the accessories including all the original boxes and set boxes.
Here is a picture of the sets and some of the accessories on the Christmas layout.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

I still have the 3 sets my Dad bought for my brother and I,(and I suspect for him also,) since I was only a year old when the 5510T New Mountaineer Freight arrived at Christmas in 1955. That was followed by the 20305 Flying Freighter in 1957 and the Bankers in 1959. The only accessory was a 761 semaphore that I don't think Dad ever figured out how to make work on a 4x8 layout. The set boxes were tossed and replaced with other boxes at some point but don't recall why. Glad they weren't given to the neighbors kids like most of our toys were as we got older. All of them still run great because they only appeared for 3 weeks at Christmas and then were packed up til next season. Sometime in the mid- sixties a HO plastic ready-made layout showed up so the Flyers were dormant until the early eighties when I re-discovered all things American Flyer.


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## Tom47 (Dec 8, 2012)

I still have my orginal 307 Atlantic. I am in the process of building a new layout. I have kept on collecting American Flyer over the years. This will be the first time in 30 years that I have built a layout.


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## JMedwick (Feb 11, 2017)

I am younger guy, so none of it is original to me. When I was 7 or 8, my grandparents sent over my mother’s childhood train set (AF 302 with green New Haven cars), which my dad then took to a repair shop to get fixed up. I remember being so excited when he brought it home from the shop and set it up on the original boards my great-grandfather built for it. Still have the boards and the whole set. Now my son has really enjoyed that set too and started off my efforts to collect some more.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

It is always great to hear about younger people picking up the S gauge hobby!


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## Tallaman (Oct 23, 2012)

AmFlyer said:


> I also have both of my original sets and all the accessories including all the original boxes and set boxes.
> Here is a picture of the sets and some of the accessories on the Christmas layout.
> 
> View attachment 464256


That pic right there is pure magic to me. Mom and Dad bought a used AF set with a 302 and a 290 when I was five (1965) and we set it up most years for Christmas. The train layout definitely contributed to the magic of Christmas and I still feel that when I see a pic like that. Nothing beats the AF loco's chugging their way around the track past plasticville houses and homemade tunnels pulling red, yellow, gray and black freight cars. Thanks for sharing!


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