# 300's



## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

I have two 300's , both with reverse in boiler. one is plastic and one is metal with wires. Does anyone know the years of these engines?
Al


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## Jwh2000 (Dec 4, 2017)

300 Reading Atlantic made in 1946-1947

All I could find.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

dooper said:


> I have two 300's , both with reverse in boiler. one is plastic and one is metal with wires. Does anyone know the years of these engines?
> Al


The plastic boiler is a 1952 production. The only year this was made. The die cast boiler is either 1946 or 1947. If there are brass spring loaded buttons on the chassis bottom, it's most likely 1946. The tender should be stamped "Reading Lines"only. If it has a Reading diamond and stamped America Flyer then it's most likely 1947. There will be holes in the chassis but no buttons present and should have a thick shank link coupler vs. thin shank in 1946. Hope this helps.


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## Jwh2000 (Dec 4, 2017)

Cramden
You are the Man.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Jwh2000 said:


> Cramden
> You are the Man.


I have a lot of reference books.


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## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

Thanks Cramden. 

I agree with your analysis. But...

I am going to attach pictures. The first is a side view of each. The plastic boiler is on the top. The second is from the bottom of each. The metal boiler is definitely a 1946 version, with the springs and holes. It has the two small wheels underneath the cab attached to the bottom. The tender attached to the bar under the cab and was with the early metal tender with reading on the side and a thin link coupler. The third shows the top of each. They both have holes in the top for the locking lever of the reverse unit..

Do you see my confusion? If the plastic boiler was only 1952, why is there a hole with the lever, the tender should have had the reverse unit in it.
I have way too many tenders to determine which belonged to the plastic 300.

Good thing you cannot see the part of my thumb that I cut off.:laugh:


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

The early die cast 300 is neat, you don't often see them. The plastic 300 was first produced in 1952 along with the 282 and 285 Pacific. They were Gilbert's first plastic boiler engines and were transitional engines. The 300 was not getting the smoke and choo choo in the boiler so there was no need to move the reverse unit into the tender. It's also possible that there was 300 chassis' inventory that Gilbert would have used up before switching to reverse units in the tender. These were toys and stuff was used up to fill production schedules. In 1953 the 300 became the 301 with the reverse in the tender, and the slot in the boiler was filled in on the die. There are many instances of Gilbert not following the "rules" when it came to production or even set contents. The plastic 300 with the reverse slot is not that common and a nice piece to have. It should have come with a sheet metal tender with the Reading emblem and American Flyer spelled out on the side. The plastic tenders didn't appear until 1953. Hope this clears up some of the confusion.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The plastic 300 with the boiler mounted reverse unit is 1952 production as Cramden states.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Have you checked for a date stamp on inside of shell.


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## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

Well thanks everyone. I did take it apart today to see if a date was present. The picture below is what I found.

I just do not understand why in 1952 they would still have engines with the lever sticking out on the top. Maybe that is why I do not make the big bucks.:laugh:


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