There are a couple of current threads on American Flyer steamers that mention the DC version whereas most American Flyer steamers, including mine, were AC.
What are the differences in the DC version compared to the AC version?
Why did American Flyer decide to offer a DC version?
Rich
Alton Junction
A. C. Gilbert came our with DC in the late 40s on two of their premium locomotives, the 332 Northern and the 342, 0-8-0 Switch engine. The motors have an ANICO permanent magnet field. I do not believe that they were big sellers first they were the top of the line sets so there were fewer made and they required additional DC power converter or an "electronic rectiformer". AC versions of both locomotives were made at this time also.
Flyer made DC power locomotives promenent in their catalogs. They feature how DC powered locomotives did not have to go through mechanical reversng and how a locomotive could continue in the same direction after it stopped. The Korean War with the demands for raw materal ended this experiment. This is also why Flyer came out with pressed wood cars during the war years due to a shortages or higher costs of zinc.
Ahh, hadn't thought about the reversing unit as an issue.
Major, thanks for that explanation.
I have both a 332 that is the DC version and a 332AC, and I prefer the DC version. The DC version outperforms the AC counterpart considerably. With both freshly serviced and everything checked, the 332AC crawls at full throttle while the DC one wants to leave the rails. I've tried other 1/2" motors in the 332AC with no change. To bring the 332AC up to par, I swapped the standard 1/2" motor for the larger 3/4" motor that came in the later 336.
The DC steamers are less fussy also because there is no reversing unit to burn holes in contacts and no harness to have wires break or become shorted internally.
Another point is that a DC steamer will smoke better than it's AC counterpart when both elements are wound to the same resistance.
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