Sunday Photo Fun 11/27/16

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Layout with the 790 Trainaroma in the background

Have Fun

Jim

[Nationwidelines]

I have been working on 1938-1940 Atlantic and Pacific engines by American Flyer this weekend.  Have tuned up / repaired 10 of them so far.  Here is a 1939 432 with 6 wheel blue streamline cars and a 1940 435 with yellow 6 wheel streamline cars.  The engines run great!

 

 

 

NWL

 

[LL675]

those look great! I might have to start looking for one or two.....is there anything to watchout for (zinc pest,etc)? 

[Nationwidelines]

Dave,

There are some things to watch out for on the Flyer prewar Atlantic and Pacifics.  Zinc-pest and warpage of the engine castings can occur.  The warpage factor comes into effect when the die cast sand domes and smokestacks on the top of the engine experience zinc-pest and the casting itself does not.  The expansion of these, especially the large sand dome, can push th two halves of the casting apart and warp the two halves.  I replaced the sand dome on one of my engines this weekend and it had a noticeable gap between the two halves of the engine casting due to the sand dome expanding.  I actually had to grind the post holding the sand dome so that I could mount the replacement in the casting, due to the warpage.

The other thing to watch out for on these engines is the marker lights at the front of the boilers.  The marker lights are mounted on a small post that sticks out from the side of the boiler, and these posts are easily broken off.  Other than that, the marker lights themselves are prone to breaking.  The missing marker lights and their breakage are not things that affect the operation, but cause distress to the serious collectors.

Other than that, the leading and trailing truck wheels are prone to zinc-pest as are the side frames on the trailing trucks. 

I have to say that when running these engines on my layout, I think the Atlantic (432 or 43224, which are the 4-4-2 configuration) look better when running.  Something about the larger drive wheels just looks better. 

Good luck in your search for these.

NWL

[Nationwidelines]

Dave,

I guess I forgot an important note.  The tenders with the 432 / 435 engines, as shown in the photos, do have issues with zinc-pest.  These tenders have somewhat thin walls and can warp.  The steps are also fragile and easily broken off.  Last issue with the tenders, is the tops of the ladder at the rear.  These are separate pieces of steel that can become detached and often one or both can be missing.

The 43224 / 43226 engines come with the aluminum tenders, similar to the hudson engines of 1937-1939 (the 1936 hudson came with a sheetmetal tender).

NWL

[RedfireS197]

Here's a K325 Hudson (NOV. 1952 date stamp) that I finally got around to cleaning up.

 

This 356 Silver Bullet came in awhile back.  I haven't serviced it yet.  No bad memories with this one.

 

[LL675]

thanks NWL.