palallin Well, this post failed (and I cannot even delete it). I attempted to post a couple pics, but I find that a hosting site is required. Well, I have none and have no interest in signing up for one. Sorry. If any of the moderators happen to come upon this post, please delete it.
Well, this post failed (and I cannot even delete it).
I attempted to post a couple pics, but I find that a hosting site is required. Well, I have none and have no interest in signing up for one. Sorry.
If any of the moderators happen to come upon this post, please delete it.
Palallin,
If you email the photos to me at the email in my profile I think I can upload them to my hosting site and then with your permission I can post them here. I have done that before.
Northwoods Flyer
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
Spectacular! Thanks for sharing them!
Same me, different spelling!
Trains at Christmas
I know that I have mentioned several times in this thread and in other places that I was born into a family with trains and that the trains preceded me. As I was going through family papers and memoribilia recently I found some photos of the trains at Christmas. As near as I can tell these photos are from the mid to late 1950s.
My Dad loved Christmas and especially tinsel.
This is the layout that was put up every year around Thanksgiving and stayed up until Valentines Day although the tree never lasted that long.
All of the train equipment is American Flyer and was purchased second hand for my brother (although I think Dad enjoyed playing with it even more) and most of it is still in my collection. The only thing that was lost was the #435 steamer which succumbed to zink pest. In recent years I replaced it with a sturdy example.
Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby
(especially at Christmas)
I see. You are correct. If you want information on specific cars then it is the only reference out there. It does have an accessories section but about all it is good for is just a basic listing of accessories offered - the text in that section needs a major revision which I suspect you will never see. There's a fair amount of updated accessory information in the earlier sections of this thread and there are several long posts over on the other magazine forum. If you check their Tinplate Toy Trains section and run a search on "American Flyer Stations" you will find a great deal. In a similar vein a search on "American Flyer Tunnels" will provide additional updated information.
Northwoods Flyer Well I hope that Santa brings the book and leaves it under the tree. AF Prewar. I have not personally seen the book yet. Everyone who comments on it or has seen it has raved about it. Knowing both of the contributors it can only be excellent. The book is on my Christmas list. I wish I had been able to go to York this year, it would have been #1 on my list of things to look pick up. Have you seen the videos that Fritz has posted on You tube at the daveclarklumber site? They are outstanding. Feel free to show us some photos of what you collect. Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby Northwoods Flyer Well I hope that Santa brings you the book and leaves it under the tree. REgarding pictures, I found some nice ones with a Christmas theme. Please send me an e-mail address so that I can forward them. I'm not very computer literate.
Well I hope that Santa brings the book and leaves it under the tree.
AF Prewar.
I have not personally seen the book yet. Everyone who comments on it or has seen it has raved about it. Knowing both of the contributors it can only be excellent. The book is on my Christmas list. I wish I had been able to go to York this year, it would have been #1 on my list of things to look pick up. Have you seen the videos that Fritz has posted on You tube at the daveclarklumber site? They are outstanding.
Feel free to show us some photos of what you collect.
Interesting. Schuweiler is the one who did the Greenburg book, and it is the only basic reference that I know of. The new book lists the sets, but I don't think it provides details of the individual engines/cars/accessories. If you know of another source that does, I'd love to hear about it!
Palallin, I wouldn't waste my time looking for the Greenburg book. There was only the one edition and a great deal has been learned about AF WG since its publication. I haven't seen the new book mentioned in this thread but with von Tagen and Schuweiler as authors their book has to be superior in every way.
The book is waiting to be wrapped to go under our tree this year. I haven't been able to sneak a look yet, but I am eager to see it!
I wish I oculd find a copy of the AF WG Greenburg book for less than a house payment.
Hello all--Just wondered what contributors to this thread think of the new hardcover book "American Flyer Wide Gauge Sets" by Fritz VonTagen and Alan Schuweiler. I think it's great--160 pages with every wide gauge set illustrated in full color. Every prewar train collector should have this book.
Unusual late #96 station and a factory error
No matter how closely you read the Greenberg guide there are some items that you just won't find there. In the years since it was published quite a few variations have come to light. Earlier this year Mersenne6 pointed out an unusual late #96 station on ebay to me. At first glance you would think that it is a #104 except for some obvious differences; it has a green roof and it is unlighted. These are the the two identifying hallmarks of a late #96 station.
I followed up on his lead and won the auction.
A number of weeks ago he pointed out another one of these unusual variations on ebay; and this one had a factory error making it a unique item among an already unusual and not often seen variation. I won that auction too.
Here are the two stations side by side:
And another photo showing the lithography on the end.
(Mersenne estimates that there are very few of these stations around. I think he says that he has seen two others besides the two that I have)
The station on the right is the one with the factory error.
With the roofs removed you can see that the one on the right was fed into the punching machine upside down. This means that the tabs that should anchor the walls to the base are now at the roof line waving in the breeze.
Someone had to come up with a way to fix this error and anchor the walls to the base; and I'll bet he had to manufacture the part and install it on an unknown number of these stations too.
Here is a comparison view of the two stations showing how the tabs are anchored to the base.
American Flyer continues to provide some interesting insights into the manufacturing (and sometimes salvaging) of their products.
Thanks for pointing these stations out to me Mersenne6. Its great to have a group of friends/collectors to collaborate with in this hobby. BTW Mersenne6 has several excellent articles about identifying stations scattered throughout this thread.
(Edit: Several of Mersenne6's articles on stations are on page 7 of this thread.)
As soon as my addition is done and I have my own space, yes. Can't wait. Hopefully we can start soon, waiting for prince of wood to come down. Meanwhile I might set some up for Christmas.
Nice pictures and thanks a lot.
Ray
Bayville, NJ
Life is what happens to youWhile you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
Hi Ray,
Its good to hear from you.
Here are the 4 pieces of track that American Flyer produced with 4 rails for their whistle.
And here is the curve that has the connection for power to the whistle.
Are you planning to set some up to operate the whistle in a car?
Hello all!
A while back we looked at some 4 rail track from 1936. I have many pieces and was lucky enough to pick up some more at York last month. I've never seen the curve piece with the correct connection. Does anyone have any pictures of this?
Northwoods Flyer Thanks for the kind words palallin. I am glad that folks like you are still finding vaue in this thread. I have to admit that I fear the day when this thread will no longer be available. At the moment the number of views counter is whacky. The last time it was accurate was at about 913,000. Even in retirement life gets in the way of hobbies. I will have to get back to work soon on restoring more of the missing photos. Is there anything in particular that you would like to have reposted. I think I have 50 - 60 pages yet to go. Here is a brass piper just for you my friend,
Thanks for the kind words palallin. I am glad that folks like you are still finding vaue in this thread. I have to admit that I fear the day when this thread will no longer be available. At the moment the number of views counter is whacky. The last time it was accurate was at about 913,000.
Even in retirement life gets in the way of hobbies. I will have to get back to work soon on restoring more of the missing photos. Is there anything in particular that you would like to have reposted. I think I have 50 - 60 pages yet to go.
Here is a brass piper just for you my friend,
Beautiful! Just Beautiful! Thank you! Pretty much outa my league these days, but who knows. . . . Love to see the pics, though!
In a few weeks, I'll besetting up the Christmas Tree, and under it this year, I get to run some SG/WG track (odd years are for Dad; even years for the boys). The one Flyer train I currently have (rumor has it that ol' St. Nick will be adding to it this year ) will spend a generous share of time on the rails. I'll be sure to add a pic.
In the meantime, any Flyer WG is welcome. I have some references (and am getting another soon), but I always want to learn more!
Greg
Cool! And a Lego Hogwarts too!
Over the years I have hosted a display of parts of my collection at the Merrill Historical Society in Merrill Wisconsin. When we moved two years ago I set up a Circus display and thought that I would make occasional trips back to do maintenance and change the display...enter the pandemic. Last week we finally travelled back to work on the layout and visit friends. Here are the most recent photos.
Those with sharp eyes will notice that there are only two pieces of American Flyer equipment on the display. Either I will have to make another trip to the museum or change my name.
Type XXII Sheet Metal Steam Engine
Mersenne6 pointed the engine out to me some time ago on ebay. I recently found the appropriate matching tender. It is an uncataloged electric steam locomotove from the mid 1930's according to the Greenberg Guide. It is described as a simple 0-4-0 sheetmetal locomotive with stamped steel drivers.
It has PAT. PENDING stamped under the cab windows and an AMERICAN FLYER decal below on the frame.
Thanks for the heads up Mersenne6. I am still looking for the appropriate cars.
Oppps!
These should have been posted in the Tinplate Heritage thread. Sorry for the duplication of information.
Here is a photo of very recent production by a cottage industry. The goal was to produce new tinplate buildings.
There are a number of lesser known manufacturers that produced accessories for trains over the years. One of those companies was the Atlas Tool Company.
I recently purchased this station.
It was labeled as an American Flyer station, which it isn't. It is lighted, made of metal and painted with enamel, and it has plastic windows and doors. It does bare a resemblence to the Flyer station but it is clearly an Atlas Tool Co product when compared to the houses that I have that are made by Atlas.
None of the pieces are marked with an Atlas Tool Co. identifier, but having the original boxes makes their origin clear. Notice where the Atlas Tool Co. was located.
Its nice to hear from you again.
If you are going to start looking for some of these factory oddities you might want to start with the 4 wheel orange 6 1/2" passenger cars. These are the Paul Revere/Lexington cars. Apparently these cars appear so frequently that they are documented in the Greenberg Guide.
There is the Baggage Car
There isn't too much that is odd here except that the baggage doors are two different shades of orange.
Then we have the passenger car with Paul Revere on one side
and Lexington on the other.
And the observation with Lexington on one side
and Paul Revere on the other.
It didn't take too long to find an entire passenger consist of cars with Lexington on one side
American Flyer Prewar is always presenting something unique to look for. As Lou Palumbo of the Underground Railroad says "Keep searchin'"
That's awesome!
Now you're going to make me look a lot closer from now on!!!!
1206/1207 Observation
If you are a collector of American Flyer Prewar trains you know that occasionally you will run across a factory error. I thought this one was interesting.
Someone wasn't paying attention to what was in their supply bin.
With the exception of two small posts (I can't find the pictures so I'll have to take them again) I've restored the pictures to all of my earlier posts. The bulk of these posts are between pages 3 and 25 of this thread. I hope these restored posts will be of interest to anyone curious about pre-war American Flyer trains.
Just a quick update:
Mersenne and I have been working away at restoring the missing photos from the early days of the thread. I have been restoring the photos to my postings chronologically, while mersenne has been restoring his postings topically. I have to say that it is great to see his postings in their entirety. I have learned an incredible amount from his research and documentation of variations. I have my photos restored through page 3. In the early days I had a second hand digital camera and I had little experience with editing. I can see that I will be taking new and hopefully better photos to replace some of the poor ones.
We hope that you will enjoy revisiting the early pages of the thread.
Here is one of the first photos that I took and posted to Shutterfly
It turns out I can edit my old posts so rather than continuing with re-posting I will just go back and repair the older posts. In those cases where additional information has been acquired since the time of the original post I'll make it a point to update the text as well.
I have begun the task of trying to restore the missing photos from the thread from my photo archive. This will be no small task, but what else do I have to do in my retirement. Page 1 is done, only about 65 pages more to do.
As you can see mersenne 6 is working on reposting his missing entries and photos as current postings. Its great to review the information that he has posted. Thanks mersenne! Lets meet for a libation when we get the job done.
Reposting - 9 1/2 inch litho freight cars - the rest of the story
The first of the 9 1/2 cars was the flat car with lumber which was cataloged by itself in 1924. The lumber load consists of separate pieces of varnished lumber resting on a felt pad and held in place with a series of clamps across the top. The intact car is difficult to find but, probably because it isn't particularly eye catching, it doesn't command the price of the other cars in the series.
There are a couple of interesting variations of the litho tank car. Again, in the earlier series of posts I made separate reference to these two. By way of condensation I'm including both of these with this reposting
Tank Car with black litho over printing
If you examine the sides of this car in reflected light you can see where the underlying litho has pits from some kind of misprinting. My guess is that rather than scrap the lithoed sheet Flyer just overprinted the pitted area in black.
Tool Test Tank Car
Close up detail of tool test car
Modern example (New Marx) of a tool test car for comparison
Before starting production it is a common practice to make test runs using scrap material to help identify any problems in tool setup. The punched holes in the Flyer tank car match the hole alignment for the tabs for nameplates and ladder attachments for the first series of enameled 9 1/2" tank cars Flyer offered for sale.
The boxcars (actually 3 boxcars and a reefer) are
B&O
The first time I saw the ART I thought it was a rather odd looking car, particularly with the serial number sitting on the left side all by itself and from time to time I would look at this picture and wonder what possessed American Flyer to come up with that particular litho treatment.
A toy that is going to stand in for a representation of the real thing must have some attributes of the real thing if it is to be successful. It turns out that of the four 9 1/2 inch boxcars/reefers the ART is a VERY close representation of the actual car.
The ART reefer below is one of the series of Atlas O gauge wood side reefers based on the very thorough research/documentation of the late Bob Wagner. As you can see Flyer put the car serial number in large numbers on the left hand side because that is the way it was done on the real thing.
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