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3011 Midsized Box Cab
The Greenberg guide to American Flyer Pre War O Gauge lists 3 variations of this engine. They were cataloged in 1926 and 1927. After several years of hunting I finally have all three versions that are listed.
You will notice that they don't look too much different than the 3012 which is listed a few entries back. In general the 3012 has a manual reverse, and the 3011 does not have the reverse. But as with most Flyer equipment there are exceptions to this. This is the 1926 enameled version (a). It has lost its bell, which shouldn't be too difficult to replace.
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
HI John,
Its good to hear from you. I am looking forward to seeing all of the resources that will be available when you have the archive ready.
Here are a several more scans that John sent.
American Flyer Paper
I had an interesting email from John Holtman not too long ago. Some of you may know of his website and the digital reproductions that he has made of a number of catalogs and difficult to find paper items pertinent to the collecting side of the hobby. I have his digital archive of the old publication Toy Trains. I have most of the issues of that magazine, but having them in digital form is better than subjecting the old paper magazines to additional wear and tear. He has a number of interesting items there including lots of stuff for Lionel fans. If you are interested in taking a look, this is the website http://hslinc.com/.
He sent some scans of difficult to find American Flyer paper from the Pre War era after reading the entries here about catalogs. He says that he is working on a project right now that will make Pre War Flyer paper available.
Here is one of the scans that he sent.
Between Otis B. Drinkwater and John I can't wait to see what comes up next.
Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby
Northwoods Flyer
Thank you Northwoods Flyer for sharing such superb information and color photos. This is accurate data that cannot be found by any other means.
I have an older Greenberg book on O guage Flyer, for the most part it is a really good reference. But alas, there are some mistakes in it which most likely happened when it went to print formatting. Another pitfall is that a lot of the photos are black and white, hard to imagine what the real colors look like.
3012 Midsized Box Cab
Getting back to midsized electric outline engines for a while. The 3012 appears in American Flyer Catalogs in 1926 and 1927. Here are 3 variations of the 3012 Box Cab
During the years it appears in the catalog it lives up to the advertising approach that Flyer trains rival the colors of the rainbow. This is Greenberg's variation (A) from 1926. The body is enameled black.
1930 Catalog Cover
One of the things that I enjoy most about hosting this thread is the contributions made by folks who read it and share photos of items in their collections. The last few entries have been photos of items sent in by Otis B. Drinkwater. He has sent another interesting photo.
One of my favorite catalog covers is from 1930.
I have often thought it would be fun to be the boy on the cover running those Wide Gauge trains. In fact one of my goals is to be able to have a layout replicating Flyer's Colonial City that appears in several of the catalogs. In any case Mr. Drinkwater sent a photo of something very unique in the collecting world. This is the original artwork for the 1930 catalog along with an example of the 1930 catalog.
Mr. Otis B. Drinkwater sent a follow up email after reading the above posting. He says that this is the cover used for the catalogs from 1922-1924. Its the artwork identified by Peter Paeth earlier on the thread as being the work of his father Louis Paeth.
More Back Covers
I recently received an email from a reader of this thread who sent some photos of items in his collection to me. He has given me permission to post them here in the thread. Below you will see photos of the back covers for the 1923 and 1924 catalogs. They are a collection of photos of the American Flyer Factory.
1923
1924
Notice that there are differences. 1923 is titled The Home of 3,500,00 American Flyers, and the 1924 version is titled The Home of 4,000,000 American Flyers. The center of the 1923 cover has a photo of the factory, while the 1924 cover has a drawing of the factory. Thanks to Otis B. Drinkwater for sharing these items from his collection. Oh, and stay tuned, there is more to come. Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby Northwoods Flyer
Inspired by this thread, I just finished the restoration of the AF 3112 orange boxcab by replacing the swollen wheels, missing headlight, bell and couplers, and it has become one of my "pet engines". The louvers on the side being actually louvers and the countersunk window frames, the brass nameplates, is a step above Marx in tinplate, and I would have never discovered prewar AF O tinplate if it were not for this thread. As far as the mechanical end of things, some light cleaning, a little lubrication..and this 1928 toy ran like a swiss watch ! I could not believe the drive unit was attached to the frame with heavy duty cotter pins, made dis-assembly a breeze. Thanks again !
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
3105 Midsized BoxCab
I thought I would stick with a theme here for a while and introduce another of American Flyer's Midsized BoxCabs. I aquired this example a while ago and haven't gotten around to posting the photos of it.
It was cataloged in 1930 and 1931.
#3014 Midsized Boxcab
In 1926 American Flyer introduced the New Haven Style boxcab electric locomotive. The #3014 was used in the top of the line O gauge sets.
The Greenberg guide lists 3 different variations for the #3014. The 2 examples that I have in my collection do not fit the descriptions, but they are close.
I believe that this 3014 is Greenberg's version (a).
It does my heart good to know that folks are enjoying the information in this thread. Its a lot of fun for me to take the photos, do the research, and then post the information. Thanks for all of the kind words folks.
Collecting the paper associated with American Flyer trains is another aspect of the hobby. One of the best places to enter is by looking for catalogs. They also provide great resources for research, of course as has been mentioned before the catalogs can be very inaccurate. I too think that the art work from this era is some of the best. It still provides the raw materials for dreams.
O-GaugeOscar its nice to see you back. Here is a little incentive to find those other 1936 sets.
Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby Northwoods Flyer
I'd like to echo the sentiments of the posts above. (Unfortunately, I've been away from the forum too long due to work and other events.)
I recently purchased the 1936 AF catalog as my father's "Pennsylvania" set is one of four featured on the cover. (I'd like to purchase the other three sets someday.) What a treat it must have been to get one of those catalogs and an AF set for Christmas during the Great Depression! Sadly, my father passed away in April before I could show him the 1936 catalog.
As others have said, thanks for sharing your wonderful AF knowledge with those interested in this most classic American hobby!
Fantastic!
The work you do to send all this information is very well appreciated by all.
What a golden time it was for all these faboulous catalogs to have been created with all the great artwork front to back. A definite compliment to the toy trains of the day.
Thank you for sharing!
Wow. The fourth and fifth ( in order) are, in my book, the best looking catalog art.. ever.
Superlatives aside, the care that was taken to create that work of art is incomparable to a photograph, which, when I thought about it has a lot in common with vintage trains and the high quality of sturdiness that is evident nearly a hundred years later. Once again, my thanks.
Very nice! Thanx for all that.
Back Covers
My apologies for the above entry. I have run into this problem before. For some reason the software does not like it when I try to edit in photos or text to my own post or someone elses post. The above entry is almost correct, but I can't seem to fix it. I will try again by posting only the back covers of the Catalogs.
1914
Several entries back Mersenne6 posted the covers of the American Flyer Pre War Catalogs. With this entry I am going to play his backup man, or perhaps I should say his back cover man. I went through my catalogs and took photos of the back covers. I'm sure that those back pages fostered as many dreams as the front covers and the inside pages. So this is an homage to the unsung back cover. I am going to edit them into the post that he created.
mersenne6 Now all you need is all the goodies between the covers. Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby Northwoods Flyer Flyer Catalogs There's nothing like an interesting question to make a person go back and take a closer look at reference material...so let's take a look at the catalog art. The Greenberg Guide to American Flyer Wide Gauge indicated their listing may not be complete but it is the best list I have access to. 1907 - The catalog was an 8 page catalog. The cover art has a clockwork 0-4-0 with a #328 tender and three 4 window Chicago passenger cars running on an oval of track. 1910 - An 8 page catalog. Cover art has a steam locomotive #226 on a double track mainline blasting past a dual semaphore mast. 1914 The catalog cover art for 1914 was also used as set box cover art for the train sets of the period. I don't have a picture of one of these boxes but I have seen them 1914 Catalog Cover Back Cover 1915 - A 16 page catalog. Cover art has a young boy jumping excitedly as a train emerges from a tunnel. The same artwork was used on the set box covers for the Hummer Line of trains. Hummer set box cover 1917 and 1918/19 - Same cover art for all years 1918/19 catalog cover 1921 - 1924 - Several versions of catalogs for these years exist. All have a boy cradling either a single steeple cab locomotive or, probably in 1922 and later, a boy cradling a #3020 in his right hand and an "Illini" passenger car in his left. The artwork for the two boys is by two different individuals. My reproduction copy of the 1921 catalog doesn't have quite the resolution needed to clearly make out the name but I've included a close up for your viewing pleasure. In a recent post to this thread Mr. Paeth has identified the artist of the second boy as his father Mr. Louis A. Paeth. The image of the 1922 Flyer catalog cover in the Greenberg reference is definitely the boy holding both #3020 and the passenger car. The image is such that there isn't enough detail to see anything else. On the other hand, the Greenberg image of the 1924 front cover is clear and the "P" signature is easily visible. I don't have a copy of either the 1922 or the 1924 catalogs but I do have the 1925 catalog and the boy is on the back cover of the 1925 catalog as shown below. Also shown is an enlargement of the signature region of the illustration. 1921 Catalog 1921 Artist Signature Enlargement 1925 back cover 1925 Artist Signature 1925 - A 24 page catalog. I can't find a signature on the cover art but the legend below the picture states, "The Twentieth Century on Electric Division-Courtesy of General Electric Co." Catalog cover 1925 1926 has the same catalog cover art as 1925. 1926 Cover Back Cover 1927 - The train pictured and the setting are the same as the cover art for 1925/26 but the artwork has been simplified/modified. For example, the engine numbers have been moved, the clouds have been redone and the semaphore signal in the backgroud has gone from dual blades pointing left to a single blade pointing right. Catalog cover 1927 Back Cover Catalogs 1928-1930 1928 and 1929 feature the top of the line President Special. The 1930 catalog has a steam engine sharing the limelight with the President Special probably as a way to announce the re-introduction of electrified steam engines to the line up. 1928 Catalog Back Cover Catalogs 1931-35 Flyer went to some of the major railroads and received permission to use official railroad artwork for the catalogs in this period. 1931 - The cover art for the 1931 catalog is the same art that graced the New York Central 1931 calendar. The painting is titled "Morning on the Mohawk" it is the 20th Century Limited and the artist is Walter L. Greene. On the bottom right hand side is a small note "Courtesy of the New York Central Railroad." Catalog 1931 Back Cover 1932 - The cover art is the painting from the 1929 New York Central calendar. The painting is titled "Westward Bound in the Mohawk Valley Twentieth Century Limited" and the artist is Walter L. Greene. Again the NYC is credited. Catalog 1932 Back Cover 1933 - The cover art is the painting from the 1930 Pennsylvania Railroad Calendar. The title of the painting is "Servant to the Nation's Industry" and the artist is Grif Teller. The credit at the bottom right states, "Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Railroad." 1933 Catalog Back Cover 1934 - The cover art is the calendar art for the 1928 Pennsylvania Railroad calendar. The title of the painting is "When the Broadway Meets the Dawn". The artist is Grif Teller and the railroad is given credit in the lower right hand side of the cover. 1934 Catalog Back Cover 1935 - The cover art is "Courtesy of the Burlington Railroad" The title of the painting is "Renascence" and the artist is Otto Hake. The painting was commissioned by the CB&Q in 1934 and was the picture for their 1935 calendar. 1935 Catalog Back Cover 1935 artist signature detail Catalogs 1936 - 1941 In 1936 Flyer went with an illustration of the top of the line power in the catalog. In 1937 they used the NYC picture they used on their 1931 cover. The 1938 and 1940 covers were photographs of real trains while 1939 and 1941 were illustrations of trains/sets offered for those years. The 1941 catalog sported the patriotic colors - red, white, and blue. Catalog 1936 Back Cover
Now all you need is all the goodies between the covers.
1914 Catalog Cover Back Cover
Back Cover
1928 Catalog Back Cover
N
Peter,
Let me add my to you to the thread. Thanks for posting the information about your father Louis Paeth and his creation of this iconic advertisement and logo for American Flyer Trains.
Mersenne6 has done a great job with his information about catalog art. He posted some photos of the American Flyer Boy a few entries back. This is the photo that I posted a page earler or so.
You have added a wonderful bit of information to the knowledge about the history of American Flyer Trains. After your post I did a Google search on your father and came across two sites where you posted some information about him and examples of his work. I hope you won't mind if I post those links here so that folks can see other examples of his work. http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/louis-paeth-man-behind-fish-and-feel.html http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/05/louis-paeth-update-by-peter-paeth.html I particularly like the second article that you wrote that links your father to the Milwaukee Road. My home in Wausau is not too far from the route taken by the Fisherman's Special that you mention and my forum name Northwoods Flyer is derived from one of the other passenger trains that ran north to Star Lake - The North Woods Hiawatha. Back in July of 2009 I posted some photos on Sunday Photo Fun of an imagined run of both the Fisherman's Special and the North Woods Hiawatha using period American Flyer trains.
Thank you very much for the time and effort to share this excellent information.
The artwork really is fantastic. To me, the digitally produced artwork of today, pales in comparison to the 'analog' hand painted artwork of days gone by.
I agree with all of you, it really does spark the imagination.....something that is missing in todays advertising.
Wow..what wonderful illustrations and Griff Teller thrown in the mix to boot...Who needs stupid photography? ..I bet these romantic portrayals really got a kid's imagination going.. Get behind the throttle of these awesome machines. Way cool..Reminds me of Christmas Story....that Red Ryder BB gun..With me it was the Xmas train layout at Fields in Chicago..Thanks for recalling those memories..
Interesting note about the Grif Teller artwork. I looked through my PRR references, and voila...there it was. Back in the day, the PRR was considered the 'Standard RR of the World', I don't think they would have minded the extra publicity. Although, it would be an intrigue to find out if there was any type of agreement to use the art.
Too bad those days of big RR are gone and so many tracks removed....we could use them today to 'de-congest' the highways. Funny how that goes....they called it 'progress' to build highways while 'demolishing' RR and trolley lines. Now they talk about putting 'railed' travel back for mass transit, with high expense of course.
I appreciate your and Northwood Flyer's detailed information, your articles are very informative and enjoyable.
The 1933 Flyer catalog cover is a copy of the 1930 Pennsylvania Railroad Calender. The painting is titled "Servant to the Nation's Industry" and it was painted by Grif Teller. When you say "American Flyer Boy" and reference 2008 it looks like you mean the picture of the boy holding American Flyer trains as also shown in Northwood Flyers post on page 45 of this thread. That illustration was used by Flyer on the covers of its catalogs from 1920-1924. A check of the references I have does not give credit to the artist.
Hello-
I was searching through American Flyer illustrations on Goggle images when I came across the illustration of the American Flyer boy you posted in 2008. This illustration, signed with a "P", is a work of my late father's, Louis A. Paeth, who was an artist/illustrator of 1920's and 1930's Chicago. Recently, I saw a listing on Ebay of an old 1933 American Flyer catalog that featured a cover illustration that looked like it could have been painted by my father. When I learned that American Flyer had once been a Chicago-based company, I started searching the internet and came across your posted image.
I'm curious to know of the year of this illustration, what year catalog did it appear in? Also, if you have any other information about any other illustrative works from this era's catalogs, I would be most interested. I'm trying to piece together my father's early art career in Chicago; I'm amazed to find a signed illustration, thank you so much for putting it on the internet!
Any help you could provide would be most appreciated...thank you
Peter Paeth petpa@blackfoot.net
wallyworld,
Thanks for your kind words about the thread. I'm glad that you enjoy it. It has been a lot of fun for me to do the research and post photos about Flyer items. As its title says it has always intended to be an invitation to others to post photos of their prewar Flyer items. Many people have done so, and apparently many people enjoy browsing through its pages. I want to thank you for your contributions to the threads here on the CTT forum. I appreciate your contributions on Marx. I have only one or two pieces, but I enjoy seeing the variety of items that they produced. There are several others who post regularly about Marx as well, and I have learned a lot from all of you, not the least of which is to appreciate Marx equipment and creativity. I might take a stab at writing an article on prewar Flyer for CTT one of these days if given the opportunity. To be honest, I enjoy writing the entries for the thread here. I know that they are read and appreciated. I think it gives greater accessability to the information to a lot of folks who are very interested and also to those who are just discovering that there were trains produced by Flyer before they produced S gauge trains.
Wide Gauge
Narrow Gauge
Kaycee,
Let me repeat my thanks to you for your interest and encouragement. This is my favorite thread on the forum as well. . I'm glad that it has picqued your interest about Prewar Flyer. I hope it has done the same for others. I enjoy other brands of trains as well and I appreciate the information that folks can provide about the history, variations, marketing, etc about them. I have some Lionel in my collection and if you go back through the pages of the thread you will see them listed as well.
Here is a Flyer 43226 on the left and a Lionel 226 on the right.
I made a conscious decision long ago to limit myself to collecting American Flyer, otherwise my house would be more full of trains than it already is. "Limit" is relative I guess when I think of the number of posts on prewar Flyer that I have already done.
Mersenne6,
I think that one of the greatest joys of working on this thread has been to discover other folks who are as passionate about this hobby as I am. Mersenne6 has been one of those folks. He has always presented wonderful photos and information. Your article just above is another example of your great research and insight. I learn more each time you post. Thanks again. I'll be running the Mersenne6 Special tonight.
Wallyworld I vote with you on the CTT article. I would love to see such quality information about prewar AF and other manfuacturers of the era. I believe it would spark interest to those that are uninformed on the subject now.
I started out collecting prewar Lionel exclusively. I have discovered AF prewar along the way. My collection is now a mixture of many prewar trains. They are all interesting and all enjoyable to run on our layout. The layout we have is a wonderful blend of prewar trains and accessories...a nice cross-section of the times.
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