The Story of A.C. Gilbert

[spankybird]

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This is a great video of A.C. Gilbert

[cwburfle]

Thank you for posting this link.
I watched the beginning of the piece.
It seems to be very well done, I plan to watch the rest of it sometime soon.
I read the book "The Man Who Lives In Paradise", which is credited as the basis for the film.

 

[Phoebe Vet]

In my youth, all of my friends had Lionel trains.  I was the only person I knew who had American Flyer.  I chose it because it was 2 rail like a real train.

In my teens I changed to HO, but I will always remember that first S gauge train set for which I had begged for months before Christmas finally arrived.

[wallyworld]

Thanks. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. I grew up with Flyer. The AC Gilbert bio was really interesting.

[marxalot]

Spankybird,

Thanks for this post! Wow, I remember having one of those chemistry sets and several erector sets in the 1950's. Friends had AF trains.  We used to set up collapsing "mountains" of encyclopedia volumes at one fellow's house. The train was seldom ever totally stopped!  I might share the link with a few.......

[Firelock76]

Thanks for posting!  A very interesting story, and this from a Lionel fan!

[AF53]

Thanks Spankybird!

I also grew up on American Flyer and Erector. This was a great video to watch and I learned a few things I didn't know about the man. 

Again, thanks!

[Gray Cat]

Great to see someone put the A.C. Gilbert story to a short video like this. I don't think many people outside of diehard Flyer collectors know what an interesting man he was and the things he had a hand in..

Many an inventor, designer, engineer, doctor, scientist, chemist... ( and more) got their starts with Erector, Gilbert Scientific, Gilbert Chemistry sets and many more of the things that A.C. Gilbert offered to the public.

[Anonymous]

I received my first Lionel electric train for Christmas 1951.  Sears Roebuck had a large Lionel layout in their Ross Ave. store in Dallas, Tex.  I remember holding up three fingers to Santa telling him I want one of the trains with three rails.  My grandparents always shopped at that store so Lionel is what I received.  I don't even know who sold American Flyer in Dallas in those postwar years.  Looking back, I wish I had known about AF.  Though I put a million miles or more on my 027 train, I now see what I missed out on by not getting American Flyer S gauge instead.

Had I seen an American Flyer catalog with the yellow Katy boxcar I know for a fact I would have demanded American Flyer!  This video is professionally produced and goes to no expense to introduce kids of all ages about a brilliant man who founded a great innovative company that produced top quality toy trains and educational products made in the USA by employees who took pride in their employer and the company they worked for as well. 

I imigine most Baby Boomers like myself long for those days again when men like A.C. Gilbert believed in the American Dream and made it happen and listening to Kate Smith sing God Bless America.  A special thank you to the producers of this wonder video! 

[mackb4]

 Great video thanks for posting Tom.

[David Barker]

I am glad I found this thread.  It is tribute to a pioneer for certain.

[Roadmaster]

Don't forget the other tribute to A. C. Gilbert - "THE MAN WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS', a movie made in 2002 starring Jason Alexander and Ed Asner among others.  The technical expert for the movie was Dayton Resident William M Bean aka "Mr. Erector", a recognized authority on Gilbert Erector Sets.  I was lucky enough to bid on & win one of his Lionel 225/2225WX Locomotives on eBay and see his collection when I went to pick up the set.

[stebbycentral]

The author of this film is also the author of a very nice little book on the repair and restoration of classic American Flyer equipment that I believe is still available through Amazon.

The Gilbert American Flyer Operating and Repair Guide. (Third Edition).

Tom is also a regular in the American Flyer Trains interest group on Facebook if you are interested in seeing some of the other things he is up to.

 

[Dave632]

 This is a very informative video on AC Gilbert.' Thanks for posting it..

[nblum]

Thanks, great video.  I lived in New Haven from 1967-1980, and William Glenn was one of my attending physicians as a Professor of Surgery.  The Erector based pump system for heart surgery was gone by then :).  I'm sure there was plenty of Gilbert stuff around and I'm only sorry I didn't have the time and interest to collect some of them in the late 1960s.  Particularly the catalogs I had as a kid in the 1950s.