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Notes on American Flyer TrainsThe "American Flyer" Name: In recent years, the name "American Flyer" has been associated with such things as a line of luggage and a film about bicycle racing. But in the mid-twentieth century, it was the brand name of a line of miniature electric trains manufactured from the 1930s until the 1960s by the A. C. Gilbert Company of New Haven, Connecticut, in competition with the more widely known Lionel Corporation. Gilbert also produced other "educational" youth items, such as microscopes, chemistry sets, a Geiger counter, a planetarium projector, and the once famous "Erector" sets.
Early Evolution of the Product: The earliest American Flyer trains were "tin-plate" toys that operated on nominally O-gauge three-rail track. (True O-scale is a 1:48 linear size-reduction ratio of the model with respect to the prototype, or 1/4 inch on the model represents 1 foot on the real thing. Thus, the 56.5-inch between-rail spacing of real standard-gauge track works out to just under 1 3/16 inches in O scale. However, the toy industry standard was rounded to 1 1/4 inches, which is closer to a 1:45 reduction ratio. This makes higher-ratio models that run on such track look curiously undersize and "squatty.") American Flyer's earliest scale models from the late 1930s used a 1:64 size-reduction ratio, or 3/16 inch to the foot, designated S-scale, but with running-gear mechanics adjusted to operate on readily available O-gauge track—so they looked even "squattier" than O-scale equipment. But no one cared. In the wake of the Great Depression, any kid whose family could afford to buy him an electric train set felt damned lucky, and had no grounds for complaint over any aesthetic imperfections.
War Years: World War II put many toymakers, including American Flyer, temporarily out of operation, because critical materials and manpower needed for all-out wartime production could not be spared even for automobiles and appliances, let alone toys. During the war years, Gilbert continued to produce company literature as a public service, to promote public awareness of the wartime need for watchful citizens (including responsible children) to help safeguard the safety and security of industry in general, and of railroads in particular.
Postwar: When Gilbert resumed production of electric trains in 1946, the product line made a dramatic shift. Oh, it was still S-scale (3/16 inch on the model equivalent to 1 foot on the prototype), and still ran on low-voltage electric current. But whereas the company's pre-war toy trains had been set up to operate on three-rail O-gauge track (1 1/4 inches between the outside rails), their post-war descendants would operate on two-rail S-gauge track (about 7/8 inch between the rails), thus finally matching the scale of the track to that of Flyer's rolling equipment, for a uniform linear size reduction ratio of 1:64, and thus far more consistent and realistic proportions. Obviously, pre-war and post-war equipment were incompatible; the two couldn't operate on the same track. However, after a four-year hiatus in the business, there was a new market to be served, a market that included not only young boys, but also their dads home from military service. This new, more critical market wanted miniature trains to look, not like crude toys, but like real trains, only smaller. And American Flyer filled the bill.
First, Flyer's two-rail, scale-width track resembled what real trains run on more closely than did Lionel's three rail track. Second, phasing out clunky tinplate toys in favor of die-cast equipment improved quality, precision, and durability. Third, the equipment was modeled after specific contemporary real-world prototypes—Pennsylvania's class K-5 Pacific (4-6-2) type, New York Central's class J-3 Hudson (4-6-4) type locomotive, Union Pacific's class FEF-1 Northern (4-8-4) type, and so on, with all major pumps, pipes, tanks, domes, rods, lights, bells, and whistles the right size and in the right place. The result was that American Flyer trains actually looked much more like real railroad equipment than did their competition from other producers. A kid who had an American Flyer train could spot a real locomotive or car at a local railroad crossing and proudly cry out, Hey, that one's just like mine!
(Though Lionel also built a few scale models for a limited adult collector market, its mainstay continued to be crude but durable toys that ran on three-rail toy track, and whose resemblance to real railroad equipment was most charitably characterized as nondescript.)Diesel and Electric Locomotives: In 1950, American Flyer introduced its first models of diesel-electric locomotives. One was a sleek Alco PA and PB set decked out in Santa Fe's eye-grabbing silver, red, yellow, and black war-bonnet paint scheme. The other was an Electro-Motive (General Motors) GP-7 "road switcher" in simplified demonstrator attire. The Alco units were decently done replicas of the real thing. The Geep, apparently done "on the cheap," was, to put it mildly, an aesthetic disappointment, with inappropriately sized mechanics borrowed from the Alcos, and other dimensions fudged to compensate. But such difficulties notwithstanding, all of these diesel units were later produced in paint schemes of other railroads, some real and some fictitious. Later in the 1950s, Flyer produced a credible model of General Electric's EP-5 electric loco in black, red, and white New Haven livery. Still later, it produced a Baldwin diesel switcher decorated for Chicago and North Western.
Numbering Schemes: For the most part, Gilbert did not use prototype numbers on its locomotives or cars, but rather marked equipment with Flyer's own three-digit item numbers. Locomotives were numbered in the 200-399 series, and freight and passenger cars were assigned numbers in the 600-699 range. Action cars were assigned to the 700-799 series. There were a few exceptions: the #627 and 628 C&NW flat cars sported car number 42597; the #636 Erie depressed-center flat car bore number 7210 from its prototype's numbering series, but had its Flyer item number printed on its cable-reel load; and the #625 Gulf tank car bore car number 5016 in addition to its Flyer item number.
Here's where things go from slightly confusing to rather complicated. In 1953, American Flyer discontinued its old link-style coupler, replacing it with a more reliable and somewhat more realistic (but grossly oversize) "knuckle" coupler (similar to Lionel's). The old and new coupler types were mutually incompatible, so Flyer changed the numbers for new freight and passenger cars to the 900-999 series. Thus, the link-coupler-equipped #631 T&P green gondola of 1952 was succeeded by the knuckle-coupler #931 T&P green gondola of 1953, and so forth. Likewise, new action cars with knuckle couplers were assigned to the new 800-899 series, and the 600-699 and 700-799 link-coupler series were discontinued. Locomotives remained in their original numbering series, but the "units" digits of their numbers changed to indicate the new coupler type, as well as other features (such as AC or DC operation, puffing smoke, "diesel roar," and the like). In addition, the numbering series for locomotives was expanded to 499, as new road names for diesel equipment came on line. However, it's common to find older Flyer equipment bearing pre-1953 numbers sporting knuckle couplers, because Flyer marketed conversion couplers to update older equipment.
In 1958, all equipment numbers for S-gauge American Flyer were changed to a five-digit format. To my knowledge, unlike the coupler changeover, there was no technological advance spurring this change. It appears to have resulted simply from running out of three-digit numbers for all the new road names. (I haven't bothered to research the five-digit format, since it's outside the era that I'm replicating.)
Gilbert HO: In addition to American Flyer S-scale trains, A. C. Gilbert also produced the Gilbert HO line of toy-quality trains in 1:87 scale, from the 1930s until the 1960s. Most items in this relatively meager line were assigned to the 500-599 series. Gilbert initially produced all of its own equipment. But toward the end, production was outsourced to other HO manufacturers, such as Varney—ironically with significantly improved looks of the product. But it was the classic story of "too little too late." With new model-makers coming into the market and surpassing Gilbert HO's quality, the firm had acquired the "toy" stigma over decades, and one or two years of superior-quality output could not erase the trend from the evolving competition.
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Notes on Plasticville Structures
Plasticville is a line of simple, inexpensive, snap-together plastic building kits, originally produced from 1947 until 1984 by Bachmann Industries of Philadelphia. The initial line was made to 1:64 (S) scale, but with 1:48 (O) scale doors. This clever mixture of scales made these structures visually acceptable for use with either O or S scale toy trains. In addition, the low price made them affordable for young families, and the snap-fit feature made them easy to disassemble and store. (A disadvantage of the plastic is that it's semi-translucent in all but the darkest colors. So, if the building interior is illuminated, some of the light penetrates the plastic, and the exterior walls exhibit an eerie glow.)
When HO scale became popular, Bachmann introduced Plasticville HO, featuring downsized (actually somewhat undersized—about 1:100 ratio) versions of their O/S line, using the same inexpensive materials and snap-fit assembly. (This makes my task of finding HO size duplicates of S scale buildings relatively easy.)
The Plasticville line is now produced by Kader Industries in China. Some structures have been dropped from the line; a few, including built-up non-kits, have been added; and others have been produced in different color schemes. Some of the older Bachmann kits are considered collectible "classics"—provided they have never been painted or glued together, and are in the original boxes. (Obviously, mine are not in this elite category. While customizing and painting may reduce its resale value, that's not a factor for me. My intent is to use and enjoy it, not to sell it.)
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