1216 steam engine

Electricity finally came to American Flyer rails in 1918.  Ives had gone the third rail route in 1910 and Lionel had followed in 1915.  The first Flyer electrically powered steam locomotives used the shell of the large #15 clockwork engine.  This style of engine lasted through 1924.  From 1924 to 1930 electrified steam disappeared from Flyer rails and all of their electric trains were pulled by electric outline locomotives.

  According to the Greenberg guide the choice of an electrically powered steam outline engine was a good business move because there was less competition.  Lionel didn't offer one and because of World War I none of the German firms who had been providing steam outline electric trains were exporting trains to the U.S. As for price- the difference between the clockwork and the electric steam engines was substantial.  The 1922 catalog indicates that, for the engine only, the clockwork #15 was $2.25 whereas the electric version (without headlight) was $4.00.  The steam engine with a working headlight was $4.50.

  Greenberg indicates there is some doubt concerning the actual catalog number for these first engines.  The guide indicates the engine without the headlight is #1094 and the engine with a working "headlight" is #1216.

 The treatment of the working headlight is definitely unique to American Flyer.  The headlight was referred to as a "protected headlight" ...and it certainly was. They took the clockwork boiler casting and left the cast iron representation of a headlight mounted on the top of the boiler.  Then they hollowed out the boiler front and installed a stamped steel reflector and a bulb that occupied the entire boiler front area. 

The engines came in a number of different sets which varied in terms of number and types of cars. One #1216 headed up a 4 car passenger set.  

First American Flyer Set

The first American Flyer trains were manufactured by Edmonds-Metzel Mfr. Co. in Chicago in 1907.  The first engine and tender combination looks like the freight engine of the dual train set.  The engine in the dual train set is the second version of that engine.  The first version has 4 thin boiler bands instead of the two broad ones, it has a handrail along the boiler, the overhang of the back of the cab roof is shorter and the connecting rods are a two piece hinged affair instead of the single piece metal stamping. It was manufactured in its first form from 1907-1910.  The second version was made from 1911-1914, and the third, which looks like the second except it has the addition of three rows of rivets around the boiler. The first cars were 4 1/2 inch, 3 window passenger cars with the lettering "Pullman" above the windows and the lettering "Chicago" below them.  The windows were either punched or unpunched.

Clockwork Dual Train Set M20

Over the years the various toy train manufacturers offered high end sets which included more than one train.  One of the earliest entries in this category was Flyer's set M20.  First  year that Flyer offered the set is unknown, but a catalog cut from 1914 indicates the set sold for $7.00 that year.

The set consisted of a passenger train and a freight train.  The engines and cars changed over the years the set was offered.  In addition to the two trains the set has a very interesting track plan.  It consists of an inner and an outer loop connected by two manually operated crossovers or "Double Track Switches" as the catalog termed them.  The inner and outer loops had curved track of different radii.  The curved track of the inner loop makes a complete circle in six segments whereas the outer loop curves need 8 for a complete circle.  Included in the track is an "automatic brake section" which, according to the catalog "can be used with interesting results where our large locomotive is part of the equipment." 

The passenger train in Mersenne's possession has a green 8 wheel baggage and a matching lithographed coach hauled by a "long" and low slung steamer. The freight train consisted of the red 5.5" gondola and its associated caboose. 

3008 boxcar/reefer, 9"

Appeared 1926-29 in the American Flyer catalogue, was lithographed in several different variations (red Baltimore and Ohio, green Great Northern, green Nickle Plate Road, and cream American Refrigerated Transit Company).

3010 tank car, 9"

The 3010 tank car, lithographed, shares its graphics with the equivalent 6" car (American Flyer Lines, grey color). Only the length is different.

9" flat car

Black, has 4 sets of stakes on either side. Load is separate pieces of varnished wood resting on a felt pad, these are held down by "clamps". It was catalogued from1924-29.

9" Gondola (Sand car): 3207

Flyer used several terms to refer to their gondola cars over the years.  They used the term "coal car" in some of their earliest catalogs.  Through the years they used the terms "gondola" and "sand car" interchangeably. Flyer produced enameled versions of the 9 1/2 inch cars from 1928 to 1938. There are several variations. 

The earliest version has two brass plates on each side, one reading "American Flyer Lines", and the other "3207".  The steps at the ends of the car are long, and are actually spot welded to the frame

The other major version has the steps stamped as an integral part of the frame, and has 2 American Flyer Lines decals in place of the plates on the previous versions.

The majority of these cars were some variation of green, although it has been confirmed that an orange variation exists. Rumors abound of a grey sand car, but these have not been confirmed to exist. Any confirmation would be excellent.

9" Sand Car 3007 (gondola): Lithographed

The big 9 1/2 inch litho gondolas of the American Flyer lineup were first offered in the 1925 catalog.  They were sold separately and they were also included in two sets - one in 1925 and one in 1926.  Their last year for sale was 1927.  In 1928 they, along with the rest of the lithoed 9 1/2 series, were replaced with enameled cars with brass plates.  Unlike the enameled series, Flyer never made a matching 9 1/2 inch litho caboose. It was indeed a case of "the little red- 6 1/2 inch - caboose behind (the large lithoed car) train."  There were four differently lettered cars:

Red Pennsylvania Systems

Yellow-Orange Union Pacific

Green New York Central

Red Illinois Central

9" tank cars: enameled

There are a few variations of the 9" tank cars, with 21 being the number at last count. Many of them are differences in trucks or frame color. The major color variations, however, are:

Silver

Green

Yellow

Pea Green (or it might be more like Lionel's Stephan Girard Green)

1112/1116 Automobile Boxcar

The 6" automobile boxcar was catalogued from 1919 to 1934, and featured numerous variations. Originally produced in yellow(ish) and white, the first cars were lettered for the American Flyer Lines. In the late 1920's the design reappeared in red and white, then yellow and black. At some point during production this boxcar was also lettered for the Canadian Pacific (yellow), the NYC&HR (origin of road name unknown) (white), Southern Ry. (green), and the Southern Pacific (also green. Possibly derived from the Southern Ry. lithography designs).

Lithoed 6" tank car 1118

Grey lithographed tank car lettered for the American Flyer Lines, it was produced from 1919 to1934.

3018 6" tank car

My offering this time is for Flyer's O gauge tank cars.   Tank cars were first introduced in American Flyer's catalogs around 1910.  Several different styles, in varying lengths were made through the years. 5 1/2" cars were made from 1910 to about 1914, 6 1/2" cars were made in Lithographed and Enameled versions, 9 1/2" cars were also made in Lithographed and Enameled versions.

The Northwoods Flyer collection contains the following 6 1/2" enamel versions:

Grey with red supports, AF stamped on the right (1930-31)

Grey with blue supports, AF stamped to the left (1932)

"AF LINES AIR SERVICE" tank car, yellow (1934-35). Came with either a black or blue frame.

TEXACO tank car, yellow (1938)

Royal Blue and relatives

In 1940 A.C. Gilbert returned streamlined steam to the lineup with #553 in gunmetal gray (4-4-2)and in blue as #556 The Royal Blue (4-6-2).  The Royal Blue engine was an accurate model of the B&O streamlined engine.  The Royal Blue set also included a whistling baggage car.

4603 Streamline Steam Engine

In 1938 Flyer introduced a PRR streamlined style engine (#4603) with 2-4-4 wheel arrangement.  The engine was sheet metal with a diecast front end and came with either freight or passenger cars.

The same engine, with a different front end treatment, more cut away driver skirting, and a different decal on the tender (the engine tender combination now identified as #419) was offered in 1939 in a freight and a passenger set.  The freight set was No. 403.

Hiawatha: Part One

In 1936 Flyer went after the prototype look with its top of the line Hiawatha passenger set.  The engine also came in a freight set. At the same time they also offered an uncataloged, lithoed tin 0-4-0 version of the Hiawatha which came with either passenger or freight cars.  The 0-4-0 version was made with or without a mechanical whistle that was powered through a gear train connected to the main gearing of the motor.  The engine had either a rounded or a squared rear.  The tender for the engine with the rounded end has a much longer drawbar than the one with the square end.  The lithoed engine was made 1936-1937.

Minnehaha

The second streamlined steam engine made its appearance in the back pages of the same 1935 catalog. It too was describes as an NYC engine.  It is also referred to as the "Minnehaha" because it was part of that particular set.  The electrically powered version is usually lithoed in orange and silver and the clock work version sports a reddish/rose and silver livery. This train was made from 1935-1937 and came in either a two or a three car articulated passenger set or a freight set.

Aeolus

Flyers first offering in the world of streamlined steam was the ill fated No. 9915 in 1935.  The catalog described the engine as being a "New York Central type".  Many collectors refer to the cast aluminum engine-tender combination as the Aeolus because of a resemblance to the CB&Q's engine of that name and some claim the Q's engine was the inspiration for 9915.  The only problem with this is that the Q didn't build Aeolus until 1937.  The reality is that Flyer tried to make an engine with characteristics of the two best know streamlined engines of the day - the Hiawatha and the Commodore Vanderbilt.  The set 1325-RCT was a sales failure and was catalogued for one year only. Like the Lionel Girl's Train of 1957 what was 1935's trash is now 2008's treasure and this engine and passenger set is one of the most sought after of the Flyer prewar offerings.

Type XX (401) Steam Locomotive

The Type XX was introduced in 1934 and appeared again in 1935, It was not in the 1936 or 1937 catalog, but reappeared in the 1938-1940 catalogs.  It was in a number of uncataloged sets in 1936 and 1937, and during several other years.  It spanned the transition from Coleman ownership to Gilbert ownership.

It usually appears as a 2-4-2 wheel configuration, but there is a version that has a gear driven whistel unit that was attatched to the motor.  The whistle takes up the space for the rear truck so it is acurately a 2-4-0.  It came with a low sided tender.  

There is a 2-4-4 combination that consisted of the 401 with nickel trim and the 421 tender. The nickel trim dates it to 1940, the Gilbert era of O gauge American Flyer. A similar one was offered in 1939 with copper trim. The type XX engine also came in an unpowered version from 1940. 

Before the Gilbert take over the engine was known as 4303, and was available in grey or black with the "coffin" type tender. It too had a 2-4-4 arrangement. 

5.5" Sand Car (Gondola) 1109

The 5 1/2 inch American Flyer gondolas were produced from 1914-1935.  The first version was just a simple gondola with plain red sides and no markings.  This style ran through 1916.  In 1917 things began to change first with a brown litho and yellow rivets and then with the style below - the same treatment as the first of the 6 1/2 inch cars. However, as with the 6 1/2 inch cars, things got interesting - litho treatments completely different from the 6 1/2 inch cars, with such road names as Chicago, Milwuakee, and St Paul Railroad (Milwuakee Road), EJ&E (origin road unknown), Leigh Valley, Illinois Central, and Nation Wide Lines, a subset of American Flyer. What my sources found interesting about these smaller gondolas is the emphasis on "Chicago centric" railroads - CM&St.P, EJ&E, and IC with Lehigh Valley tossed in almost as an afterthought.

6" Sand Car (Gondola), 1113/1116

American Flyer was the name if you wanted litho variety for your gondola string.  The mid sized gondola litho started with a "generic" litho in either red or green with the simple label "Sand Car" to one side of the car.  The number 1113 was supposed to be reserved for the 4 wheel version and 1116 was supposed to be reserved for 8 wheels but, as with so many other things about Flyer - whatever was ready for use on the assembly line was used. (This same thing occurs with the boxcars - 1112 was supposed to be 4 wheel and 1115 was supposed to be 8 but you can find the numbers on either wheel arrangement). Soon after, New York Central, Pennsylvania Systems (in both yellowish and a light green), and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy made appearances on the gondolas.

The Bluebird

Allow me to introduce you to The Bluebird.  This is another one of the named trains that Flyer marketed in the late 20's, with its first appearance in the catalogue being in 1927.  It is another 4 unit set consisting of an electric outline engine, baggage, coach and observation.

In the 1927 set I believe that the engine was the 3013, while from 1928-29 the set was headed by the 3113. These were both boxcab electrics, and rather similar from the side. However, the 3013 has a headlight cut into the front and a bell on the roof, while the 3113 has replaced the bell with the headlight.

The baggage car is typically not marked for the set specifically, and does not feature a number. The coach also has no number or identifying name. The observation has no lettering lithographed on the body, but the platform on the rear has a sheet metal drumhead that reads "Flyer Limited". 

Oriental Limited

In the late 20's American Flyer introduced several named train sets that were very popular and which sold many sets.  They show up quite frequently, and as with all of Flyer production there are plenty of variations.  Northwoods has two versions of the train called "The Oriental Limited".  Its a 4 unit set consisting of the engine (either a 3012 (possible limited to 1927, typically has red lithographed window trim) or 3112 (similar engine, but used 1928-29, has blue window trim instead of red) boxcab electric), baggage (reparely identifying name or number on them), coach (typically a Paul Revere name lithographed under the windows), and observation (typically with the name Lexington on the sides). The names have been known to appear on the opposite car, or even both on the same car. 

The Comet

One more example of the sheet metal streamliners made by American Flyer.  This is one called The Comet. It was produced in 1936 only, and never appeared in the Flyer consumer catalog; however, Northwoods has seen reports that it did appear in a seperate train brochure that featured low-end trains.  It is a another delicate train that could have been easily damaged.

Edit:

The Comet has a strong resemblance to the lithographed Burlington Zephyr, and both trains are sheet metal throughout.  However, most but not all Burlington coaches have six windows while Comet coaches always have four.  The set was brightly lithographed in blue and silver, with gray and black details.

Unlike most but not all Burlington power cars, the Comet power car rests on two trucks and can run by itself.  The cars...have only one truck; the front ends of these cars rest on the preceding car.  The train units are linked by a pin on the trailing car that fits into a hole on the preceding roof and by a drawbar on the car in front that engages a pin at floor level on the following car. The trailing car is a curiosity.  It is not an observation car but rather an unpowered version of the power car with only one...truck supporting it.  This simulates the prototype train, which had a power unit and control cab on each end.

The set was brightly lithographed in blue and silver, with grey and black details. "THE COMET" appears on both sides of the power car and the trailing car, while "AMERICAN FLYER LINES" appears in a stripe above the windows on the coaches"

Illinois Central Streamliner

Another of the sheet metal streamliners that American Flyer produced only appeared in the 1935 catalog.  It is known as the Illinois Central Streamliner.  It has also been known as the Green Diamond. Sets are difficult to find in decent shape, usually cosmetic or other problems such as damage by being bent or crushed, just like many of the other streamliners made in sheet steel by American Flyer.  I can just imagine someone stepping on the train by accident under the Christmas tree.

Burlington Zephyr

One of the things that Northwoods enjoys about collecting toy trains is learning the history of the company, the history of the individual piece, and the historical era that the items were produced in.  Flyer, Marx, and Lionel all responded to the factors present in the culture at the time. As a case in point, the first item brought forth from the Pre War era is the Burlington Zephyr produced by American Flyer.  It appeared in the catalogs from 1934 to 1938, in several configurations. 

The first version was cast aluminum, and appeared in the catalogues from 1934-1938. American Flyer also made a lithographed, sheet steel Zephyr that came in either 3 or 5 car versions, but was catalogued only in 1935. The sheet metal version, like all American Flyer stamped steel streamliners, is prone to having been crushed, usually by an errant foot.

Introduction

To my readers,

I collect old trains. Mostly sheet steel O gauge (Marx, Lionel, etc. tinplate), but occasionally other pieces. Most of the early companies are well documented, such as Lionel and Marx, but American Flyer is poorly documented for production before WWII. To solve this shortcoming, a group of Collectors known online as Northwoods Flyer, NationWideLines, and others pooled their knowledge in various threads on O gauge forums.

So all is well, right? Wrong. Due to the nature of these being online threads, organizing them is almost inconceivable, and makes reference nigh impossible. As such, I am going to try my best to organize as concisely as possible the wisdom spread forth by these gentlemen, in hopes of benefitting my fellow collectors. As new evidence comes to light, I will be updating the posts, so keep checking in.

Sincerely,

Andrew