Identification of AC Gilbert made American Flyer #1


sferguson

New Member
I know almost nothing about trains. So I need help. I'm making separate posts for each to prevent confusion.

IMG_0420.jpeg
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Locomotive American Flyer by Gilbert 2.JPG
 
the above photo pretty much identified this loco as an A.C. Gilbert product for me, what else do you need?
 
Pretty rough life it has had. It's not much good as it is except a "Shelf Model".
Don't try to clean it - you will ruin any collectors value - if it has any - doubtful?
 
Pretty rough life it has had. It's not much good as it is except a "Shelf Model".
Don't try to clean it - you will ruin any collectors value - if it has any - doubtful?
I would disagree... slightly.
Don't just go sand blasting and repaint with a brush, but a proper restoration could be a fun a worthwhile project. As for value, that could vary widely. The American Fliers were, if I remember correctly, kind of their own gauge, right? Not quite "O?"

A buddy of mine recently sold his old American Flier train (loco, several cars and track) to a local hobby shop and got a decent amount for it. I think it was around $100 or so, but it was cleaner than yours and ran pretty good. It's not some kind of rare, $1000+ garage find loco, but American Flier trains certainly had their place in history.

As for identification, it looks like a 2-6-4 (or is it a 4-6-4? hard to tell from the first pic) model. A Hudson?
 
I think this American Flyer locomotive was S scale.
 
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I don’t have a way to even test it. How can I measure the gauge?

What’s this 4-6-4 stuff? The number of wheels per ... ?

I also found these in the bunch.
 

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4-6-4 the first 4 means there are 4 wheels in the front (lead) truck, 6 driving wheels and 4 wheels in the back (trailing) truck. S scale equals .885 gauge between rails (the gauge) or roughly 7/8ths of an inch.
 
I also found these in the bunch.
That is an eclectic bunch of stuff. Just because it is American Flyer does not mean it is S-scale. In fact I would say that all of these are HO scale models except for the one loco.

From the picture left to right starting at the top row.
1. American Flyer 4-6-4 (contrast its size to the one shown in the pictures above - same model just smaller size)
2. American Flyer gondola car
3. Athearn HiFi GP9 locomotive with rubber band drive (from the 1960s)
4. American Flyer eastern style caboose
5. A bunch of Marklin European style coaches, and one box car (these look new in box?)
next row
6. American flyer 40' refer car.
7. American Flyer S-SCALE 4-6-4 (the one also pictured separately) Pre-War (I can tell by the two separate wires putting power into the top of the loco). I'm guessing it also has two floating electrical contacts in the center bottom (for 3 rail operation).
7. American Flyer depressed center flat car
8. Total unknown coal tender for some locomotive not pictured.
9. Athearn F7B diesel unit (probably and unpowered one).
10. under it an Athearn yellow box Monon box car shell.
next row
11. American Flyer 0-6-0 swicher locomotive ( one can tell by the bizarrely tapered firebox ). Probably also pre-war.
12. Some toy brand heavy flat. Probably AHM or Linburg from the early 1960s when they use to blister pack them.
13. Athearn yellow box beer car (reefer)
14. Another double door box shell probably also Athearn yellow box.
15. And finally some sort of a Red Ball freight car kit.

But I don't understand the purpose of the question. That would help us give answers that are meaningful. Why are you trying to identify these things? Is this passed on from a parent, so they have sentimental value and you are trying to determine how to fix them up? I would say some of this stuff is salvagable and I think the big locos are probably fixable, but it could be costly. OR Are these not sentimental and you trying to figure out if they are worth anything to sell? The answer to that is probably no. To people who do model trains for running and operating this is all just a bunch of junk. People who collect model trains for the sake of collecting are looking for stuff in good condition with good original boxes. Most of what you have is in very poor to fair condition. For example if the two big locomotives were in very good condition would be worth in the $80 range, twice that if in a good original box. If you could find a collector looking for one, because that is the other problem - they are very common. The more common something is the less it it worth in the collector world. So as they stand you might be lucky to get $10 for both for parts. The freight cars if in very good condition in a very good condition box could fetch up to $30 each. Like this one (click). But broken couplers, dirty, an no box they aren't worth much at all. So depending on the purpose of the question we could help more.
 
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I found them in a garage someone left for me to clean out. They were probably collected from what was being thrown out, of an abandoned home. They were wrapped up in newspaper. Not knowing about trains, they were posted here to find out what they were, good or bad. Now I know they are almost worthless. I looks like they would have been worth something, if they had been cared for or were very unique. I did think they would be useful at least for spare parts.

The measurement of the guage (of all of them) is about 5/8", but more like 16.5mm, so when someone finds this post in 5 years, it could be useful for them.
 
I found them in a garage someone left for me to clean out. They were probably collected from what was being thrown out, of an abandoned home. They were wrapped up in newspaper. Not knowing about trains, they were posted here to find out what they were, good or bad. Now I know they are almost worthless. I looks like they would have been worth something, if they had been cared for or were very unique. I did think they would be useful at least for spare parts.

The measurement of the guage (of all of them) is about 5/8", but more like 16.5mm, so when someone finds this post in 5 years, it could be useful for them.
Yes, some collector might be able to use them for spare parts. I don't know of any American Flyer collectors on this forum. Perhaps a local train store or hobby store could find them a good home.
 



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