AMERICAN FLYER TRAINS - Will these vintage trains run?!

[@GleanerS97]

I was five or six on a Christmas morning a long time ago. My grandpa and grandma bought for me a used American Flyer Silver Bullet link coupler train. It was nailed down in a figure 8 pattern on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. I still have it along with all of the great memories it made for me. Thank you for sharing your video.

[@dathyr1]

That was the first train set I had was American Flyer and was allot of fun as a child, and i had the rubberized roadbed for the track and some accessories. Then got rid of American Flyer trains, and when I grew up as a teenager, I went into doing an HO layout in my basement.

[@nh_highlander1985]

I have a bunch of AF my father passed on to me plus I have added more AF stuff from the 40"s, whistling billboard and such. Simplicity was the key and it is all fixable. Welcome to the American Flyer World of S scale.

[@josephschuster1494]

This is the exact AF set my father bought for me in 1952 (the 4904T set) when I was only one year old. You’ve acquired a mint set, complete with track, transformer, and instruction books, a true find! Lucky you! 🚂

[@sodanotrains]

Dude what a cool set for under your tree! Fun stepping back in time!

[@scottfrezza3573]

Pretty cool to see some of the older stuff in that condition!!

[@robertestep7017]

Just got my father's 1935 Burlington Zephyr under power again. Probably hasn't been run since 1970. Looks great under my sons Christmas tree!

[@ianwilliams9068]

Xmas never gets much better than this..!!!

[@alanb287]

Nice job on the cleaning, it runs great! And that's without having to clean the track.

[@AustinsAmericanFlyertrains]

You have a very nice, complete set. Looks to be in fantastic shape...almost no play wear. The set uses link couplers. American Flyer switched to knuckle couplers in 1954. When you opend the automatic uncoupler there was an odd piece in the box. Thhat piece goes with the gear on 644 crane. The terminal clip in with the tranformer is correct for S track. The chord for the tranformer needs to be replaced. Ive posted a chord replacement of this transformer if interested. The wrap is correct for the engine. These are wonderful engine,...simple but strong pullers. Smoke fluid is fluid and you want to use the funnel to add a few drops with out making a mess. The reference to not moving the wheels is because early Lionel engines did not use worm drive so they could be pushed without damage.

[@realtoytrains]

Thanks for all the great details, I really appreciate it!

[@angeloavanti2538]

We had a nice Flyer layout. Great find. Keep it. Change the couplers to knuckle, came out in 1952 I believe. Easy to do. Yes, I remember the locos came wrapped in the corrugated. Also we would squirt a little WD in the stack, put it on the bench and run the loco until it smoked. Cleans it if its heating up.

[@larrydrozd2740]

My Flyer set used to go from forward/reverse just by stopping and starting quickly. Thats why its was reversing when the pickup wheels were dirty. I liked American Flyer for the fact it didn't have the third rail.

[@rogertrudeau4169]

The smoke came in little soft plastic like kind of a ampule . You just nipped of the end and squeeze a few drops in the stack! About the early fifties our parents surprised us with one just like you have for Christmas morning .

[@FunAtDisney]

I love it! It runs remarkably smooth.

[@jimmelchin1531]

3:17 My brother had a Flyer set back in the '50s. I believe that smoke cartridge is a wick that was used for the smoke. It somehow would get heated up. That set is a incredible find. 👍

[@christopherguss199]

WHAT'S A CARTRAGE????

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

I'm not a big Flyer expert by any means Brian but I have picked up some knowledge from the Flyer collectors in the club I can pass along. Those link couplers place the set sometime in the immediate Post-War period, say 1946 to the early 1950s when Flyer switched to knuckle couplers. That "choo-choo" sound is absolutely correct, in fact it's synchronized with the smoke output. The smoke unit most likely needs repair, it's quite a bit different from the Lionel pill units. I'm sure you can find some KZbin videos showing you how it's done. No doubt you've figured this out already but Flyers will run off any AC transformer, it doesn't have to be one of Flyer's own. I'll tell you, I'm not a Flyer guy but If I saw that complete set somewhere at a decent price I'd be VERY tempted to grab it myself, even if it only came out once a year for a table-top Christmas layout! (I bought a Pre-War Lionel tinplate O Gauge set for the same reason! Not a tinplate guy but the set was a steal and it looked cute as a button!) You've got a good one man! A real time capsule of a set! Congratulations!

[@shakes7333]

Cerwin-Vega my all-time favorite 👍 Sorry had a squirrel moment. That old train set is pretty cool.

[@richardjohnson5979]

The best part of the video is the talent at the end. Your daughters (?) are beautiful!

[@realtoytrains]

Yes they are amazing two girls! Love helping daddy! Thanks for the kind words 😉

[@alanb287]

The pipe cleaner is for cleaning out the smoke stack. The uncoupler uses an electromagnet to push up the metal splines up to open the uncouplers that are positioned above. That other part is the counterweight for the crane car.

[@8avexp]

Lionel used magnets on their couplers. Gilbert did not.

[@turdferguson4124]

@@8avexpThe American Flyer uncoupler used a solenoid (electromagnet) to push up on the weight of the couplers to open them. The uncoupler in this set was in the small yellow box. The couplers themselves were entirely mechanical on AF (no coils as used on early postwar Lionel).

[@8avexp]

@@turdferguson4124 OK, you were referring to the uncoupler. Sorry, my mistake.

[@chrispompano]

Wow.....I can't believe your vid came up on my YT Home Page & I don't even watch train vids for many years! After your vid I went to look at my American Flyer my grandparents bought my father in the 40's-50's in Pa. Engine #302 Reading Lines 4/4/2. Hasn't been run in 25yrs until I fixed it myself as it always had problems & bad service in the 70's when I was a kid & it rarely ran, so I bought parts from the Ft. Lauderdale Train Show, like a replacement worm gear & re-soldered the troublesome terminal board & it finally ran on a test track, so I just displayed it on a shelf for the past 25yrs. I only have the original plain Engine box. All other pieces are in storage like the Logging Car, Box Car, a lighted Caboose, Train Station that I think whistled but wouldn't & Water Tower that would electrically dip the filler, but it didn't work either...... Just a thought, do you train guys use the Deoxit line of contact cleaners & gold contact enhancers for electric trains? Expensive stuff used for high end electronics.... Also, has anyone ever used Caster Oil for smoke? Used in race cars as fuel lube additive & smells really good when burned in race engines as a top cylinder lube. I bet Caster Oil was also used as model train smoke....instead of mineral oil, or maybe a mix. Loved your 2 little Co-Hosts at the end! They'll take care of your trains when the day comes & you have grandchildren.

[@ronalddevine9587]

If I may exhibit some local pride, New Haven made the best toy trains. Flyer had the best smoke, excellent choo choo sound, and I invite you to come to New Haven for the BEST pizza in the world. BTW, the A.C.Gilbert factory is still standing. If anyone is interested, it's on Peck Street, between Ferry and Blatchley.

[@Earl-n9l]

When I was a kid, I got an American Flyer train set for Christmas one year. This was late 50’s.

[@Roger.Coleman1949]

Amazing to see this, the engine 290 is identical to the one I have here in the UK , brought back from The States by my dad in 1955.They do indeed deliberately make a chuffing sound, in the tender is a loudspeaker for a remotely operated ' whistle ' chime . I had a box of the ' smoke ' vinyl sachets , a few drops were put in the smoke stack , when these ran out we used liquid paraffin ( probably a different term in The States ! ). When last used more than 50 years ago , the forward/ reverse mechanism in the tender became a little internittant but could be controlled remotely, a sort of solenoid mechanism . I also have the red cabose I think you call it - utter nostalgia !.

[@ronalddevine9587]

Lionel used pellets back then. Gilbert always used cedar scented liquid. Flyer always had the best smoke. That funnel was to help put the smoke fluid in without spilling.

[@willamettevalleyAFtrains]

The 4904-T set came out in 1949 and was also sold under the same number in 1950. 290 loco with 640, 639, & 638 freight cars. You have all the correct set components. Someone has added the 644 crane car. The "T" in the set number indicates the transformer was included. Those black 75 watt transformers do not have an internal circuit breaker. I would not use it. Find a good 100 watt transformer like a 4B The "B" is for internal breaker.

[@traindavid]

Circuit breaker is easy to add, the 2 or 2B is a great transformer--I would use it!

[@vanvorst1999]

Cool... Cool... Cool... Cool... Cool... Cool... Cool... Cool! 😝

[@realtoytrains]

Comment of the year 👆🏼

[@markchodroff250]

I have all my American Flyer trains that my father bought me back in the 1950’s being 75+now , I cleaned them all,up about 10 years ago , being a mechanic for 50+ years I went over all the motors and rewired them , a Pacific 2/6/2 and Hudson 4/6/4 two diesels , 3 passenger sets loads of freight and box cars and boxes of track with electric and manual switch’s , trestle system and so much more . Watching you open the boxes I have all the same things but not the boxes , my father used to,take me to The Gilbert store in Manhattan to see the trains , erector sets, and so much more a part of my youth, which so many boys should have today that is now missing from our society .that set looks like the less expensive set , my steam locomotives are more detailed and the coal looks much better and I have stainless steel hand rails on my locomotives, my box car doors open and my cabooses better detailed, I guess there were different types and prices of trains ? P.S. I used 3 in 1 oil down the stack for smoke and the smell was Unique

[@dennisosborn5589]

Cool Steam Engine Set! My 1st Train is the 290 Steam Engine Set with Knuckle Couplers. The Couplers are Gravity Locked, both Linkage & Knuckle Couplers. The Knuckle Couplers have a Weight to Keep the Coupler Closed. Weight lifts up it opens up.

[@realtoytrains]

Thanks for sharing about your set!

[@chiconian49]

Gilbert made some great trains. I'm a Lionel and Marx guy. Once you understand the theory of operation, they are easy to repair and maintain. I have a few prewar set that are 3 rail O gauge.

[@timlabell]

The funnel is there so that you can put oil into the engine so it will puff smoke like the real thing. It's amazing that funnel has survived and stayed with the train set. Very Nice old train set.👍

[@Guytrains]

👍thumps up on the flyer

[@johncliver5020]

You can put the same smoke fluid that you use for the O scale engines in the stack. I have some AF and new and old Lionel and use the same in everything. Put like 10 or so drops in and turn the voltage on the transformer up high and see if any smoke starts coming out. If no smoke than something needs to be fixed. The headlight also looked out to me in the video. If you have a replacement bulb put it in and see if it works. If the new light still doesn't work you may have a loose wire inside the engine. The smoke unit and headlight get power from the same wire.

[@davidjohnson4918]

I Have A Beautiful American Flyer Custom 1 of A Kind Blue Comet SteamLiner 3 Piece Set Came Out Of New Jersey 🇯🇪 VERY WELL DONE AND LOOKS AMAZING I WISH I COULD POST A PICTURE 📸 📷 OF IT...HAPPY RAILROADING

[@richardsobieck9660]

I bought a copy of that 2nd book you have in a drug store around 1969. It rekindled my interest in model trains. I still have it somewhere although the cover sheet has been gone for many years.

[@Kparc1212]

The original cost for that set in todays money would be over $300

[@american23t]

Coming with that $300 dollar inflationary price. Sales tax back in the day was 2.75%... As opposed to the sales tax of 6.75% today. The sales tax amount of $20.25 today roughly equal to the original retail price.

[@Kparc1212]

@ But today the quality would be so much better than the American Flyer sets.

[@plunkervillerr1529]

Marx guy here, you don`t need the coupling on rear of caboose, use it on the Crain Car.

[@FunAtDisney]

The fact that the engine has a worm-drive is very impressive. When it comes to power saws (circ and table saws) the better more pro ones use worm drive.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Great video !

[@realtoytrains]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@BakerBranson]

I had the same one as a young child. When you opened up power pack. Wire goes to small piece than clips to track. There was a small plastic bottle with liuid thatmakes smoke smoke

[@davidd.perata2085]

My dad always looked down on Lionel because of the "unrealistic" third rail. I think that Lionel made more detailed and realistic products. I believe to reverse the engine you turn the transformer handle all the way to the right, back down to zero position and on again to your desired speed. The uncoupler works by electric magnetism. When power is applied to the magnet on the uncoupler, the magnet is energized and it pushes up on the coupler link pin and it uncouples. I think I had that locomotive with the Elesco feed water heater on the front. Flyer made a conversion kit for the link and pin coupler to a magnetic knuckle coupler.

[@realtoytrains]

Thanks for the information, very interesting!

[@flypaper2222]

@@realtoytrains As a kid back in the 50's I felt the same way as your Dad....American Flyer RULES!!!!

[@DennisMurphey]

I have had my share of new in the box Flyer. It seems to depend on Moisture, Corrosion gets the fingers the worse but a light sanding usually wakes it up. Clean all pick up wheels, tender, caboose, action cars. And if you have smoke on it put in the 8 drops of smoke oil. If you have ohms meter check the wires for continuity from track to action point, lights, solenoid or reverse unit. The track will need a scuff with Scotch Bright, Even clean track can get a film of stuff that insulates power transfer, do it! then wipe with old t shirt. Wiring is staight forward. But i had a Jeweler bring in his Lionel Engine that would not run He brought the engine, the track and transformer. He was so proud he remembered who toi wire it up. Upon inspection i found no juice to the track section. I checked the transformer at the terminals to find full power. Removed the wire to see all the insulation was still on all the wire to the end. I peeled the insulation and it all fired right up. No Charge. D

[@avlisk]

A linn Westcott sighting (2:37) brings back memories for me.

[@IntergalacticDustBunny]

Adjusted for inflation, that $23 on the box would be around $300 in today's money, so yeah, $23 sounds cheap to us modern people but it really wasn't at the time, definitely not kids toy prices.

[@garysprandel1817]

Geeze that set is near NOS. That second book was published by Kalembach Publishing to promote the hobby as well as promote Model Railroad magazine

[@jamiemorgan4146]

Brill Cream- “ a little dab will do ya” !

[@TapscottJ]

Cool!

[@johnschultz9023]

Some people posted complaints about your talking and the music. Don't change a thing. The video is just fine !!!!!!!

[@realtoytrains]

John, thanks so much for the kind words! I try my best with these videos, and there is a lot of editing and work that goes into them. I appreciate these nice comments.

[@MarkWick]

I am a Flyer guy and was practically drooling all the way through this video. You probably already know to take good care of the boxes, they add a lot of value. That is an interesting chunk out of the locomotive, but I have created a missing pilot for one of my 290s, and the same could be done there. I used JB Weld. In addition to what you did to prep it for running, I would add some white grease to the main gear which you can access by removing the plate on the underside of the chassis but removing one screw. Adding a dab of oil on the vertical pivot points of the couplers will help them to work well. You already have the remote uncoupler which clips under the rail. Use the instructions in the manual to wire it to the control button and a transformer. If you get American 1Flyer equipment with the later knuckle couplers, that uncoupler also operates those. You can get replacements for the broken coupler. I recommend also getting the kit which helps to remove the metal pin to remove the broken link and add the replacement. That crane, in those colors, is fairly rare so that is a great addition to the set. Look carefully at the car, in the center of the undercarriage, where it hangs low. There is a moveable bar that can be pushed out of either side to steady the car when the crane is turned to either side and is lifting weight. I had one of these cranes years ago and had the one I have now for a couple of years before I discovered that bar. I haven't found anywhere where American Flyer even said it is there, much less promoting it. Yes, the cab should rotate. This video kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6Kum6Z9iKmbgtksi=tCjP9GBNjeBk0Jmf will show you pretty much everything you need to know about that locomotive. The only difference between a 293 and your 290 is the trailing truck, and a red plastic tube inside the smoke stack and white paint inside the smoke stack. Be sure to keep smoke fluid in the smoke unit so you don't burn out the wick.

[@8avexp]

$22.00 was a healthy sum of money back in the 50s. There's no way my father could have afforded some of the boxed Flyer sets I've managed to acquire over the years. I still have my 20705 Pioneer Flyer Casey Jones set that I got for my fifth birthday in 1961 and the original box still has an $11.88 price label on it.

[@realtoytrains]

It’s so amazing how something from that long ago can be cleaned and tuned up to run like it’s brand new. Now some of our trains right out of the box are already broken…. Great insight, thank you!

[@8avexp]

@@realtoytrains Gilbert's Flyer trains were built to last. I was born in '56, which many people regard as Gilbert's golden year.

[@Prewarpostwaramdmore]

Order some book repair hinge tape and some clear acid free tape and tape those boxes back together from both sides.

[@realtoytrains]

That’s a great idea! Never would have thought of that. Thanks!

[@MoJoeShoMo]

I grew up using a Lionel set that my father bought in the early 50s maybe. He said the set cost $40.00. He was making that a week so he said they weren't cheap. Could the coupler on the rear of the caboose be transferred to the crane car? Also, did you lubricate the wheels on the rolling stock cars as well?

[@robbrown3519]

My smoke things were a soft thing that you had to cut the end off of and squeeze liquid into the engine. - 1952

[@ThomasDonaldson-b6m]

My Dad had both American Flyer and Lionel , when he and my Beloved Mother were first married my Dad and Mom worked together to place A putz under each one of their Christmas Trees it was also Z part of my life in A way these trains were in wooden packing crates kept under our basement stair case on A palet of cender blocks, the big Lionel set finally saw the light of day Christmas Eve 1981 and I was 18 years of age, it was A magical experience, I like big trains better then HO trains.

[@realtoytrains]

What a great story!! Love to hear comments like these. Thank you.

[@KS-cp6bj]

Josh Topper has a video operating a real crane like this.

[@jackmalvern2394]

You could take the coupler off the back of the caboose and use it on the crane car. But I bet you new that.

[@realtoytrains]

That’s actually a great idea that I never thought of! Thank you!

[@jackmalvern2394]

@@realtoytrains I do HO and my santa fe caboose only has a front coupler. No idea what I did with the back one. Also, can't believe I misspelled knew. lol

[@dougstewart9093]

I could be misinformed but I beleive TT Scale meant "Table Top"

[@silverbullet7434]

It looks almost like my train set my transformer is oval tho hut the boxes. look identical. Included the rolled up engine coal car mines from about 1958- 1960

[@realtoytrains]

I'm going to have to check that out!

[@Chillingandgrilling4449]

Isn’t that a S gauge engine?

[@realtoytrains]

Sure is.

[@RichardBough-yk2ei]

Please no music want to hear you talk thanks for sharing

[@AustinsAmericanFlyertrains]

The track is dirty. Crc is your friend. I've got tons of repair videos if I terested... Austin American Flyer

[@realtoytrains]

I agree! I should have cleaned it before I ran it! I will have to try some CRC.

[@NormanAllen-ps9ju]

I got tired of waiting for you to stop talking !

[@realtoytrains]

Ahhh my Italian curse 🤌🏼🤌🏼

[@elliotwelz9793]

You gotta STOP using the word cool so much . Go back and count how many times . That only happenes with grade school dropouts .

[@realtoytrains]

You must have watched the whole video, now that’s cool!

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

@@realtoytrains 🤣🤣🤣!

[@realtoytrains]

@@wayneantoniazzi2706 can’t beat em, join em 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣🤣

[@turdferguson4124]

You must be really insecure.