American Flyer: Difference between revisions

'''American Flyer''' is a brand of [[toy train]] and [[Rail transport modelling |model railroad]], originally manufactured in the [[United States]].

During Summer, 1942 Gilbert (as were many manufacturing companies) was compelled by Federal wartime restrictions to cease manufacturing (and even servicing!) its electric train and other metal consumer products. It did not again publish American Flyer catalogs until 1946. The manufacturing hiatus offered the company the opportunity to further differentiate theits products from those of the market leaders (by sales volume) Marx and Lionel. By Summer, 1945 it was able to resume limited manufacturing of the 3/16s scale O gauge trains. While it did so, the same sized products were re-engineered to run on much more realistic two rail (with a "T" profile rail) track. The fine detail of the diecast engines, tenders and cars that had debuted in the '39 catalog reappeared. The engines and tenders continued to be made of diecast metal, but the cars' bodies were made out of plastic. Two pages of the spectacular 1946 catalog emphasize the running advantages of the lighter cars. Ironically, they soon realized that they had to add weight. Metal car bottoms & chassis were necessary to prevent the too-light cars from tipping over. The 'link & pin' automatic couplers that had been introduced on the 3/16s O products were reduced in size, with plastic replacing the [[sintered]] metal of the originals. They too, later had metal weights added because they would fail to descend to the locking position needed for cars to couple. The chugging mechanisms of the premium O gauge tenders were redesigned to also generate smoke, which was conveyed to the engines' smokestacks via a black rubber tube that protruded out of the rear of the cab so that it could connect to the front of the tender.

Under the new ownership, the A.C. Gilbert Co. continued to struggle, although the new owners took a more aggressive approach to advertising and marketing than when the firm was headed by the more conservative A.C. Gilbert. It manufactured a wide variety of poorly designed and poorly conceived toys (dolls, racing sets, games) that sold slowly, if at all, and was nearly overwhelmed by store returns of defective merchandise. Gilbert took an especially hard hit when a majority of a poorly designed and manufactured red James Bond 007 slot car racing set flooded back as returns after component failures. [Because of the number of returns, these sets are rare and very collectible, some selling "pre-crash' for an average of $1,000 on eBay]. Additionally, the company sold many of its toy line products to discounters with a "100% sale guarantee." When the merchandise didn'tdid not sell, it ended up back in Gilbert's warehouses. The company discontinued the American Flyer train line in 1966 and finally declared bankruptcy in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shifrin.net/trains/History/history.htm |title=New Page 2 |access-date=2009-07-15 |archive-date=2010-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221131714/http://www.shifrin.net/trains/History/history.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The license to manufacture the track had been held by Maury Klein, whose K-Line brand of 0 gauge trains competed against Lionel in the toy train renaissance of the 1980s and 90's’90s and into the 21st. century. When K-Line fell upon hard times in recent years, it was purchased by Lionel LLC, who then got the Flyer track as well as the tooling for two 0 gauge locomotive designs; the UP Big-Boy and the C&O Allegheny. Both of these engines had been tooled to 1/60th. scale so that 0 gauge operators with small layouts and narrow radius curves would be able to enjoy what would otherwise be behemoth engines. Their closeness to 1/64th. scale, however, made these engines naturals for development into the American Flyer Line, particularly since Lionel already possesses tooling for these locomotives in their 0 scale product lines. After considerable delay the company finally delivered the Big Boy in December 2009. No offering has yet been made as to the Allegheny, though collectors and aficionados hold out hope that a sell-out success with the current offering will stimulate the company to proceed further.

* [httphttps://www.eliwhitney.org/newcatalog/museumcontent/-gilbert-project/-collections/american-flyer-trainswelcome The Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop page devoted to American Flyer Trains], part of the museum's A. C. Gilbert Project