[amflyer888]

Hello everyone - I'm new to the forum. I was cleaning out some old boxes of train parts & pieces and came across an AF Burlington Zephyr 9900 loco, baggage car, passenger car. I'd like to give them to a Zephyr collector. Loco is missing the motor and the other cars partial trucks / wheels. The die cast metal is oxidized but otherwise ok. If you know of someone who would be interested, I'll just give them away and ship. I just don't want to throw the set away even though it is pretty rough condition. I have photos avail.

 

[Big Ed]

Hello everyone - I'm new to the forum. I was cleaning out some old boxes of train parts & pieces and came across an AF Burlington Zephyr 9900 loco, baggage car, passenger car. I'd like to give them to a Zephyr collector. Loco is missing the motor and the other cars partial trucks / wheels. The die cast metal is oxidized but otherwise ok. If you know of someone who would be interested, I'll just give them away and ship. I just don't want to throw the set away even though it is pretty rough condition. I have photos avail.

That's a nice thing to do.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Throw it away don't you dare!

I have no flyer's but I am sure someone will take it.

Did you enter the sites contest?

 

[shaygetz]

Very generous first post...welcome to the forum.:thumbsup:

 

[modeltrainhead]

what scale btw


THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICTURES!!!
but i might take it for my brother and i to run it

 

[shaygetz]

what scale btw

but i might take it for my brother and i to run it

It is Pre-war O scale sir...you don't model in it and the work they need is way out of your league.

 

[Rich_Trains]

Amflyer,

You have a prewar American Flyer O gauge set made between 1934 and 1938. It looks like you have pictured the 9910 Power car, 9911 Baggage Car, and the 9912 Observation Car. Please contact me at [email protected] if you're serious about giving it away. I love working on both prewar and postwar American Flyer. I will pay postage.

Rich

 

[tjcruiser]

AmFlyer,

Very generous offer. I do hope the trains find a happy home with someone who will delve into a worthy restoration.

Fingers crossed for all,

TJ

 

[Reckers]

Amflyer888, welcome to the forum: you sure know how to make an entrance!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Please take Rich up on his offer: he'll baby them and make them feel young again.

 

[tjcruiser]

Just for my own model train education, did AF make both tinplate and cast-aluminum Zephyr's in the prewar era? Both O ?

I thought I read that they also made one in the 1960's, presumably S ?

Curiously,

TJ

 

[Rich_Trains]

TJ,

My information (Greenberg's Guide to American Flyer Prewar O Gauge) shows that the cast aluminum Zephyr was only made in the 1930s. They tried two designs, cast aluminum and tin plated steel. The tinplated steel design was abandoned because it was susceptable to heavy scratching. The Zephyrs were offered as a wind up or electric powered. That said I did find a reference in other documentation to a 1321 locomotive, an aluminum colored sheet metal Zephyr listed for years 1935 and 1936, it was also lettered 9900. Greenberg says this was lower cost version of the cast aluminum Zephyrs.

The closest to a streamline locomotive in the 1950s-1960s that I could find was the 4-6-2 Pacific which was called Royal Blue, American Flyer Circus, or Silver Bullet under different incarnations.

Rich

 

[Reckers]

TJ, Rich has it down pat! Those are the only S scale streamlines I'm aware of. You can see Royal Blue's occasionally on Ebay.

Amflyer888, what other scales/gauges do you run?

 

[Big Ed]

TJ,

My information (Greenberg's Guide to American Flyer Prewar O Gauge) shows that the cast aluminum Zephyr was only made in the 1930s. They tried two designs, cast aluminum and tin plated steel. The tinplated steel design was abandoned because it was susceptable to heavy scratching. The Zephyrs were offered as a wind up or electric powered. That said I did find a reference in other documentation to a 1321 locomotive, an aluminum colored sheet metal Zephyr listed for years 1935 and 1936, it was also lettered 9900. Greenberg says this was lower cost version of the cast aluminum Zephyrs.

The closest to a streamline locomotive in the 1950s-1960s that I could find was the 4-6-2 Pacific which was called Royal Blue, American Flyer Circus, or Silver Bullet under different incarnations.

Rich

The distance between the wheels almost look like S gauge?
But I know nothing about AF.
Rich if you get them and fix them up do a thread on the process, OK?

 

[tjcruiser]

My information (Greenberg's Guide to American Flyer Prewar O Gauge) shows that the cast aluminum Zephyr was only made in the 1930s. They tried two designs, cast aluminum and tin plated steel. The tinplated steel design was abandoned because it was susceptable to heavy scratching. The Zephyrs were offered as a wind up or electric powered. That said I did find a reference in other documentation to a 1321 locomotive, an aluminum colored sheet metal Zephyr listed for years 1935 and 1936, it was also lettered 9900. Greenberg says this was lower cost version of the cast aluminum Zephyrs.

Rich, Reck, Ed, AmFlyer

Thanks for the info. More info from my end ...

1. Here are some very crisp, clear photos of the AF prewar ALUMINUM O Zephyr, showing nice details of each car from several views (top, bottom, etc.). Could be helpful for restoration work ...

http://www.dakotapaul.com/items/showitem.asp?iid=89

2. Here's a current ebay listing of what appears to be the AF prewar TINPLATE O Zephyr:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350384536300

3. Wikipedia (which is not necessarily a definitive source) says:

"American Flyer produced a ready-to-run Pioneer Zephyr model in S scale (1:64) in 1965."

That Wiki cited source goes on to reference:

"AMERICAN FLYER #20811, The Pioneer Zephyr 600 Set, 1965, #21165 loco w/tender, 3 cars"

Rich, Reck ... does that 1965 S Zephyr ring a bell with you guys? (Maybe the Wiki source is wrong?)

4. Did you all know that a near-clone of the Zephyr is being restored in Lincoln, NH ... the "Yankee Flyer", also built by Budd, in 1935:

http://www.flyingyankee.com/index.html
http://www.flyingyankee.com/history.html

I saw her earlier this summer. She's in a protective tent, with lots of active restoration work underway.

Thanks,

TJ

 

[Big Ed]

Rich, Reck, Ed, AmFlyer

Thanks for the info. More info from my end ...

1. Here are some very crisp, clear photos of the AF prewar ALUMINUM O Zephyr, showing nice details of each car from several views (top, bottom, etc.). Could be helpful for restoration work ...

http://www.dakotapaul.com/items/showitem.asp?iid=89

2. Here's a current ebay listing of what appears to be the AF prewar TINPLATE O Zephyr:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350384536300

3. Wikipedia (which is not necessarily a definitive source) says:

"American Flyer produced a ready-to-run Pioneer Zephyr model in S scale (1:64) in 1965."

That Wiki cited source goes on to reference:

"AMERICAN FLYER #20811, The Pioneer Zephyr 600 Set, 1965, #21165 loco w/tender, 3 cars"

Rich, Reck ... does that 1965 S Zephyr ring a bell with you guys? (Maybe the Wiki source is wrong?)

4. Did you all know that a near-clone of the Zephyr is being restored in Lincoln, NH ... the "Yankee Flyer", also built by Budd, in 1935:

http://www.flyingyankee.com/index.html
http://www.flyingyankee.com/history.html

I saw her earlier this summer. She's in a protective tent, with lots of active restoration work underway.

Thanks,

TJ

Thank you TJ........but I didn't do anything, I no little about AF's.


What happened to the carriage houses?

Did you forget?

 

[tjcruiser]

Dohh! I did forget! Thanks for the reminder ... will post some pics tomorrow.

 

[Big Ed]

AMfler888 was back replying to the post as you and I were posting the last posts here.

Now he left without posting anything?

I think he changed his mind about giving them away!:laugh:

 

[Rich_Trains]

Amflyer - Thanks for your generosity. I sent you my shipping address and look forward to receiving the cars. I am already checking parts sources for the restoration project.

TJ - The Pioneer 600 set is one of the All Aboard sets produced in 1965-66. All Aboard sets were ready to run sets including plasitic panels with tracks and wiring already mounted. The sets included scenery such as roads, buildings, signs, as well as the trains. Here is a link with more information;

http://www.trainweb.org/allaboardsets/

I don't remember zephyr being part of the set name. I think the Wiki cite may be confusing the Pioneer name of the set with the Pioneer Zephyr name of the train. The 21165 (type II) locomotive were one of the last ones made by Gilbert at the time when they were experiencing serious financial problems. It was a 2-4-0 steam locomotive of the Casey Jones Game Train type, and the quality was way below typical Flyer locos.

I'm planning an east coast trip next year and after seeing the link to the Flying Yankee project will definitely have to consider a side trip to Lincoln, NH.

Big Ed - I will document the restoration process and create a thread, good idea. Your comment about the distance betweeb the wheels got me thinking (always dangerous)....if I have a lot of trouble locating parts for a proper restoration, what is the possibility of converting it to S gauge? Only a thought!

Rich

 

[Reckers]

TJ,

As usual, Rich is right. AF produced several black steamers towards the end that were included in sets with colorful names like Pioneer Zephyr, but were your basic 4-4-0 Atlantic. As Rich pointed out, the company was struggling to survive at the time, since slot-racing was the rage instead of trains. A.C. Gilbert, the guiding force of the company, had passed away and the company was mismanaged. Quality suffered as they tried to make cheaper and cheaper trains to stay competitive: molded-plastic solid couplings and tab-and-slot construction of locomotives were notable deficiencies. The latter are very difficult to disassemble for maintenance. The game-train Rich describes consisted of a game board and pieces with a circular track and short train.

 

[tjcruiser]

Rich, Reck ...

Thanks for the info and links on the 1965 set ... I think your comments confirm that Wiki was wrong / confused in it's statement.

Rich -- Though I think the Yankee Flyer restoration is a stand-alone project, the work is being done on the site of the Hobo Railroad in Lincoln, NH.

Thanks!

TJ

 

[amflyer888]

Zephyr is on the way to Rich_trains. I appreciate everyone's help. My time is extremely limited right now. I'll update my profile when life slows down after Labor Day.