The days of setting up my fathers trains in an upstairs bedroom had almost vanished from memory until those trains were transferred from my parents basement to my attic.  My childhood memories of these American Flyer trains weren’t of them chugging around a Christmas tree or in a spare bedroom, but that of a screwdriver in my hand taking them apart in hopes of resurrecting them.  During my first “restoration” of these trains, I was lucky if I could even tie my own shoes, let alone measure the ohm’s across an armature or solder wires to a truck rivet. By this point, you have probably grasped the sarcasm of my first “restoration” and realized that I completely butchered these poor toy train relics. Let’s pray my second attempt at a restoration goes a little more smoothly.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this restoration, I want to clarify that my skill and experience with restoring these great American Flyer trains is absolutely zero.  The knowledge I have acquired thus far has solely been from scraping the internet, watching YouTube videos, joining forums, and talking with people who know and love these trains.  In the beginning, I was doubtful that I would even attempt this project. Gathering information and learning these trains has been a feat in and of itself. I fear the resources and awareness, not to mention the parts, of these antiques are slowly diminishing.  The initial goal of this project was not only restoring these trains to their previous splendor, but also wiping the cobwebs off of the memories I have of them. Since then, I have added a third goal which is helping to continue their legacy through sharing my gained experiences.

When opening that box in the attic for the first time in 25 years, the sight was not pretty. Shells and pieces of two steam engines that I remember taking apart, painting…straight up demolishing, were all over the box. Before I knew what I had, I realized that they were both very similar but very different at the same time. After some online searches I became familiar with the two locomotives, American Flyer #300 and American Flyer #302AC. The main differences between these two are the Choo-Choo (makes the choo-choo noise), smoke feature, and where the remote control unit is located. Regardless of their differences, I thought that these engines were similar enough where I could piece one together from all of their combined parts. I came to realize that is not the case.

Unfortunately, after I acquired the manual, Gilbert American Flyer – Factory Service Manual Parts List and Diagrams Reference Book – S-Gauge Steam Locomotives 1946-1966 from AmericanFlyerExpress.com, I soon realized that I have nowhere near all the parts to complete even one of the engines. After cataloging and inspecting all of the parts that I had, I soon realized that, along with lost parts, I was going to need to replace many of the parts simply due to their age and overall condition.  Between their time in a damp, dark and dingy basement and my younger self destroying them, these trains need some serious help.

The days of setting up my fathers trains in an upstairs bedroom had almost vanished from memory until those trains were transferred from my parents basement to my attic.  My childhood memories of these American Flyer trains weren’t of them chugging around a Christmas tree or in a spare bedroom, but that of a screwdriver in my hand taking them apart in hopes of resurrecting them.  During my first “restoration” of these trains, I was lucky if I could even tie my own shoes, let alone measure the ohm’s across an armature or solder wires to a truck rivet. By this point, you have probably grasped the sarcasm of my first “restoration” and realized that I completely butchered these poor toy train relics. Let’s pray my second attempt at a restoration goes a little more smoothly.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this restoration, I want to clarify that my skill and experience with restoring these great American Flyer trains is absolutely zero.  The knowledge I have acquired thus far has solely been from scraping the internet, watching YouTube videos, joining forums, and talking with people who know and love these trains.  In the beginning, I was doubtful that I would even attempt this project. Gathering information and learning these trains has been a feat in and of itself. I fear the resources and awareness, not to mention the parts, of these antiques are slowly diminishing.  The initial goal of this project was not only restoring these trains to their previous splendor, but also wiping the cobwebs off of the memories I have of them. Since then, I have added a third goal which is helping to continue their legacy through sharing my gained experiences.

When opening that box in the attic for the first time in 25 years, the sight was not pretty. Shells and pieces of two steam engines that I remember taking apart, painting…straight up demolishing, were all over the box. Before I knew what I had, I realized that they were both very similar but very different at the same time. After some online searches I became familiar with the two locomotives, American Flyer #300 and American Flyer #302AC. The main differences between these two are the Choo-Choo (makes the choo-choo noise), smoke feature, and where the remote control unit is located. Regardless of their differences, I thought that these engines were similar enough where I could piece one together from all of their combined parts. I came to realize that is not the case.

Unfortunately, after I acquired the manual, Gilbert American Flyer – Factory Service Manual Parts List and Diagrams Reference Book – S-Gauge Steam Locomotives 1946-1966 from AmericanFlyerExpress.com, I soon realized that I have nowhere near all the parts to complete even one of the engines. After cataloging and inspecting all of the parts that I had, I soon realized that, along with lost parts, I was going to need to replace many of the parts simply due to their age and overall condition.  Between their time in a damp, dark and dingy basement and my younger self destroying them, these trains need some serious help.

The American Flyer Atlantic series engines are in the 4-4-2 wheel configurations, which is a 4 leading, 4 driving, and 2 trailing wheel setup. Gilbert produced seventeen models in this Atlantic wheel layout consisting of 299, 300, 301, 300AC, 302, 302AC, 303, 305 (appeared in the 1951 – #D1637 catalog but not known to be produced), 307, 308, 21030, 21034, 21100, 21105, 21106, 21107, 21160, and 21161. Early on Gilbert invented a model number schema where the last digit explained the features of the locomotives, 0: motor only, 1: choo-choo, 2: smoke and choo-choo, 3: knuckle coupler, 4: whistle, 5: whistle and pull-mor, 6: extended motor, whistle, and pull-more wheels. If you take my 302AC, the last digit “2” denotes my engine has both the smoke and choo-choo feature. The “AC” designates the motor being universal in that it will run on both AC and DC power since American Flyer did have a history of producing some DC only powered motors.

These Atlantic locomotives were provided in Gilbert’s least expensive kits. Gilbert even states in their 1951 catalog, “The lowest priced smoke-puffing train set you can buy, anywhere!”. From my research, I have found the 302AC was featured in American Flyer catalogs from 1948, 1951, and 1952. However, an unclear locomotive body difference between catalog pictures is the discrepancy in hand rails and connecting rods. In catalogs 1948 – D1508, 1951 – D1640, and 1952 – D1667 the illustrations show the 302AC having the differences while in catalog 1952 – D1677 the handrails are part of the cast boiler body and the connecting rod configuration matches my 302AC version. Also, to add to the confusion, some catalogs show locomotives with “302” stamped below the boilers window with the “AC” absent, while the catalog text description states it’s a “302AC”. Regardless of all misnomers, I believe my engine to be from kit 501T: “Atlantic” Three-Car Freight Set with Smoke and Choo-Choo, which was featured in the 1952 – D1677 catalog. This kit contained the rolling stock, as described by the Gilbert catalog, No. 640 Hopper Car, with gray finish, No. 642 Box Car, with red railroad finish, and No. 638 Red Caboose, with complete detail. Two of which I still have in that attic box…