During my first American Flyer train restoration of my childhood #302AC engine, I did a LOT of research in order to learn what made these relics chug. Through all my Googling, one model kept popping up that I knew I needed. The Northern, or as American Flyer refers to it, “The Challenger”, which is arguably the flagship of the Gilbert American Flyer roundhouse. In addition, when I learned that any three digit locomotive ending in “6” meant a larger motor, I definitely knew I needed a #336 Northern! It’s big, powerful, and sports all the great details of the American Flyer premier engines. I watched eBay for a while, learned what they were selling for, memorized the Greenberg values (most trusted S gauge price guide), and came up with a couple rules, which we will get into later. Even with my constant eBay scraping, I couldn’t find an auction that fit my price range and my rules. Through sheer luck, I found a listing for an estate sale in Connecticut that was auctioning American Flyer trains. With a price that blew all my watched eBay auctions out of the water, my saga of the #336 Northern was born with the bang of a hammer.

The American Flyer Northern series engines are in the 4-8-4 wheel configurations, which is a 4 leading, 8 driving, and 4 trailing wheel setup. Gilbert produced eight models in this Northern wheel layout from 1953 through 1957. My particular 336 has a production stamp of May 1954 on the inside of the boiler. The eight models consisted of 332, 332AC, 332DC, 334DC, K335, 336, 21139, and 21140. 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 336, the last digit “6” denotes my engine has the large motor, whistle in the tender, and pull-more wheels.

These Northern locomotives were provided in Gilbert’s most expensive kits. From my research, I have found the 336 was featured in American Flyer catalogs from 1953 through 1958. The 336 had several different kits that contained both freight and passenger cars.

Back to those rules I mentioned earlier. There are two particular Northern pain points that are common amongst these old engines. With the newbie American Flyer restorer cloud still hanging over my head I planned to steer clear of a train that possessed these ailments. Planned.

More often than not, the number boards at the front of the engine are missing, badly damaged or a combination of the two. This was not a cosmetic issue I wanted to tackle for one of my first projects.

The four tender steps on the corners of the tender frame seem to take just as much of a beating as the number boards. It is rare to find an eBay auction where a tender had all four steps intact. For the rare occasion one did, the price seemed to go up exponential based on the number of steps attached. Once again, a cosmetic issue I wasn’t ready for…or so I thought.

As mentioned earlier, I purchased this train through an estate sale. However, it was not an auction I attended physically, I did my bidding through the internet. The one caveat of this format is the product pictures were very limited. I spent several minutes before the auction zooming in on the bad quality pictures and trying to piece together pixels to ensure it had everything I wanted. The rules.

The number boards are attached, a little bent out of shape, but they are there and fixable.

The auction house did not provide a full length picture of the entire Fireman’s side (left side) of the tender. I would have to overlook rule two and pray they are all accounted for. I could verify that two were intact so why wouldn’t all four be there, right?

With a quick back and forth of four bidders the lot was under way. The starting bid was $80 and in less than 5 seconds the price went up to $170. I figured with the flurry of increasing bids that I had no chance. I was getting a little anxious, I was not willing to pay more than $200. With the auction buyer premium of 19% that would put me in the same range as my eBay auctions and I wasn’t willing to go there. With the auctioneering announcing “Fair Warning” I threw my first bid at $180, closed my eyes, and prayed to Lord Gilbert. With the smack of a virtual gavel I was the new proud of owner of the American Flyer elite steam engine, the #336 Northern! Did I also mention it came with a hodgepodge of rolling stock? With my purchase price of $180, plus the 19% buyer premium, I was in it for $214.20. I was a happy camper.

The day finally came and the giant box of American Flyers arrived. As I frantically unboxed the paper wrapped trains, my anxiety built as I feared the worst about buying an item like this, sight unseen. With the slice of a knife the big beautiful #336 was revealed. This was the first time seeing one of the #336’s in person and the size and weight was impressive. However, as soon as I set her on the table I knew something was wrong, something that I am sure every train expert already caught from the auction pictures. The trailing truck of the engine was missing! I was so caught up in my rules, that I completely missed an obvious detail. While this part wasn’t cheap to replace, it was actually a part that I already had. The American Flyer Hudson line of engines have the same trailing truck and I just so happened to have a beat up Hudson that I was saving for its own future restoration. Anyway, let’s go over the damage at first glance.

1. Rule broken. Of course one of the tender steps was snapped off!

2. The right side valve linkage assembly had a screw where there should be a rivet. This is something I would have never caught, especially since this is my first time dealing with the Northern series. Not to mention, the below par quality pictures would make it difficult for even the season American Flyer veteran.

3. The smoke stack was melted to the boiler frame.

4. Some of the handrails were bent.

5. As mentioned earlier, the trailing truck of the engine was not included.

All in all, the cosmetic state was not that bad. The paint was clean, the markings were in great condition, the wheel insulators and rims were in tip top shape, and the tender pick up wheels looked good enough to suck up power. This engine just needed a little TLC to get all those parts chugging in unison.

Stay tuned and follow along as I tear apart this American Flyer flagship to bring her back to her original glory.

This A.C. Gilbert American Flyer locomotive, catalog number 336, comes from the Northern prototypes with the road name, “Union Pacific” stamped on the tender. The Union Pacific Railroad Company was founded in 1862 and today controls over 32,000 miles of track west of Chicago and New Orleans.

The American Flyer Northern series engines are in the 4-8-4 wheel configurations, which is a 4 leading, 8 driving, and 4 trailing wheel setup. Gilbert produced eight models in this Northern wheel layout from 1953 through 1957. My particular 336 has a production stamp of May 1954 on the inside of the boiler. The eight models consisted of 332, 332AC, 332DC, 334DC, K335, 336, 21139, and 21140. 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 336, the last digit “6” denotes my engine has the large motor, whistle in the tender, and pull-more wheels.

Back to those rules I mentioned earlier. There are two particular Northern pain points that are common amongst these old engines. With the newbie American Flyer restorer cloud still hanging over my head I planned to steer clear of a train that possessed these ailments. Planned.

More often than not, the number boards at the front of the engine are missing, badly damaged or a combination of the two. This was not a cosmetic issue I wanted to tackle for one of my first projects.

The four tender steps on the corners of the tender frame seem to take just as much of a beating as the number boards. It is rare to find an eBay auction where a tender had all four steps intact. For the rare occasion one did, the price seemed to go up exponential based on the number of steps attached. Once again, a cosmetic issue I wasn’t ready for…or so I thought.

As mentioned earlier, I purchased this train through an estate sale. However, it was not an auction I attended physically, I did my bidding through the internet. The one caveat of this format is the product pictures were very limited. I spent several minutes before the auction zooming in on the bad quality pictures and trying to piece together pixels to ensure it had everything I wanted. The rules.

The number boards are attached, a little bent out of shape, but they are there and fixable.

The auction house did not provide a full length picture of the entire Fireman’s side (left side) of the tender. I would have to overlook rule two and pray they are all accounted for. I could verify that two were intact so why wouldn’t all four be there, right?

With a quick back and forth of four bidders the lot was under way. The starting bid was $80 and in less than 5 seconds the price went up to $170. I figured with the flurry of increasing bids that I had no chance. I was getting a little anxious, I was not willing to pay more than $200. With the auction buyer premium of 19% that would put me in the same range as my eBay auctions and I wasn’t willing to go there. With the auctioneering announcing “Fair Warning” I threw my first bid at $180, closed my eyes, and prayed to Lord Gilbert. With the smack of a virtual gavel I was the new proud of owner of the American Flyer elite steam engine, the #336 Northern! Did I also mention it came with a hodgepodge of rolling stock? With my purchase price of $180, plus the 19% buyer premium, I was in it for $214.20. I was a happy camper.

The day finally came and the giant box of American Flyers arrived. As I frantically unboxed the paper wrapped trains, my anxiety built as I feared the worst about buying an item like this, sight unseen. With the slice of a knife the big beautiful #336 was revealed. This was the first time seeing one of the #336’s in person and the size and weight was impressive. However, as soon as I set her on the table I knew something was wrong, something that I am sure every train expert already caught from the auction pictures. The trailing truck of the engine was missing! I was so caught up in my rules, that I completely missed an obvious detail. While this part wasn’t cheap to replace, it was actually a part that I already had. The American Flyer Hudson line of engines have the same trailing truck and I just so happened to have a beat up Hudson that I was saving for its own future restoration. Anyway, let’s go over the damage at first glance.

1. Rule broken. Of course one of the tender steps was snapped off!

2. The right side valve linkage assembly had a screw where there should be a rivet. This is something I would have never caught, especially since this is my first time dealing with the Northern series. Not to mention, the below par quality pictures would make it difficult for even the season American Flyer veteran.

3. The smoke stack was melted to the boiler frame.

4. Some of the handrails were bent.

5. As mentioned earlier, the trailing truck of the engine was not included.

All in all, the cosmetic state was not that bad. The paint was clean, the markings were in great condition, the wheel insulators and rims were in tip top shape, and the tender pick up wheels looked good enough to suck up power. This engine just needed a little TLC to get all those parts chugging in unison.

Stay tuned and follow along as I tear apart this American Flyer flagship to bring her back to her original glory.