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Ho Trains Store American Flyer For Sale Used American Flyer New American Flyer

American Flyer

AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR O 1267 TRANSFORMER BOX

AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR O 1267 TRANSFORMER BOX

 $6.00 2h 15m
AMERICAN FLYER #401 STEAM LOCO - LATE 1940

AMERICAN FLYER #401 STEAM LOCO - LATE 1940

 2 $29.95 5h 19m
American Flyer 22090 350 watt Twin control transformer

American Flyer 22090 350 watt Twin control transformer

 1 $49.99 10h 13m
American Flyer Prewar 3 16 Cast Coupler Parts 2each

American Flyer Prewar 3 16 Cast Coupler Parts 2each

- $7.50 10h 41m
30'S AMERICAN FLYER O GA. SET BOX RUNS! From Orig Owner

30'S AMERICAN FLYER O GA. SET BOX RUNS! From Orig Owner

 16 $132.50 11h 18m
Greenberg?s American Flyer Pre War O Gauge Guide

Greenberg?s American Flyer Pre War O Gauge Guide

 3 $37.26 12h 14m
American Flyer 15B Transformer in Box Power Controller

American Flyer 15B Transformer in Box Power Controller

 1 $9.99 12h 56m
Vintage American Flyer S Lighted Lamp Posts

Vintage American Flyer S Lighted Lamp Posts

 - $10.99 12h 57m
American Flyer 342DC Engine &T Nickel Plate Road 0-8-0

American Flyer 342DC Engine &T Nickel Plate Road 0-8-0

 12 $73.00 13h 9m
AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR 561 PACIFIC LOCO TIN TENDER #6608

AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR 561 PACIFIC LOCO TIN TENDER #6608

 3 $51.00 13h 14m
AMERICAN FLYER PRE WAR O BELL RINGING METAL ENGINE

AMERICAN FLYER PRE WAR O BELL RINGING METAL ENGINE

 - $39.99 13h 34m
AMERICAN FLYER PRE WAR O TENDER FOR ENGINE

AMERICAN FLYER PRE WAR O TENDER FOR ENGINE

 1 $19.99 13h 34m
AMERICAN FLYER PRE WAR O 4180 CONTROL PANEL TO RESTORE

AMERICAN FLYER PRE WAR O 4180 CONTROL PANEL TO RESTORE

 $10.00 13h 47m
2 AF # 2 Transformers 75 Watts Good Working Condition

2 AF # 2 Transformers 75 Watts Good Working Condition

 - $9.99 14h 11m
AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR GILBERT #478 & 484 FREIGHTS #6528

AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR GILBERT #478 & 484 FREIGHTS #6528

 - $19.99 15h 9m
American Flyer Wind Train Set with 1107 Cars

American Flyer Wind Train Set with 1107 Cars

 - $50.00 15h 46m
American Flyer clockwork;, Type XII, No.10 , AF 10 on ca

American Flyer clockwork;, Type XII, No.10 , AF 10 on ca

 1 $19.99 1d 1h 50m
45 pieces of two rail American Flyer train track plus

45 pieces of two rail American Flyer train track plus

 4 $22.50 1d 2h 22m
AMERICAN FLYER STEAM PASS SET FACTORY REWORKED O B

AMERICAN FLYER STEAM PASS SET FACTORY REWORKED O B

 $125.00 1d 2h 27m
Vintage AMERICAN FLYER NO 1 1 2B TOY TRAIN TRANSFORMER

Vintage AMERICAN FLYER NO 1 1 2B TOY TRAIN TRANSFORMER

 - $0.99 1d 3h 42m
AMERICAN FLYER MISC. PARTS

AMERICAN FLYER MISC. PARTS

 7 $91.00 1d 3h 44m
AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR O 565 ENGINE 4-4-2

AMERICAN FLYER PREWAR O 565 ENGINE 4-4-2

 $33.00 1d 4h 51m
American Flyer 567 Tender Shell and parts

American Flyer 567 Tender Shell and parts

 - $0.99 1d 5h 59m

Train news

  • TRAINS HISTORY

    Prehistory There have been models and toys of trains for as long as there have been real railways. Indeed some early models of locomotives were made first as sales promotional tools for the early railways, even if they later might have become playthings. During the Victorian period toy and model trains and locomotives fell into a number of categories there were the live steam engines, expensive and only for the wealthy, there were pull along trains in all shapes, sizes and materials, penny toys in lead and tin and latterly clockwork engines. The steam and clockwork engines might be intended to run on the floor, or a simple track assembled by the user, but there was no real sense of system about these trains. Most of these toys were made in Germany. Britain and France tended only to make the better class of steam engine. There was an indigenous US industry, with considerable use of cast iron rather than tinplate. The Real Beginning The defining event in toy train history was the launch by Marklin in 1891 of the first complete system of trains. While the first models were derived from earlier products, what Marklin introduced was a series of standard track gauges, ready to use track sections for those gauges, and a range of locomotives, rolling stock and accessories to match. Now you could have an initial train set, but continually add and expand till your miniature railroad empire was complete - which it never was.

     

    This was of course good for the toy manufacturer, indeed this is possibly the first example of the expanding range, with items at various price points Christmas, birthdays, parents and relations and pocket money sized, which is one of the basic features of most successful toys since.

     

    These first Marklin models were made in three gauges called 1, 2 and 3, logically enough. Painted and soldered tinplate was the main material, and clockwork the driving power. And they were crude. But the range was clearly a great success. So Marklin expanded and improved its range, after a few years adding a fourth, small gauge O. The range of accessories was greatly expanded. Other German toy makers introduced competitive products, most importantly Bing then probably Germanys, and hence the worlds, largest toy maker. Despite the odd divergence these makers generally adopted the same standards as to gauge as Marklin, while developing new production techniques, in particular the use of lithographed printed tinplate, allowing much cheaper and more colorful items, at the expense of some robustness.

     

    By the start of the 20th century other methods of propulsion were being applied too, in that live steam and electric powered models had taken to the toy train rails, though clockwork was still the prime mover. More importantly the first ranges of Marklin and Bing and others were growing and improving each year, and as with the rest of the German toy trade, was strongly export oriented, thus spreading toy trains world wide. The main markets were Britain, France and their empires and the US. Britain had no indigenous toy maker to compete with, nor really had France, but there was home based competition in America. Britain however had something else - model railways

     

    Model Railways

    The hobby of model railways can really be said to have been founded in the U.K. at the start of the Edwardian period. There were already active amateur model engineers, building live steam locomotives and with a keen interest in the real railways. One of the embryo suppliers to this group was a young man, W J Bassett Lowke. He saw the potential of using the German toy trains, particularly the track and mechanisms, with bodies rather more accurate as to prototype and selling not as a toy to children but rather to adult enthusiasts. And he used the services of another young man, Henry Greenly, as a designer of these models. Greenly, among other things, established a system of scales using the Marklin  gauges as the starting point. He also founded the first periodical devoted to model railways. And thus from the beginning the hobby of model railways was in part a toy, and in part the effort of amateur and professional model makers coexisting, sometimes comfortably and sometimes not.

    Bassett Lowke tended to use the services of Bing and Carrette for its own models, but of course once the idea of British outline models was established the German makers started to produce models for sale by other importers, for example Marklin for the Gamages store in London.