American Flyer S Scale Stock Cars
Gilbert made only 7 distinct stock cars, some of which had multiple variations.  Lionel has made four more up to 2008. All are shown on this page. 

Unless otherwise specified, the large pictures on this page are of cars in the collection of The Upstairs Train.

Many of the cars made between 1946 and 1953 came in multiple variations.
This is the open slat version of the #629 Missouri Pacific Livestock car with diecast frame.
Forgetting that I already had one, I bought another open slat #629 with diecast frame.
#629 Missouri Pacific Livestock car, darker red, with closed slats and sheet metal frame.
You can't tell the difference from the side, but from the bottom the difference is pronounced.
Diecast frame above and sheet metal frame below.
#736 Operating Stock Car made from 1950-1954.
It came with the #771 Stockyard.  Cows enter one door and emerge from the other.
(Photo courtesy of Diana Mahouski.)
The other side has a single door.
(Photo courtesy of Diana Mahouski.)
The very earliest, hardest to find, of the 1952 #929 Stock Cars had a riveted coupler.
The rear wheel has been removed to make rivet visible.  (Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
#929 Missouri Pacific Livestock car. Mine is the more common closed slat version.
#929 Missouri Pacific Livestock car. This is the rare open slat version.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
#976 Operating Stock Car (made from 1953-1962) that came with the #K771 Stockyard.
It is the later knuckle coupler version of the 734 above.
#994 Union Pacific stock car made in 1957.
(Photo courtesy of Rick Dunn.)
The 5-digit version of the 994 is the #24076 Union Pacific stock car made in 1958-1966.
There are many variations of this car.  The earlier versions like mine had knuckle couplers.
The later versions had Pike Master couplers.
(From the collection of my firend Joe Philippson)
The last of the Gilbert stock cars is the rare 24077 Northern Pacific Pig Palace made from 1959-1962.
This one has knuckle couplers.
(This is a picture I took of a car in Jack Larson's collection.)
It was also made with Pike Master couplers.
(Photo from an ebay auction by Marty's Trains.)
#48367 CP Rail Stock Car made in 2007.
#48373 Union Pacific Stock Car made in 2008.
#48375 Stock Car with Reindeer made in 2008.
#48379 Great Northern Stock Car made in 2009.
#48426 American Flyer Commemorative Freight Car 3-Pack announced in 2008 for delivery in 2009.
The set contained this stock car plus a gondola and tank car.
The cars were sold only as a set, never separately.
#49010 the Stable of Champions horse car made in 1996.


Over the years, Gilbert made four different kinds of couplers, three of which are common and familiar to most American Flyer owners: link, knuckle, and Pike Master.  The fourth, the so-called "solid knuckle coupler," was short-lived and not used on very many cars.  Lionel later came up with its own version of knuckle coupler.  American Flyer has therefore gone through five generations of couplers.  Because there seem to be a lot of people confused by this, I created a page to show the differences.  Click the picture below for more detail.
My first S-Helper stock car, the New York Central CCC&StL.

Like my other S-Helper cars, the detail and precision scaling on this S-Helper stock car really are far superior to anything that Gilbert or Lionel ever made.  But they're also a lot more delicate.  The Gilbert cars were designed as toys to be played with by young boys.  The S-Helper cars clearly are not.


It takes time and money to maintain a website like this.  If this site is interesting and helpful to you, please contribute financially to its ongoing success.  You may send a contribution via PayPal using theupstairstrain@yahoo.com as the payee. Both credit card and direct transfers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

If you or your friends have some American Flyer trains and would like them to go to a nice home where they'll be loved and cared for, this is the place!  Email me: theupstairstrain@yahoo.com.  See my Wish List for the items I need most.  Thank you very much.

On the other side of the coin, I post pictures from time to time on my For Sale page of surplus items I have for sale.
This gallery will continue to grow and become more comprehensive as I collect more cars and as visitors like you send me pictures of the cars I don't yet have.  If you have a car that you would like to share with the world, email me a picture:   theupstairstrain@yahoo.com.  Click here for a list of the pictures I need to complete the Gallery.

The books I am using for reference are listed in the Bibliography page.  All the writing and all the pictures on this website are, however, my own, except where cited.  No copyrighted materials have been included and all pictures provided by others are used by permission.

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