American Flyer Flatcars (3 of 6)

American Flyer S Scale Flatcars (3 of 6)

The TM Guide lists three and a half pages of Gilbert flatcars, 56 in all and many had variations. Between 1981 and 2006, Lionel made 35 more flatcars under their American Flyer name. Because there are so many, I have split them up over six web pages:

Gilbert flatcars #605 through #714 are on page 1
                       #715 through #948 are on page 2
                       #956 through #24564 are on this page
                       #24565 through #25515 are on page 4
Lionel flatcars   #9000 through #48531 are on page 5
                       #48532 and above are on page 6

The large pictures on this page are of cars in the collection of The Upstairs Train. Unless otherwise specified, the smaller ones are from ebay auctions I didn't win.

If you have a picture that you would like to share with the world of any of the cars not shown here (or a better picture of one that is shown!), email them to me: theupstairstrain@yahoo.com.   Click here for a list of the pictures I need to complete the Gallery.

#956 Monon flatcar with black trailer truck load made in 1956-1957.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

Mine is a reproduction. It's hard to tell the difference.

Extremely rare #956 Monon flatcar with painted silver trailer truck load made in 1956.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)

#969 Rocket Launcher flatcar made in 1957.

There is also a very rare version with painted black base.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)

#971 Lumber Unloading flatcar made in 1956-1957.

There is an unpainted version and two painted versions, one on Tuscan plastic and one on black plastic.
Greenberg's Guide says the black plastic one is extremely rare and very valuable,
but some people question that. Mine is in such good condition that I thought it was unpainted and never examined it closely until I learned about the black plastic controversy.
It turns out that mine is painted on black plastic, so I sure hope Greenberg's is right!!!

#24516 New Haven lumber flatcar made from 1958 to 1959, the 5-digit version of the #928.

I got my first #24516 New Haven flatcar with this grader on it. I couldn't resist!
It came in a set of three flatcars with non-standard equipment loads.

#24519 Pennsylvania Railroad Western Electric Wire Reel Car made in 1958, the 5-digit version of the #936.

The #24533 Track Cleaning Car made in 1958-1964 was the 5-digit version of the #948.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

In 1965-1966 it was made with Pike Master couplers and vertical tanks.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

The tanks were either silver as above, or white as in this one.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24536 made in 1958 is the extremely rare 5-digit version of the #956 Monon flatcar with trailer truck load.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24537 New Haven flatcar made in 1958 came with three silver plastic pipes.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24539 New Haven flatcar made in 1958 with three silver cardboard pipes.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

It was also made with silver plastic pipes, and with orange cardboard pipes.

It was also made with silver plastic pipes.
(Photo courtesy of David Butterfield.)

And it was made with orange cardboard pipes.
(Photo courtesy of Mark Ormond, Chicago , IL, 2007.)

I got mine with no load; these tractors came with the set mentioned above.

The #24540 New Haven Flatcar made in 1960 came with three silver cardboard pipes.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24550 Monon flatcar with trailer truck load made in 1959-1964.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24550 Monon flatcar with trailer truck load
with the #23830 Unloading Ramp made in 1959-1960.

#24553 Rocket Transport flatcar made in 1958-1960.

#24556 Rock Island Wheel Transport flatcar made in 1959.

#24557 U. S. Navy flatcar with two TootsieToy jeeps made in 1959-1960.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24558 Canadian Pacific flatcar with four Christmas trees made in 1959-1960.
Finding it with four original trees is rare, but finding it with the bag of trees unopened is almost unheard of!
(Photos courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

There were two kinds of trees. Mine has the fiber on plastic. The one above has rubber-like trees.

This one seems to have a third kind of trees, but it must just be a diffferent style of rubber-like tree.
Also note that this car has the early style brake wheel whereas the first two above have the later plastic one.
(Photo courtesy of Steve Blackburn of SnS Trains, Boise.)

#24559 New Haven Flatcar with no load made in 1959.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24562 New York Central Flatcar was made in 1960 with no load.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#24564 New Haven Flatcar was made in 1960 with orange cardboard pipes, but no number.

Show me the rest of the flatcars.

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

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.

Now show me:
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