American Flyer S Scale Refrigerator Cars
"Reefers" (2 of 4)
Gilbert made six in the 600 series (most with multiple variations), plus the 802, and nine 5-digit reefers. 
Lionel made 16 more reefers under the American Flyer name between 1988 and 2007.Because there are so many, I have split them up over four web pages:

Gilbert reefers #600 through #642 are on page 1
                     #647 through #24420 are on this page
                     #24422 through #24426 are on page 3
Lionel reefers  #48203 through #48481 are on page 3
                     #48800 through 48815 and my first S-Helper and Crown Models reefers are on page 4

Unless otherwise specified, the large pictures are on this page are of cars in the collection of The Upstairs Train.
#647 Northern Pacific, made in 1952 & 1953.
Unpainted #802 Illinois Central Reefer, made in 1956 and 1957.
There is also a rare painted version.
#923 Illinois Central Reefer made in 1954 and 1955.
#947 Northern Pacific Reefer, made from 1953 to 1958, was in the K5358W Challenger freight set.
It was made as the #24409 in 1958.
The three Santa Fe Freight sets included the #988 American Refrigerated Transit (ART) made in 1956 & 1957.
The last of the 3-digit Gilbert reefers is the #989 Northwestern, made from 1956 to 1958.
The common unpainted #24403 Illinois Central Reefer was made in 1958-1959.
The very rare painted #24403 Illinois Central Reefer was also made in 1958-1959.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
#24409 Northern Pacific Reefer made in 1958.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
#24413 American Refrigerated Transit (ART) reefer made from 1958 to 1960.
The 24416 Northwestern reefer made in 1958 & 1959.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
The 24419 Canadian National reefer made in 1958 & 1959.
(This is a photo I took at the March 2006 Cal Stewart Show, courtesy of Phil Carey.)
The very rare #24420 Simmons reefer was made only in 1958.
It was unpainted plastic with solid knuckle couplers and non-opening doors.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
This one is a "Rarity Repaint" from TLS Research.  If you like the looks of one of the very rare cars, but can't find one (or can't afford one!), this is a great way to get the next best thing.  They take an old Gilbert car and repaint it to look like the rare one.

The one below sold for over $300 on ebay, almost three times the price from TLS.
The moral of the story:
If you see a rare car offered for a great price, find out whether it is a "Rarity Repaint"!

Show me the rest of the reefers.
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.


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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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