American Flyer S Scale Work Cars

Gilbert made seven work cars and Lionel has added six more since 1996.  Unless otherwise specified, the large pictures on this page are from the collection of the Upstairs Train.

#607 Work & Boom Car made in 1953. (Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.) There was also a very rare version on a black base.

#645 Work & Boom Car with unpainted red shed made in 1950.

Here it is with its companion #644 Industrial Brownhoist car.

#645A Work & Boom Car with painted red shed made in 1951-1953. (Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.) Some read "American Flyer Lines" rather than "American Flyer." There were also five versions with Tuscan brown sheds.

#907 Work & Boom Car made in 1954. (Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)

#945 Work & Boom Car made in 1953-1957.

Here's one that came from the factory with no steps.  When a step was missing or broken in manufacture, the factory would sometimes break off the rest rather than scrapping the car. (Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)

Here's an interesting factory error. In the lower car, the toolbox is on the wrong side and further from the shed than it should be. That's what happens when the car gets turned around between the time they punch the shed and fence holes and the time they punch the toolbox holes! (Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)

There was also a variation with a metallic blue-gray base made in 1953&1954. They sometimes turned the car around on these, too! (Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)

#945 Work & Boom Car made in 1952 with the shorter name "American Flyer" (Photo courtesy of Ed Church.)

#24546 Work & Boom  Car with knuckle couplers on a gray painted plastic base made in 1958-1964. (Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.) Some read "American Flyer" rather than "American Flyer Lines." In the transition year of 1957, it bore the number 945. Later cars had Pike Master couplers.

#25071 Tiejector Car made in 1961-1964.

Lionel started making work & boom cars in 2003 and made four up through 2007.  They added two Tiejector cars in 2006 and 2007.

#48723 Santa Fe Boom Car made in 2003.

#48723 Santa Fe Boom Car with its matching #49012 Crane Car, both made in 2003.

#48726 New York Central Boom Car made in 2004 & 2005.

#48726 New York Central Boom Car with its matching #49014 Crane Car, both made in 2004 & 2005.

#48732 Union Pacific Boom Car made in 2005.

#48732 Union Pacific Boom Car with its matching #49021 Crane Car, both made in 2005.

#48740 Maintenance Of Way (MOW) Boom Car made in 2007.

#48740 Maintenance Of Way (MOW) Boom Car with its matching #49037 Crane Car, both made in 2007.

#49026 Tiejector Car made in 2006. (Photo courtesy of the MW Collection.)

#49041 Tiejector Car made in 2007. (Photo courtesy of trainz.com.)

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:                                                                                                                                           The Gilbert Gallery Home Page      Engines    Passenger Cars    Freight Cars    Freight Sets    Work Cars    Accessories    Infrastructure   Bunk Cars      Kitchen Cars      Floodlight Cars      Crane Cars   Pictures Needed     Useful Links     For Sale     Wish List     Bibliography     The Upstairs Train