American Flyer S Scale Alco Diesel Engines (1 of 6)

Gilbert made 28 distinct Alco Diesel Engines as listed on a page and a half of the TM Guide, not counting the variations on some of the 28. Lionel made 62 more up through 2017 under the American Flyer name. Because there are so many, I have split them up over six web pages:

Gilbert Alcos #362 through #467 are on this page
                      #472 through #4945 are on page 2
                      #21551 through #21929 are on page 3
Lionel Alcos #8150 through #47998 are on page 4
                      #48100 through #48116 are on page 5
                      #48117 through #48162 are on page 6

Unless otherwise specified, the large pictures on this page are of engines in the collection of The Upstairs Train and 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 engines not shown here (or a better picture of one that is shown!), email them to me: theupstairstrain@gmail.com. Click here for a list of the pictures I need to complete the Gallery.

Click on an engine to see the train it pulls.
When I get all the pages built, that will work for all engines. For now, it only works for the ones I own.

Gilbert's first Alco engine set, the #362 Sante Fe,
comprising the #360 A Unit and 361 B Unit in five variations, was made only in 1950.

#362 Sante Fe AB silver painted set with warbonnet (the red area around the front and cab).
(Photos courtesy of New England Toy & Train Exchange.)
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#362 Sante Fe AB chrome set without warbonnet (somewhat rare).
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
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#362 Sante Fe AB silver painted preproduction prototype with warbonnet (extremely rare).

#362 Sante Fe AB chrome set, with handrails but no warbonnet (extremely rare).
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
.

#362 Sante Fe AB chrome set with warbonnet (extremely rare).

All three versions of the #365 comprised the #360 dual-motor A unit and 364 dummy B Unit.
None of my books indicates any difference between the 361 and the 364 other than the number on it.

#365 Sante Fe AB silver painted set made in 1951 & 1952.
(Photos courtesy of DAKOTApaul.).



#365 Sante Fe AB silver painted set with "364" stamped in the B Unit doorway, made only in 1951.

#365 Sante Fe AB chrome set without warbonnet made only in 1951 (somewhat rare).
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Preproduction #405 chrome Silver Streak with yellow decals and black lettering.
(Photos courtesy of John Petrocone.)

The front ...                                                                            and back.           

The bottom looks perfectly normal except that there is no e-unit lever sticking through the frame.
This preproduction unit only has only dummy trucks, no motors or reversing e-unit.

It is listed in both Greenberg and the TM Guide as extremely rare,
implying that a small number were produced for sale.
John Petrocone and others, however, have told me that none were never sold.

All three versions of the #405 were made only in 1952 as single-motor A units with no dummy.

#405 chrome Silver Streak with light red decals and white lettering.
(Photo courtesy of Rick Dunn.)

#405 frosted chrome Silver Streak with light red decals and white lettering.
It pulled the #5205W Silver Streak passenger set with chrome #66x streamliners.

#466 chrome Comet made only in 1953.  It is a single-motor A unit.
(Photo courtesy of Rick Shutt.)

#466 silver painted Comet made in 1953-1955.  The lettering is decals.
It is a single-motor A unit.  It had no dummy A unit.
It came as part of three sets with the blue-stripe streamlined passenger cars,
#961 combination car, the #962 Dome Car, and #963 Observation Car.

#466 silver painted Comet with rubber-stamped lettering made only in 1954.  It is a single-motor A unit.
It's a bit hard to tell the difference in pictures, but if you look closely you will see the darker area around the letters on my silver decal version.  It's a lot easier to see on the chrome version above.
(Photo courtesy of John R Balog.)

The extremely rare #467 prototype dummy B Unit made only in 1955.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)


Show me the rest of the Alcos.


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@gmail.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@gmail.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 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@gmail.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

Atlantic Steam Engines     Pacific Steam Engines     Hudson Steam Engines
 0-8-0 Steam Switchers      Northern Steam Engines      B-6sb Steam Switchers
Dockside Steam Switchers      Casey Jones Steam Engines      Mikado Steam Engines
Berkshire Steam Engines      Challenger Steam Engines      Y-3 Steam Engines

Geep Diesel Engines    Baldwin Diesel Engines    F-9 Diesel Engines
ES44AC Diesel Engines     SD70ACe Diesel Engines     U33C Diesel Engines
U36C Diesel Engines     GE EP-5 Electric Engines     Handcars

Pictures Needed     Useful Links     For Sale     Wish List     Bibliography     The Upstairs Train