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New Haven Style Passenger Sets |
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Gilbert
made two generations of New Haven style cars: the 6xx and 7xx series
with link couplers from 1946-1953, and the 9xx series from 1953-1958.
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The unpainted, unnumbered #649 Circus Coach made in 1950-1952. It is somewhat hard to find.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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The painted version of the unnumbered #649 Circus Coach made in 1950-1952. It is equally hard to find.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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The #649 Circus Coach appeared in only two Gilbert sets:
#5002T Circus Train
made in 1950. It was pulled by the #353 Circus engine and
contained two #643 Circus Flatcars. The set came with a #1
transformer, a #704 manual uncoupler, 12 curved and 2 straight track
sections, 14 #693 track locks, a #690 track terminal, and a set of
cardboard Circus punchouts and tickets.
#02-086 in the 1950 B. F. Goodrich Christmas Catalog was the same set.
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Like
many of the cars Gilbert made in the 1940s and early 1950s, the #650
Coach came in many variations: red and green, painted and unpainted,
lighted and unlighted, with the different types of link coupler, and
either plastic frame (1946), diecast frame (1947-1951), or sheet metal
frame (1952-1953).
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Here are the painted versions. (Photos courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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In
pictures like these, it's essentially impossible to tell the difference
between painted and unpainted versions. Similarly, it is
impossible to distinguish the type of frame from a side view.
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Like
the #650 Coach, the #651 Baggage Car came in many variations: red,
green, and maroon; painted and unpainted; with the different types of
link coupler; and either plastic frame (1946), diecast frame
(1947-1951), or sheet metal frame (1952-1953).
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Unpainted #651 in red. (Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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Painted #651 in green. (Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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Rare #651 maroon painted baggage car made only in 1953.
1953 was a transition year for A. C. Gilbert, converting from their trademark link couplers to knuckles.
They also changed their New Haven Style passenger cars from the 65x New Haven lettering to
the
95x American Flyer Lines lettering. This 651 was caught in the
middle, among the last of the link coupler cars and the first of the
American Flyer Lines cars.
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The
#650 and #651 cars were used in a lot of sets and most are very
common. Each of the sets contained two 650 coaches and a 651 REA
baggage car, in either red or green.
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I
have the #4803A Atlantic Passenger set made in 1950. It had green
cars pulled a #302AC Reading Atlantic steam engine. This set was
first made in 1948, pulled by a #302 Reading Atlantic engine.
Click the picture to see a list of the rest of the sets.
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#655 coach in maroon. Unlike the 650, these cars had no steps.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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#655 coach in red.
Depending on the exposure of the photograph, sometimes it's hard to tell the true color of a car.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
It was also made in green.
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#655 satin finish Silver Bullet coach.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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#655 chrome finish Silver Bullet coach.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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Watch this space for the sets that used the #655 coaches. |
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#718 Operating Mail Car made in 1948-1953.
I naturally assumed I had the common unpainted version
until I bought one of the extremely rare painted ones and couldn't tell the difference!
Gilbert made them on several colors of plastic.
Since mine is red plactic, nothing shows in the scratches so I never thought twice about it.
The unpainted plastic inside has a very shiny surface, unlike the flat finish of the painted exterior.
The unpainted car was also made in green.
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Interestingly, the front trucks with the power pickup were copper-colored where the rear trucks were the familiar black trucks.
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Rare variation of the #718 Operating Mail Car.
The lettering says American Flyer Lines rather than New Haven.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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The very rare maroon painted variation of the #718 Operating Mail Car.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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The common green unpainted variation made from 1948 to 1953.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
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The very rare green painted variation of the #718 Operating Mail Car made in 1952.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
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Rare variation of the #718 Operating Mail Car with a red painted pickup arm made in 1946, 1947, and 1950.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
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#732 Operating Baggage Car made only in 1950. Here's the other side: |
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This is the green painted version made in 1953 & 1954.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
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There is also an unpainted green variation
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
and a painted variation with "American Flyer Lines" on theother side.
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#735 Operating Coach made in 1952-1954 for the #766 Animated Station.
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#918 Operating Mail car made in 1953-1958.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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#951 REA baggage car made in 1953-1957.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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#951 REA baggage car made in 1953-1957.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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#955 Silver Bullet coach made in 1954-1955.
All six versions of the 655 were painted.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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Maroon #955 coach made in 1954-1955.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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Maroon #955 coach with silhouettes made in 1954-1955.
It was also made in both maroon and bright red without the white border around the windows.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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Green #955 coach made in 1954-1955.
(Photo courtesy of an anonymous donor.)
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Watch this space for the sets that used the #955 coaches. |
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In
addition, Gilbert made a few trains that had both New Haven style cars
and Pullman Heavyweights.When I get the pages built, you'll be able to
click on any train picture below to see larger pictures of the
individual cars in that train. |
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I don't yet have pictures of the last two New Haven cars:
#975 operating coach made from 1954 to 1955
#25005 operating mail car made in 1958 |
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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.
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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@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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Now show me:
The Gilbert Gallery Home Page Engines Passenger Cars Freight Cars
New Haven Pullman Heavyweights Streamliners Painted Streamliners Frontiersman
Pictures Needed Useful Links For Sale Wish List Bibliography The Upstairs Train |
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