The Engines of The Upstairs Train (1 of 4)
			The Upstairs Train comprises twenty one trains (some still incomplete) with twenty nine engines (twenty one powered and eight dummies), fifty nine passenger cars, twenty seven freight cars, and a handcar.  There are ten steam engines, three GP diesel engines, a Baldwin diesel, five dual Alco diesels (powered unit plus dummy), the Santa Fe Chief and Missouri Pacific ABA Alco diesels, and a single unit Alco diesel.  They make up fourteen passenger trains and seven freights.  Overall, it provides a pretty representative sampling of the trains made by American Flyer over the years.  Most are from the 1950s, but some are from the 1940s, 1960s, and 1990s.
		Click on an engine to see the train of which it is a part.
				This is my first engine, the #350 Royal Blue.  It came as part of the #48T freight set, which also included the red #633 B&O boxcar, the green #631 T&P gondola car, and the red #639 caboose.I got it for Christmas, 1948, when I was five years old.
		This is my second engine, the #466 Comet.  It came as part of set #5535TBH which also had the blue-stripe streamlined passenger cars, #961 combination car, the #962 Dome Car, and #963 Observation Car.
						I bought my third engine, the #336 Union Pacific Northern, the biggest engine that Gilbert ever made, which was sold from 1953 to 1957.  Gilbert called it the Challenger but the railroads never used that name.  I bought it from Frank the Trainman in San Diego in 1975. That's when I learned that Gilbert had gone out of business. In the fall of 1974, my father had shipped my trains out to us because my sons were reaching the age where I got my first train. We set them up around the Christmas tree that year.
					Knowing that Gilbert was no longer in business, I put an ad in the paper "American Flyer trains wanted."  Two people responded and I bought their collections. This is the #494/495 New Haven. The only passenger car in the set was the #963 dome car. Years later I completed the set via eBay auctions.
					The same collection included this #293 New Haven Pacific locomotive. It came with several freight cars and the #771 operating sotckyard.
		The last engine in that set was this #355 C&NW Baldwin made in 1956-1957.
		This is the engine in the other collection I bought.  It is the #21088 Franklin from the #20550 Frontiersman set.
			#21160 Reading Atlantic made in 1958-1960.
			A nice lady who knew of my interest in model railroading found this in her garage and gave it to me.  So now I have two 21160s.  Thanks, Cathy!  If you look closely, you can see a few subtle differences.
		Show me the rest of the engines.
		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 want most. On the other side of the coin, I post pictures of surplus items I have for sale from time to time on my For Sale page.
		Now show me:          Overview      Grand Tour      Lessons Learned       Modes of Operation   Trains      Engines      Operating Accessories      Bridges      Towers      Buildings     Crossings      Construction     Landscaping      Lighting      Semaphores      Control Panel The Gilbert Gallery     For Sale     Wish List     History     Useful Links
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