Originally Posted by TheGandyDancer:
The 302AC is a basic steamer Gilbert put into its lower priced sets in the earlier years. It was made in 1948 as an all die cast boiler model, and featured smoke & choo choo with a link coupler on a tin tender. It was re- cataloged in 1951 and 1952 with an all plastic boiler, again with smoke & choo choo, light, 4 position reverse, and a link coupler but the tender was plastic in the 1952 run, and metal in the 1951 runs. These commonl pulled basic bottom of the line cars. The die cast models and plastic models generally bring the same money. In full out excellent, somewhere in the neighborhood of $45 to $50. In average condition, possibly around $35.
Gandy
To be a bit more exact, the 1948 version had a 4-piece die-cast boiler with wire handrails. The cab was typically marked simply "302", though the packaging typically was marked "302AC". A version with a one-piece die-cast boiler was introduced about 1951 with a cab typically marked "302AC". Later versions (cataloged through 1953) had the plastic boiler. All production versions of the 302/302AC had smoke and choo-choo in the boiler.
Your version sounds like the "middle" version with the one-piece die-cast boiler. Visually, the one-piece die-cast version differs from the plastic version in that the cast-in handrails angle downward at the front (you can see this in Rusty's picture). Also, the one-piece die-cast boiler has a smokestack with a slight flair at the top while the plastic versions are straight. Other minor differences exist, but this might help in identifying your 302AC.
