AF Royal Blue

K line published the complete service manual for American flyer trains....I have a copy of that book, perhaps look on the Bay, to see if one pops up, in the mean time I can post up an exploded view of royal blue no. 350 if that helps you....

please and thank you!

I will give it a whirl. not sure how these are gonna show up, if they are illegible, I can screen shot and send the pages to your phone if you wish....

those are great, thanks!

no problem man, check out Hobby Surplus for American Flyer parts.......they have ALOT of flyer parts....my flyer parts are very limited, my dad collects flyer, and I have to keep his stuff running for him, every thing I do requires that third rail.....

Dave, Yes, it should have a thrust washer and technically that's a postwar brush plate, the prewar ones don't use the tubes like that one.  Also, take a look at the frame, one of the ears that the field winding sits on is slightly bent.  If you try to straighten it just be real careful.  If it breaks we'll have to find another frame. 

I guess the other thing we could try would be to put the prewar wheels on a postwar S frame with the smoke unit and maybe you could have smoke in that 556. The only difference in the wiring between the prewar 556 and the postwar 350 is that the postwar field has both ends of the winding as wires going to the e unit and the prewar 556 has one side going to the ground on the chassis since it is three rail. I have E unit fingers if it needs some, but you can get those from Henning or Jeff Kane.  I also have the rivets for holding the trucks to the tender and car frames so you can remove those to do your painting.  If needed I'll take one of mine apart and make up a wiring diagram for you.  You should be able to straighten that bend in the pilot as well, just be gentle or you will need to get out the JB weld to fix it.

One other comment, They do make a con motor conversion for these (well for the S scale ones) and that is an option too.  I think some of the guys on the S scale forum could provide some info if you wanted to go that route.  I'll dig deeper and see if I can find some lead and trail trucks for you.  I also found a 1615 switcher front coupler bracket with the coupler for your other project, the 0-6-0 switcher.  It was bent up a bit, but I think you could straighten it and reuse if you want.  We can figure out what you'll need that I didn't get in that first box and I'll send you another one

already straightened the frame...piece of cake. didn't notice the pilot was bent.

the 1615 coupler would be great, as well as the trucks for the Blue. and a wiring diagram would be helpful. Thanks

Here is a wiring diagram that should be of some help>>>:

Just remember that although the prewar engine is technically wired the same, it is not wired to both tender trucks and so the wiring  is simpler.  It is grounded on one side to the frame and outside wheels and the other lead of course goes to the center rail collector. Somewhat like a Lionel engine.

harmonyards posted:

K line published the complete service manual for American flyer trains....I have a copy of that book, perhaps look on the Bay, to see if one pops up, in the mean time I can post up an exploded view of royal blue no. 350 if that helps you....

looked on the bay,amazon,etc, all say S Gauge manuals. I assume these would be different form the Prewar O gauge, but the diagrams posted should help, thanks all.

yeah, my apologies to ya'll.....it didn't even dawn on me till Dennis chimed in that this was a three rail piece....I thought you had a S scale unit....im not that hip on flyer anything....2 rail or 3.....anyways, I hope the info helps you some sorta way....I was looking through the book like where in the hell is 556?.....duh....its pre war....my bad.... 

Don't say that, It's all good.  It's good info, just have to apply it to the 556.

The curved section of the brush plate goes DOWN.

Wish I could locate a lead truck & trailing truck for my 556.

Original body is SUPER & runs GREAT! Just need the trucks to complete.

Wes

lead and trail truck are the same as found on the prewar 553 grey bullet engine and the 565 Atlantic engine for reference.  Pilot tuck is a sheet metal bracket which you could bend up out of brass in a pinch and axles and wheels are available from various sources.  Same could be said for the trailing truck. You may be able to find a junker 565 for less $$ than you can buy all the piece parts.

harmonyards posted:

I will give it a whirl. not sure how these are gonna show up, if they are illegible, I can screen shot and send the pages to your phone if you wish....

OK...so the 350 is the Postwar S Gauge engine, and my 556 is Prewar O Gauge. Is the above parts diagram still able to be used for parts reference as far as side rods, trim,etc?

some yes, some no. main rods are different, they have a bend in the front end because the wheels are wider , I'll get a picture later. screws are the same Jeff Kane  has the prewar wheels for the pilot and trailing trucks, they are different from the postwar wheels.

Wiring, even with these prewar, looks like there are variations.  Here is one with one brush to ground. the picture with the second motor shows one with one side of the field winding to ground.  Both work, you could do it either way.  Just swap the leads from brushes to field and field to brushes so to speak.

the main rods are there, but the drive and eccentrics are mia. I think the guy I got this from kept parts for himself.....

I'm sure I'll finger out the wiring when I start on this. 

  I meant drive rods are different!  Eccentrics would be similar to the postwar, but again have a bend in them to space them out wider.  I don't think I have the eccentrics either.  I got stuff in too many different boxes   That motor in the picture is in a 561 K5 pacific. and it still needs parts to be complete although it does run.

There is a 556 on ebay for $125 right now but that wouldn't be any fun! 

yeah...who buys a train that you don't have to rebuild first! and you know how many junkers I could buy with $125? I'd have almost as many projects as you do!

It's hard to build these up without a junk box full or parts! Not as easy to find the parts as Lionel no way no how!

AFAIK, the main rod and eccentrics are this engine only. I think the S parts Might fit, but I don't know for certain. Even the connecting jack piece on the back of the cab is unique.