American Flyer Expert(s) Sought

Anything is possible regarding substitutions with Gilbert American Flyer. There is one certainty about the 290 though. It did not have an air chime whistle or any other kind.

Pete, an expert I am not but according to the "books" the 51 passenger set came with  the 295. Rich is right the 290 did not come with an air chime whistle. 

 

As he said substitution was not uncommon and who knows what was done at the Hobby Shop. Also Santa could have got a deal on a 1950 set.  

 

One of those mysteries in life like why did I get a set for Christmas with the Gilbert chemical car as opposed to the common Gulf tank car. Maybe Bob Bubeck may chime in since he posts on occasion and wrote the "book".

Should have asked this before but Pete, do you recall if your locomotive had a whistle?

5103WT was a 1951 set and it had a whistle loco as manufactured. The W on the set number neans whistle, and the first teo digits are the year 51. The illustration is correct, but the text is not. This was not uncommon with the catalogs. The hobby shop would often swap out components, but the factory did not. I'm not sure why someone would swap out a better 295 for a plain 290, except to get a better price on a passenger set they wanted.

Gandy

As posted by others above, the 5103WT should have had to have a No. 295 in it. The catalog copy stating a No. 290 is incorrect. A downgrade substitution that included the swapping out of an airchime whistle controller would have most likely happened in the retail chain rather than as a mistake at the factory. Another thought -- is there a possibility that you were given a 5003T set for '51 Christmas? Do you still have the box with a legible set number?

 

In any case, if you are attempting to recreate a 5103WT, a No. 295 is your piece.

 

Bob 

Thank you all for the information.  My set did indeed have the air chime whistle, so I guess the loco was indeed a 295.  No idea what became of it, I think my folks gave it away.  Not trying to replicate it, just curious.

 

That was quite a Christmas for me.  It's the only time my parents let me open a present on Christmas Eve, and I was beside myself with joy!  Then, on Christmas morning, to my complete shock and surprise, there was an 8B transformer, a pair of remote control switches, and all the track necessary to make all the 4x8 size plans in the catalog.  I really do wish I still had that stuff, but alas it was not to be.

 

Thanks again.

 

Pete

I finally found my photo stash and have several photos of an original 5103WT in the set box. All show the 295 loco.

 

Gandy

 

 

 

Thanks Gandy!  That's the set alright.  Even the box looks right.  My loco resembled the one in the bottom photo, in that the tender did not have a logo, just the American Flyer lettering.  Man, those pics bring back some memories.  Thanks again.

 

Pete

 

ps - The loco in the top photo doesn't really look like a 290 series engine.  I enlarged and enhanced the photo as best I could and it more closely resembles a 282/283, particularly in the area of the cab window.

That clarifies things some. 1952 and 1953 are the two years Gilbert was going through a transition to more realistic plastics, and the transition to Pul Mor and Knuckle couplers. They put out some scarce variations of otherwise common items during those years. Posting a photo of both the 285 and 295. This variation of the 285 has the metal tender where the one shown with the set above has a plastic tender. The 295 was just a glorified 290 with a whistle upgrade.

 

Gandy