American Flyer S gauge Auto Carriers--The Prequel

There are at least 3 threads going on the S gauge forum that talk about the newly cataloged Auto Carriers for American Flyer.

So of course I'm going to start another one just in case you want to look into the future.

First of all I'll say I like these cars. I have converted 2 of the O gauge cars to "S-ish"  gauge by adding S gauge trucks. There have been lots of comments on the artwork shown for these cars in the AF 2017 catalog but as far as I can tell what I ended up with looks and measures nearly identical to the images in the catalog. You will most likely either accept and enjoy these cars (as I will) or completely bypass these cars as they are oversized and unsuitable for your use. My thoughts are if I were to wait for someone to offer a scale sized AutoRack in S gauge I'd be about 90 years old by then or more likely dead and gone. So I'm gonna go with the flow.

Lionel offered at least 11 of these cars in O27 and there may be more. I found these 11 simply by scanning through a Greenberg's guide:

6-16214--D&RGW 1990,

6-16215--Conrail 1990,

6-16217--BN 1992,

6-16228--UP 1992,

6-16229--EL 1991u,

6-16242--GT 1993,

6-16253--ATSF 1994,

6-16260--Chrysler/Mopar 1996,

6-26626--LN/SCL (year ?),

6-36029--SP 1999,

6-36093--SOO (year ?)

I had on hand a bunch of the scale wheeled cylindrical hopper trucks after replacing them out with other trucks. So naturally I had to order seven of the above cars off ebay. If you choose to see for yourself what to expect from these cars they can be had for $25.00 and up on ebay. My seven cars averaged about $27.00 + shipping but I only purchased NEW IN BOX cars. Used cars can be found for less if you are patient. Of course the prices may rise if we all go hunting at the same time--"This just in!! Lionel O27 Auto Carriers are disappearing! Film at 11:00!"

NOTE...I just want to add here that I replaced the SCALE WHEELS on the cylindrical hopper trucks with SHS HIGH RAIL WHEELS. It's a PITA but better than spending over $25.00 a pair for the High Rail wheeled  replacement trucks from Lionel. There was a post back in December  2014 from RAYIN"S that contained an attachment that explains how to do this. In any event I now have highrail roller bearing trucks with rotating bearing caps.

If you want to try this here's how I did it. Some of the early issue cars required the buyer to install the doors and ladders and came shipped in a bag inside the car. Later issues came pre-assembled. Installation of the parts is easy and instructions are included. So I'll just talk about the truck installation.

First remove the O gauge Plastic trucks:

It's easy. With some upwards lifting pressure on the truck drill out the rivet with a 7/32 bit. 

Second determine where to install the S trucks. I chose to leave the coupler arm attached to the truck and install them at the ends of the car. (Others have reported they want their's more inboard as the prototype has them and then add body mounted Kadee couplers.) To put the trucks at the ends the underside of the floor requires a little work. I added two plexiglass inserts I machined to match the two half-moon shapes of the car mold. They are about 5/32-3/16" thick or so:

I found a lid off a pill bottle that matched the half-moon curve so I could trace it on the plexiglass:

I drilled the 1/16" truck screw hole (centered on the floor width) 7/8" from each end of the car. The original screws for these trucks will tap into the plexiglass to secure the trucks. Adjust the tightness of the screw until the truck pivots fully and freely side to side. The trucks have the large AF couplers installed on them and when two cars are coupled together the distance between car end faces is 1 3/16". This allows the cars to navigate r20 curves easily without any part of the two cars touching. At the center of a 90 degree r20 turn the distance between the closest points on the cars (the roof wings) is 3/8":

I added some weight to the floors of my two cars and it seems to help make the cars ride pretty smoothly. I used 6 thin fender washers per car attached with 1/2" self-tapping tec screws. They cannot be seen from the car sides. Now I know what I needed these washers for when I bought them 15 years ago at a flea market:

The finished car looks a little big but OK to me. The next closest sized S gauge car (in width) I could find was a K-Line Boxcar. It's width is 2 3/16" while these Auto Carriers are 2 3/8" wide. The molded base on Fastrack is a whisker over 2.5 inches so the car just about matches that. I will say that the cars do not have a too objectionable overhang on the inside or outside of r20 curves. In fact the car is shorter in length than American Models Budd passenger cars (13.5") but wider. So if the overhang on those Budd cars works for you these Auto Carriers may also. However, AM Budd cars have pretty close coupling built into them. To match that coupler spacing on these cars might cause problems at the roof wings on r20 curves.

Here's the dimensions I ended up with. The 2017 car should match these measurements more or less depending on what parts AF uses and where they place the trucks on the floor:

LENGTH-- Body...12 3/4" (68' in S), Coupler to Coupler...14" (74' 8" in S)

WIDTH--2 3/8"...12'6" in S

HEIGHT--3 3/4"...19'10" in S

BOTTOM OF CAR FLOOR ABOVE RAIL--9/16"...3' in S

I have found a source for freight car ladders (1:48) and they measure about the same as the factory supplied ladders but don't have the molded in back behind the rungs. When I get them I'll swap them out for the factory ladders and see how they look.

As to placing 1/64 autos inside the cars the good news is they fit perfectly! Six M2Machines 1/64 scale autos will ride inside the car-- three per floor. There are bumps in the floor which will cradle the car wheels and keep them from rolling around inside the car. This '57 Ford is placed at the end of the car to show it fits the car floor nicely:

Mark