The scratch built tinplate collection that I acquired included a locomotive that seems to be an American Flyer 401 from 1938. It looks as if it were the engine shown in the poho of a 401 in the Northwoods Flyer collection. The engine looked pretty awful after being repainted in the scheme you can see in the tender photo. So i decided that the only thing to do with it is a complete restoration. I've stripped the paint and removed the copper for polishing. Here's what it looks like now.
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Now I hope I can get myself to work on this project this summer - and post photos of the process.
That leads me to some questions about restorations and what does the market want and where can I get some parts/decals.
The locomotives has all of its wheels. The drivers are OK but the truck wheels are chipped. The trucks will work on O gauge track so its not mandatory to replace them.. Are there replacement wheel sets ? I can see how a non-destructive replacement can be done on the trailing truck but not on the pilot truck. How does using reproduction parts affect the value of the engine ? Is it better to have chipped originals ?
What kind of black paint should I use ?
Lettering is a problem. I'll have to put the A.F. on the front of the boilers and 401 under the cab. What's the best way to do that ? The tender needs an "AMERICAN FLYER LINES" decal. I see some for sale at The Underground Railroad Shoppe, but they have a stripe aaround them. Greg's photo seems tp show only a stripe at the bottom. Any suggestions ?
I'm not worried about operation. The drivers will be fine with lubrication. The reverser works, and I'm sure I can handle cleaning and assembling the motor.
Looking forward to input from this group
Malcolm Laughlin
