Reviving American Flyer trains - two questions:

Move this to the S scale trains side of the forum and you will get some answers.

Rich

Ingeniero No1 posted:

A good friend of mine would like to build a layout so he can run his old American Flyer trains, of which, I believe, he has a nice collection. He has very few track pieces, but I directed him to the American Models website (which I found on this forum a few days ago) and now he is very enthused about building the layout.

Q1. My old (4.02) RR-Track software does not include S-gauge in the library, and maybe it does not support it at all, but SCARM lists several S-Gauge tracks in their library. Does SCARM support the American Models track?

Q2. He would also like to convert or adapt DCC to his American Flyer trains. Is this possible, and if yes, how difficult?

Thank you for your help!

Alex

Ingeniero,

I am not familiar with this CAD program but if you can draw circles with Radiuses then you can draw American Flyer Track Plans, American Model Track Plans or any of the new Track Plans with it. For instance the curve track of original AF Track was 19" Radius circle. Draw a circle with a 19" Radius then cut the circle circumference into 12 segments. Now you have twelve pieces of AF Curve track. The straight track sections were 10" long. The only difference with American Models Track is they supply 3 different radius track. 20", 24" & 27" Radius, with these do the same as above and you can draw a track plan with american Model track. If the CAD Program has HO Track as Long as you use the same Radius as the manufacture calls out you can draw a track plan that fits your space that uses their track but the distance between the rails would be HO.

I use 3rd Planit and do the same thing.

If you have any more questions I will try to answer them.

Don

A) I don't know SCARM, but I bought RR Track v5.3 earlier this year and it has libraries for 7 brands of S gauge track including American Models.  It is a fantastic CAD tool.  I really enjoyed designing with it.

B)  Yes, you can convert American Flyers to DCC.  Need to convert motor to DC if not already (see Port Lines can motor conversion kits).  For steam engine, you install the electronic board(s) and speaker in tender.

richabr posted:

Move this to the S scale trains side of the forum and you will get some answers.

 

Rich

That's what I had intended to do, and that is where it now is. Did the Administrator move it here?

Alex

Don,

I have two CAD programs that I used for work (now retired), but I used RR-TRack for designing my last and my current O-Gauge layouts  because it was a lot easier since their libraries have all the turnouts, crossings, sectional track, etc. for most of the popular brands. I did use CAD for my last HO layout (30 years ago), and it turned out well. Before that, as many others did, I drew the layouts on my drafting board. My friend, on the other hand, is not versed in mechanical design, so a dedicated program will be much better for him.

Thanks!

Alex

Chuck K posted:

A) I don't know SCARM, but I bought RR Track v5.3 earlier this year and it has libraries for 7 brands of S gauge track including American Models.  It is a fantastic CAD tool.  I really enjoyed designing with it.

B)  Yes, you can convert American Flyers to DCC.  Need to convert motor to DC if not already (see Port Lines can motor conversion kits).  For steam engine, you install the electronic board(s) and speaker in tender.

A lot of the guys (O-Gauge) use SCARM, primarily because it is free. I tried it just to see what it was like, and it appeared OK. But I still believe that RR-Track was great, even the earlier 4.02 version. I have not upgraded to 5.3, as you now have, because I don't anticipate building another layout, and the version I have is fine if I want to make any changes.

Good to hear about DCC. I sort of suspected about the need to convert the motors, but I have not even seen any of what he has,  yet.

Thanks!

Alex

 Ingeniero No1 posted:

Q1. My old (4.02) RR-Track software does not include S-gauge in the library, and maybe it does not support it at all, but SCARM lists several S-Gauge tracks in their library. Does SCARM support the American Models track?

Yes, it does. I use both SCARM and the latest version of RR-Track. Both have pros and cons, but IMHO SCARM has the best simulation feature, though it can take some computing horsepower for it to be smooth (I use a laptop with i7 cpu, 12 Gb memory and 1 Gb graphics board). This N Scale design shows how detailed it can get in 3D. I've used both for 3D modeling things totally unrelated to model railroading.

Here's the American Models track list:

Depends on what his interests are, but he might want to consider Legacy command and AF Fastrack.  That gives him lots of flexibility.  He could run conventional engines using the CAB2 remote by adding a Powemaster before he gets around to upgrading the vintage engines. And then continue controlling them with the same remote after adding TMCC electronics.  Plus he could add modern Legacy loco's too and he could control his turnouts, accessories, etc via remote.  Other than the adding of electronics to the vintage stuff, it is pretty much plug and play with very cool features that a newbie can pick up quickly.  That was my experience.

Ingeniero No1 posted:

Don,

I have two CAD programs that I used for work (now retired), but I used RR-TRack for designing my last and my current O-Gauge layouts  because it was a lot easier since their libraries have all the turnouts, crossings, sectional track, etc. for most of the popular brands. I did use CAD for my last HO layout (30 years ago), and it turned out well. Before that, as many others did, I drew the layouts on my drafting board. My friend, on the other hand, is not versed in mechanical design, so a dedicated program will be much better for him.

Thanks!

Alex

Alex,

  I really think you have a good handle on your direction and you have many good responses which are great tips. The tip about buying american flyer track at shows under the tables is a good start and run the American Flyer trains on that. Educate your self from the available book American Flyer trains hand book. You can also go on line to look at American Models Web sight and see what he has to offer and buy one of his catalogs. if you buy direct from him he could include the catalog for free. His track is wonderful and the Switches are great. That is what I have changed to for appearance and more prototypical. I have run American Flyer, Lionel Flyer, American Models and SHS trains and rolling stock over the AM Track and have never had a derailment. Care must be taken when laying the track but the results can be gratifying. I have used the cad program 3rd Plan-it but the proof is actually laying down the actual track and adjusting where needed to your needs.

Take all the reconditions in and you decide what you or your friend want to do the final decision is yours.

Happy Railroading in S Gauge or S Scale. Welcome Aboard.

Don

Thank you all! You have been very helpful.

I also found this, and wondered if the suppliers they list, such as S-Helper Service, Tomalco Track, and Shinohara are viable?

http://sscale.org/s-scale-reso...cale-track-products/

Alex

I recommend you carefully consider what you want to operate on your layout before selecting a track system. Tomalco and Shinohara are scale track systems, original Gilbert American Flyer will not run on it. American Models is intended for hi-rail and Gilbert but with a bit of work on the turnouts will accommodate scale wheelsets. SHS/MTH as well as Lionel S gauge FasTrack is made for hi-rail and Gilbert but will work with scale wheelsets, the turnouts are a closed frog design. Note it is scale wheelsets, not scale equipment. The radius is generally too small to operate scale engines and long freight cars with body mounted couplers.

The FasTrack and SHS/MTH track has a rail profile of .138", this is the smallest profile on which Gilbert cars will operate. The highest profile scale rail is generally .125", Gilbert cars will not work on this. I have a layout with .138" rail, the guard rails on the bridge track sections are .125". From 3' away they look identical.

Numbered turnouts are readily available from S scale track suppliers. In hi-rail AM makes a 20" radius turnout and what looks like a 27" radius but I think is actually a #4. FasTrack has 20" and 27" radius turnouts and a variety of other track pieces. MTH so far has only 20" with a promise of 27" radius turnouts, thing is they do not have a 27"radius sectional track. They make nominally 20", 24" and 29".