The American Flyer Medium Size Stations - 97-99, 100, 101, 105, and 107 and The Flyer #95, 97 and 98 Freight Stations

Robert,

Actually, the side windows on my early #97 station are not punched out, only the front windows are punched out.

Here is the front view, which you already showed

And here is the side view

I also note that you did not have a picture of the 100 station.  Here are some views of that station.

Front.  Note the Bay window section

Note, although Robert indicates that a 3D view was created on the 101 Station to replace the bay window section, it was always there, as it makes up the rear of the 100 station.  The only difference is that an extra bay window section was added to the front of the 100 station to hide this portion of the building lithography.

As for the introduction of the 97-98-99 stations, the 1923 American Flyer catalog shows a #98 station as part of the factory built layout that is advertised in the 1923 catalog.  Image and descriptions are below

The 1924 catalog lists the #97 & #98 stations on one page and shows the #99 station in a separate image on the next page.  It also shows a different factory layout, which also features one of these stations.

Here is the Terminal Station variation with red roof and red base

There is also a variation of the station that has Central Station plates on it.  Don't know the reason for this, but I have seen several examples over the years.

The  1923 catalog shows the 100 station versus the 1924 catalog which shows the #101 station.  

I will caution the readers that although the 100 and 101 stations look nearly identical, with the exception of the missing bay window section and missing timbered section at the top, the lithographs have noticeable differences if compared side-by-side.  I may be a bit nit-picky with my observations, but the following views differ

100 Station

101 Station

Note the lack of detail and lower quality image for the 101 station.

100 Station

101 Station

100 Station

101 Station

The quality of the image of the side window is actually a bit better on the 101 station.

NWL

I should also add that there are two variations of the 100 Station.  One has a red roof and one has a gray roof.

NWL

Thanks, NWL.  I'll correct the comment about the side windows.

Robert,

I noted that you missed including this 97 Station variation!

I realize that you may have been intending to only include passenger stations in your mid-sized buildings, but this is a mid-sized building.

This item is part of the 95 & 97 station variation, as the end view shows the "Flyer City - Freight Station No. 95" 

The station was first cataloged in 1926 as the #95 Station.  Both the 1926 and 1927 catalogs show this station as having a smooth enamel painted roof (ie no dormer or lithographed tile roof).  The 1926 catalog shows a black & white image, so the roof color is unknown for 1926, but the 1927 catalog shows the 95 with a red roof.

The 1926 and 1927 catalogs make no mention of a light, so I am guessing that these were unlighted stations. I do not have a 95 station, so maybe someone else has one and could post photos.

The 1928 catalog shows this station as the #97 Station, with the new lithographed tile roof complete with dormer and lists the station as having 1 interior light.

From 1929 to 1933 the #97 Station is listed as having 1 exterior light.

In 1934 the #97 Station is noted to have 2 exterior lights.  Did you note that my 97 station is the 1934 variation, which has 2 exterior lights (one at the front and one at the back).

In 1935, the #97 Station was dropped from the catalog.

In 1936 the #97 New Freight Station was cataloged

The #97 New Freight Station has the larger base with crane.  The changes do not stop with the crane as now the station itself has a ramp on the front only and the rear door is not punched out.

You can see from the above picture that Gilbert carried this station into their line, eventually substituting the Gilbert crane in place of the Chicago era crane.  

For 1940, the last year it was cataloged, the station gets a new roof.

NWL

  NWL, I was working on a separate thread for the freight stations but since you have added them here I changed the thread title and the comment about these stations in the first post.  I'll add what I have on them in a bit.

Robert / NWL :  Amazing pictures and posts as usual.  NWL you may or may not have noticed but in your pictures of the sides of the 100 and 101 station, more than the clarity of the pictures changed.  For example, in the 101 compared to the 100 the color of the lady's hat is now red as is the lady's hat for the partially visible figure sitting down.  the standing lady's scarf has also changed color.  The gentleman on the far right now has a green peaked hat vice a brown cap and his coat is quite different.  The gentleman on the far left is the least changed however he is also now wearing a peaked hat vice a cap, his tie is much more prominent and there are some changes to his coat.

Great pictures and thanks for the information.  This is the first I have seen many of these variants.

Don McErlean

The #95 Freight Station

No. 95 Freight Station Catalog Illustration 1926

No. 95 Freight Station

   This station has a red enameled roof and no lighting of any kind.

As mentioned previously 1928 was a year for line upgrades.  The No. 95 Freight Station became the No. 97 Freight Station. It now had a lithographed tile roof, a dormer indicating it was an Inbound Freight Station and, according to the 1928 text "the interior is lighted with one frosted Mazda lamp."

1928 Catalog Illustration

     Over the years I have seen several No. 97 stations with no lights.  In every case, the base on the inside of the structure looked exactly like the base I illustrated in the discussion of the no 97/98/99 stations previously - no light, just a punched out section that looks like the footprint for a small porcelain light fixture base.  I'm with NWL - if Flyer did actually have an internal lamp socket mounted on the base I would love to see a picture of one.

  In 1929 the light fixture was moved outside and the station with a single exterior lamp was cataloged from 1929 to 1933.

No.97 Single Exterior Light

In 1934 the station was upgraded and offered with two exterior lamps (see NWL's post above for a picture of this station).

As NWL noted, this version of No. 97 (sometimes referred to as the short based No. 97 by collectors) was dropped from the catalog in 1935.

In 1936 a new No. 97 was introduced.  It was now mounted on a larger base which included a crane. 

1936 Catalog Illustration

  As you can see from the illustration the crane was mounted to the right side of the freight house.  It did come this way but as you can see from NWL's picture of this station with the tan base it also came with the crane mounted on the left.  This is not an artifact of the base color.  While I also have a tan base No.97 with the crane on the left I've seen a number of the tan based stations with the crane on the right.

  There are some other interesting details concerning what I believe to be the earlier builds of this station.  If you look at the green base for the crane on NWL's No. 97 you will notice slots in the base.  These are leftover #90 station bases.  The reason for the left vs right side location of the crane is the same as the reason for the mirror image No. 93/234 stations discussed earlier - the location of the crane would depend on how the station base blanks were fed into the bending machine.  Bend the base edges the "correct (catalog illustration) way" and you get a right hand crane - bend them the other way and you get a left hand crane.

 There are a few color variations in the station and crane base colors.  I've seen stations with bases either in tan or red and cranes with bases in either green or gray...and, of course, there is the usual gamut of red,green, yellow, and orange chimney colors.

  No 97 with main red base, green crane base, and right hand crane.

   NWL has covered all of the other variations of this series of which I'm aware so rather than providing duplicate pictures I'll just refer you to his well illustrated post above.

No. 98 Freight Station.

1940 Catalog Illustration

   In the 1940 catalog A.C. Gilbert cataloged the last remnants of the old Chicago Flyer freight station.  The lithographed roof became a matte finish light green and the Chicago crane was replaced with an A.C. Gilbert Crane.  As one would expect, Gilbert too used up old inventory before moving on.  As a result the No. 98 also came with a lithographed tile roof and a Gilbert crane.  NWL has provided pictures of both of these stations in the post above.

....I can't speak for NWL or others who might offer something in the future but, with this, I've offered as much as I can as far as Flyer station accessories are concerned. I appreciate all of the additions and corrections, particularly those of NWL, to the scope of these threads. I know that what has been provided far exceeds anything you might find in the old Greenberg book on pre-war American Flyer accessories and I hope the threads both NWL and I have started on the American Flyer pre-war stations will be of some value to those of you who might have an interest in or questions about the pre-war American Flyer station offerings.

@Robert S. Butler posted:

  NWL, I was working on a separate thread for the freight stations but since you have added them here I changed the thread title and the comment about these stations in the first post.  I'll add what I have on them in a bit.

You changed the title of the thread to #95,97 and 98 Freight Stations.... Is there a #98 Freight Station?

My mistake, I see the 1940 model was numbered 98, which denoted the Gilbert crane being included instead of the Chicago era crane.

Robert S.Butler / NWL :  I don't know about others, but I wanted to thank you both for this series of threads on Flyer stations.  I have not seen any more complete reference book or material on this subject. It is certainly far more complete than what appears in the Greenberg books.  Thank you both for this effort.

Don McErlean

@Don McErlean posted:

Robert S.Butler / NWL :  I don't know about others, but I wanted to thank you both for this series of threads on Flyer stations.  I have not seen any more complete reference book or material on this subject. It is certainly far more complete than what appears in the Greenberg books.  Thank you both for this effort.

Don McErlean

Don,

Thanks.  I think that the Greenberg's Guide to Wide Gauge and Accessories is a decent reference, but sometimes it has to few photos and sometimes misses items.  The other factor is that Greenberg's is about 25 years old and the availability of data is much better now.  Additionally, with the internet / ebay, it is easier for those of us who search out the variations, to find them.

NWL

Great topic!! Following!

Guys, Great threads... this one and the other stations one. Very informative. I don't collect the stations per se, but I have a few.  Now they are dated and validated! Flyer really did have some great stations!

A wealth of information and pictures on this thread !

It amazes me the many variations the tinplate manufacturers attempted in the pre-war era.

And it seems the many unknown to me , or maybe others that were produced is interesting . 

I got more into the tinplate variety than my dad ever did and that might explain why I was personally exposed to it more at an earlier time in the hobby.

Thanks all for sharing your knowledge