Train Models Lovers: American Flyer Model Trains

A toymaker in Chicago, William Hafner, developed a clockwork motor for use in toy cars in the 19th Century and by 1905 began making toy trains using that clockwork motor.

With a friend, William Coleman, and using a small hardware manufacturing business known as the Edmonds-Metzel Hardware Company, Hafner began producing toy clockwork trains around 1906. These trains produced by Edmond-Metzel sold so successfully that Hafner and Coleman decided to adopt the brand name The American Flyer for marketing purposes. By 1910, due to the success of their model train, the name of the hardware company was changed to the American Flyer Manufacturing Company.

The American Flyer trains continued to prove very popular, selling widely. Their popularity was partly due to the fact that they were lower priced than other makes popular at that time and also because their detailing made them more realistic than other low budget model trains available at that time.


After Hafner left the partnership in 1913 Colemans American Flyer trains continued to sell extremely well, particularly during the First World War as they had no competition in the US from the German companies, which had been major manufacturers of model trains.

By 1918, the first of the American Flyer trains powered by electricity were in production and business boomed during the 1920s but declined sharply during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. In 1938, William Coleman Jr, the then owner of the company following his fathers death in 1918, sold the American Flyer to the A C Gilbert Company. Gilbert had been manufacturing and selling an extensive range of toys but, to that stage, had not manufactured any model trains.

Gilbert moved the company from Chicago to New Haven, Connecticut and re-designed the existing American Flyer trains. In 1939 Gilbert offered modified American Flyer trains as S-scale trains. S scale was a modification of the very popular O gauge model trains then on the market. The S scale, which scales trains to the 1:64 ratio and made them smaller than the O scale trains, had a number of major advantages in terms of the track and track layouts.

In 1946 Gilbert made another major change to the American Flyer. Until that stage model electric trains had run on three rails, with the center rail carrying the current. Gilbert developed a two rail system for running the American Flyer. This two-rail track, which had seven-eighths inches between the rails, made the track layout, and hence train operation, more realistic as the track now looked like real train track.

When television came along to distract both younger people and older people from their regular hobbies together with the rise of the discount chain stores which undercut prices and demanded lower wholesale prices, A C Gilbert Company ran into trouble and in 1962 was sold to Wrather Group. Wrather produced lines of toys, including model trains, which were of very poor quality and sales dropped sharply, as did the fortunes of the company, until in 1966 production of the American Flyer ceased. In 1967 the Wrather Company declared bankruptcy.

At this time, Lionel Corporation, which was itself in financial trouble although it had been the leading model train manufacturer for many decades, bought the rights to the American Flyer. However, by 1969 Lionel Corporation itself was bankrupt and sold the rights to the manufacture of its model trains, including the American Flyer, to General Mills.

General Mills began selling some of the original Gilbert designed American Flyer trains by 1979 but in 1984 sold its Lionel Company section to a toy manufacturer, Kenner who on-sold the company to Richard Kughn in 1985.

Kughn was very successful for over 10 years with the Lionel and American Flyer trains but sold in 1996 to Wellspring Partners who set up the company Lionel LLC, which operates today selling a range of model trains, including the S-scale American Flyer.

Initially Lionel LLC concentrated on promoting the O and O27 scale model trains of its original lines but since 2002 has been releasing more and more American Flyer models.

The American Flyer is now more that 100 years old but has gone though a number of ownerships and fluctuations in popularity. Dedicated S-scale enthusiasts today believe that this renowned model train is once again making a resurgence.

Reference:
Model Trains For Beginners & Insiders Club
https://plus.google.com/116330541990928457816/posts/HXFG9K229jq
 
Model Buildings For Model Railroads And Trains
https://plus.google.com/116330541990928457816/posts/Gz8TSJu2jgz
 
Model Railroad Guide And Print Out Buildings
https://plus.google.com/116330541990928457816/posts/UaWw91aAW4k
 
Dcc Model Trains Ebook And Online Model Railroad Club Membership
https://plus.google.com/116330541990928457816/posts/e5ANjNvTSen
 
Model Train Layout Ideas, Tips & Answers
https://plus.google.com/116330541990928457816/posts/MUSNdoQMMVA
 
Model Train Scenery Ideas & Model Train Club For Model Railroaders
https://plus.google.com/116330541990928457816/posts/gTzGQDBPcAJ

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