Here’s something just a little different. Its an opportunity to test your sleuthing super powers.
As I have been building my layout I have been going through lots of boxes and reorganizing the collection. I got this set shortly after we moved 5 years ago and stuffed it away because there wasn’t time to do anything else with it. When I found the box I was pleasantly reminded that I owned it. There is a back story that I will share at the great reveal.
The box has a 1956 date stamp on it, I cannot read the first digit in the crease to see the month. The number looks like 1126. That is a known set number but the contents are undocumented. Can hardly wait for the grand reveal. I would also be interested in the box number and manufacturer.
I hope you are not just baiting us with an empty box!
What an attractive car! I did not happen to know of it. Now I want one.. but I suspect it will forever be priced outside my reach. What a find, mint no less! I agree the Lionel car just doens’t quite match the Gilbert, it’s just not quite as nice looking on the unpainted plastic.
El, Gilbert made two versions of the BAR reefer, one with knuckle couplers and one with Pikemaster trucks and couplers. I have the KC version, which is worth 50% more than the Pikemaster. This one is also in a Clearpack, which adds a lot of value. When I bought this just the Clearpack with the correct stamped ends was worth $100. I bought this car in October of 2002.
I find most Gilbert originals look better than the Lionel remakes. Fortunately, Lionel has made a lot of cars Gilbert never made and these look first rate. Here are three Lionel cars that look excellent.
Here is another Mint OB Gilbert car in my collection. Never run and only removed from the box 3 or 4 times. A fellow collector had purchased one of these, no box, and was concerned it was a reproduction. Repros of this car were made. His car looked factory to me, but to help him I took mine out of the box and photographed it to show how the factory stampings look and where there was factory overspray. His car was definitely not a repro.
Well done Tom,
I was not able to decipher those markings on the box. Here is a closeup that shows them a bit better I hope. There is nothing visible in the fold.
Greg, the Gair stamp says 1956 which is consistent with the Gilbert factory packing stamp of EF, 1956. The letter above the E looks like a J. It cannot be an H or an I because of the print style, only the J has that curve at the bottom. Thing is if that letter is a J then it has to be AJ which is October.
All B2N059 boxes were made by Gair. It is 17"x13"x 5". It was used for sets 1190,1195, & 20134. I am curious if the contents of your 1126 set match one of those three sets.
I wish I could say my 633 is in better condition, even with the paint chips yours still look pretty fresh, Tom. My 633 is actually the reefer variant, the painted one. I got it from a lot off eBay and didn’t realize I had it until I checked my Greenberg guide.
Tony, that is the 1952 uncataloged Red over white plastic 633 reefer. Take good care of that. They are rare and hard to find it the great condition you have.
As much as I like the American Flyer locos and cars being shown, if I had it to do over, I would have limited the thread to American Flyer stuff accumulated as a kid. No subsequent purchases of pristine and rare stuff as an adult.
Part of that is easy. Below is a picture of my 1955 layout with everything I had as a kid. I still have it all, in the original boxes in excellent condition. I guess I fail the dirty, worn, and beat up requirement.
Thanks Paul, it has seen a lot of use. Here is the original set box and the original engine corrugated wrapper. The box manufacturers stamp helps prove that at least one 1950 4611A set was made. The contents were slightly different than the cataloged 1948 and 1949 sets.
Funny enough, I actually didn’t buy that car and the rest of that lot with collecting in mind. I have a 310 Pacific and awhile back I decided to get some link coupler cars to go with it, so that was the deal I went with. I will say, although Tom says my 633 is in good condition, that doesn’t mean it and the other cars haven’t seen action!
Another one of my favorite cars, this one from my grandfather’s trains. Its a USAF 25515 flatcar, and I do have the matching rocket sled which does run (its missing the driver and his eject mechanism though). Unfortunately it had a broken truck, and without a replacement I decided to use a pair of modern Flyer trucks I had to give it some new life. I know, I know, a purist would be appalled at doing that to a rare car, but I will never sell it anyway, and I think it looks really nice with those trucks.
Tony, you have excellent standards for your repair work. Very few of us use the Lionel 6-49081 replacement trucks. About two years ago Charles Ro put them on sale for $11/set, I bought ten of the one dozen boxes. I retruck all my Lionel AF cars with these trucks. They are now free rolling, the cars do not rock on the bolsters and the cars couple much closer together.
For those interested, below are the Lionel AF trucks that Tony put on the USAF 25515 flat car. I highly recommend them as replacement trucks.
Thanks for the kind words, Tom. Repairing old trains and making them run like they did back when they were new is one of my favorite parts of the hobby. It always brings me joy when I can give broken locos a new chance at life. When I got this 21165 running it really made my day, as originally I thought it was too far gone.
