Anyone familiar with this AF Locomotive? Known problems and/or parts availability.
There are a few of us that have this locomotive. What’s your question?
Does this locomotive have any known problems in terms of reliability? Common issue with it? Are parts available for it? I bought one of these in non-running condition, basically as something to learn about AF Pre war, and need to establish a base line before I begin tearing it apart! Any help would be appreciated. 
GA
OK then…I thought someone on this site would have knowledge of these trains…[^o)]
Be patient me lad, you have to wait for the right guy to come along and read your questions, everyone on this Forum doesn’t know everything about everything.
I don’t know anything about AF pre-war or I’d help you myself. Heck, until a few years ago I didn’t know AF did O gauge stuff at all!
545 K5 style loco. usual problems are , bad castings, wheels breaking down, worn axle holes on chassis, the usual e-unit problems. missing valve gear and worn armature face. can use some of the S Gauge parts for repairs. missing/broke pilot and trailing trucks.
if drive wheels are bad need to search for junkers with good wheels. E-unit can be swapped unless it is a early sideways one. if armature is bad, send out for a rewind since the brush end shaft is turned down really small. broken link couplers are no problems. worn slide shoes are a pain to replace as is the pickup plate if it is broken. Repro vale gear is UNADVAILABLE. For valve gear,the S Gauge pieces cannot be use due to difference in mfrg and bends. MEW used to make a lot of stuff for prewar flyer but the current owners are just doing some wheels for Chicago flyer and concentrating on Lionel prewar cause that is where the money is.
hope this helps.
ment to say Alantic style, not K5. but the problems I have listed applies to all the prewar 3/16’s O gauge trains
Thanks for the very informative response, rrlineman! I do appreciate it.[:D]
I have managed to get most of the problems worked out and have this one running again. Fortunately, this one is entirely intact, and the parts seem to be in good serviceable condition. Very interesting design! Thanks again for your feedback. [:)]
I’m looking for a parts list with blowup of parts.
Welcome to the forum, Barry!
I don’t have an answer for you, but good luck!
I don’t think there is an exploded parts diagram for any of the prewar engines- I’m more than happy to be proven wrong.
Internally, the 565 is very similar to the postwar 300 atlantic. Main differences are with the chassis (prewar is wider), wheels (prewar has solid diecast wheels, no whitewall insulators), and connections to the tender (single wire running from the back of the engine).
The center rail pickup comes from the tender, and a wire with a jack plugs into a socket in the tender, if I’m remembering right (been a while since I pulled mine out and ran it).
Are you looking for parts, or trying to figure out how it goes together?
If you’re looking for parts, some of the parts for the 565 are the same as for the 1946 version of the 300 atlantic, such as the brushes, brush plate, field, and armature for the motor. Parts which are not the same, you can probably find by looking through Portlines Hobbies’ parts category for Prewar American Flyer.
If you just want to know how the thing goes together, the construction of the 565 is pretty much identical to the 1946 edition of the 300 atlantic, with key differences being that it only has one wire coming in from the tender, and grounds through the chassis. The other notable difference is that the 565 has a lead weight or two inside, to aid with traction. Mine only has one weight, but I’m not sure if it originally had more.
-El
I bought this book recently. It is really good with lots and lots of photos on all the 3/16 Flyer O Gauge stuff. Plus, I emailed the author to tell him I liked the book, and he wrote back. The book is for sale on Amazon and maybe other places.
[Flyer 3/16 book](A Collector’s Guide to American… A Collector's Guide to American Flyer "Tru-Model" Trains, 3/16" Scale "O" gauge, 1939-1941: Hosmer, Richard A.: 9798640073461: Amazon.com: Books)