flyer engine id

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

i need to identify an engine: it’s american flyer #13224, o gauge 3 rail, 4-4-2. supposedly prewar. this one has no e-unit; is this normal? any idea how scarce or what it’s worth?

thanks
mike

2

Hi Mike,

The number 13224 does not match with any of the pre-war O guage American Flyer trains listed in my copy of Greenberg’s Guide to American Flyer Prewar O-Gauge trains. Can you provide some additional detail for use to identify it by?

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

3

it’s diecast; it looks alot like a #432- it has those funny looking “wheel wells” cut into the bottom of the cab over top the trailing truck.
could it be a renumber job? this one has decals on the engine and tender- numbers under the cab window and a green stripe with “american flyer lines” on the tender. did af use decals back then?
open spoke drivers, lots of cast in detail along with some separately applied piping.

mike

4

Hi Mike,

Flyer did use decals in the late thirties. Yours sounds similar to a 4322-4 atlantic locomotive from 1938. This was a 4-4-2 die cast engine with black and white running board trim and red window trim, with a “43224” decal below the window. Yours could be original flyer production. My copy of Greenberg’s is from 1997 and lists a 4322-4 as worth $150.00 in Good condition and $375.00 in Excellent condition.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

5

thanks guys, that’s what i was looking for. it is a 43224 (decal was rubbed off, so it looked like a 13224 instead) with a broken pilot, a missing marker light, and numerous paint nicks. i don’t think i’ll offer him the $495 he was asking. i’ll let you know how it turns out.

mike

6

almost forgot, did that engine have an e-unit originally?

thanks
mike

7

Hi Mike,

Yes, That model came with Flyer’s “Remote Control” Reverse.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

8

how did the remote reverse work? like a two position e-unit in my old marx #666 engine?
somebody else told me that a 43224 is worth about $375 in excellent condition. does this sound right to you?

thanks again
mike

9

sorry tim, looks like you were the one who gave me that price. i don’t know where my head is sometimes. i have a bad case of CRS.

mike