I have an American Flyer HO steam locomotive and tender. It is a 4-6-4 Hudson with smoke & choo choo in the tender. (S.I.T.). There are no numbers on the outside or front of the engine. The only ID for the engine is the date May 11, 1948 painted on the upper inside of the boiler shell. The tender has “American Flyer made by A.C. Gilbert, U.S.A.” molded into the top, rear. The only other number is molded into the bottom frame of the tender. That is P9489. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Sorry, I should have specified that I was trying to determine the model number. Although the date on the boiler shell is 1948, checking 1948 and 1949 catalogs say that those years had synchronized sound which would mean that the choo choo and smoke unit were in the boiler, not S.I.T. This was not a kit and it is odd to me that there is no engine number painted on the cab or the front of the engine. I apparently need the model number to try and order a part.
D&J, just exactly what sort of info are you looking for? Briefly, the item you have is a post war example of Gilbert’s classic NYC Hudson. It was the first affordable RTR mass marketed large HO locomotive, appearing first circa 1939. By the early 1950’s examples could be found on just about every layout in the country large enough to handle this wheel arrangement, primarily pulling hobbyists’ varnish trains.
I have four of those locos. All of them are decorated for the NYC. One of them has an AC motor with a reversing relay in the tender. Three of them are packed away. The one I run at my club runs fairly well but the trailing truck is somewhat troublesome. It has a smoke generator in the smokebox and a chuff piston driven by a gear which itself is driven by the motor. Sounds good. The cab number is 31005 and I got it in a set in 1957 for Christmas when I switched to HO from American Flyer (S). It should have broad curves to run on. My layout back then had 15" and 18" curves and I had to run it as an 0-6-0. Some of these locos had the smoke generator in the tender.
That 9489 number is the part number of the frame, or chassis as it is called on the instructions for a 4-6-4 that Gilbert offered as a kit. Those instructions may be found at the following link: http://hoseeker.org/gilbertmiscellaneous.html (look at the American Flyer Trains 4-6-4 Instructions).
I’m trying to determine the model number (151, 443, 446, etc.) and if it was actually made in 1948. After 60 years I simply do not remember exactly when I purchased it but seems to me it was the early 50’s.