Lionel/American Flyer Boxcar

I got a call from an old buddy. His neighbor is moving and wants to give up some American Flyer boxcars. Asked if I was interested. Question: Are American Flyer boxcars interchangeable with Post War Lionel and if so, do they blend in? (It is a bit of a distance and I don’t really want to travel if they are not going to work) As always, thanks for your input.

A lot depends on if the American Flyer is S or O gauge. If post war it will be S and not easily compatible.

Jim

Traindaddy,
AF prewar maybe, if they are definitely postwar then no because they would be S Gauge not O.

If you are unable to use the boxcars let me know… I have my grandfather’s AF set and have been looking for ways to expand the collection, little by little… If interested, let me know how many and how much you are asking and we may be able to work something out?

Brent

Even prewar American Flyer, although O gauge, are S scale. Despite the conventional wisdom, these are distinctly smaller than O27 pieces. The couplers will also be incompatible.

Bob-Brent-Jim: Thanks. (I think I’ll save the gas money)

That’s true of the late Gilbert prewar AF production, but the earlier AF stuff was all over the map, scale-wise. AF tried pretty much everything Lionel did, and maybe a few things they didn’t. After getting some of the late prewar 3/16 scale stuff, I made the mistake of buying some other AF without checking into it, and ended up with a couple of cars that were very close to full 1:48 some stuff that’s more the size of the old Ives and Dorfan O27 cars of the 1920s, and some stuff that was close to 6-inch Marx.

I stand corrected. The little I have must be late prewar.

Thanks Dave.