I see you have the Wire hand rail version like mine although the paint is better than mine, there is a story behind mine… It was the original owners frist train and he had a picture of himself with the train as a toddler he tried to sell me a bunch of cars as well but I did not have the cash flow at the time real nice guy his wife collected American flyer HO. This was the first loco that got me hooked on old trains, fixed the reverse unit once before just need to find the time to get around to it. Also in side the shell the date is stamped may 1950 and all the books I have read says 1948 as the build date.
Nice 350 Jim!
I have the freight set in the box, not as nice a shape as yours though, but I just cleaned it up and displayed in on my shelves last August… has the same handrails and date stamped on it, 1950. I wish though that it smoked like the silver bullet. I have a bright chrome version and it runs and smokes like a champ (why the plastic boiler Gilbert)? I think my favorite set is the Pony Express… I have the cars, but I am still looking for a good Alco set…so for now I pull them with a pair of UP Geeps (372’s). They are good stand ins until I hit the lotto!
Thanks, The indented tenders are a little harder to find. I’m looking for a cast handrail version just to have the variation. I’m also looking for a beat up cosmetically 350 to repaint into a 353 Circus Train.
Jim
Thanks. I’m espically fond of the harder to find indented ternders on the eariler models. I’m looking for a cast hand rail version and another 350 to repaint into a 353 Circus train. Here is my Silver Bullet
very clean silver bullet… did not know about the indented tenders… will have to check mine, does not show very well in this pic… I don’t have alot of pre '52 americanflyer sets because the links bug me…I have been concentrating on getting some 56-60 sets complete… but I do like how those early GM demonstraters float on the track…(370’s)…if you could put two together seems they could pull the world…
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Nice, real nice collection!
Jim
Thanks Jim,
Hey you have been a collector for some time… what is your opinion of the 80 and 90’s LTI american flyer. Do you think they will be worth anything? Also what do you think of its operating quality… running on a layout?
Just hedging on selling allot of the 90’s era to aquire some of the '56 to '60’s sets…
Really can’t say because I have only 1 Lionel/American Flyer loco or rolling stock piece and that is a docksider. The smoke unit quit on it and I’ve not been able to fix it. Based on my limited exposure, the AF from the 40’s to the early 60’s is superior as far as I’m concerned. As far as going up in value, who knows. In the late 60’s you could buy AF for pennies on the dollar from the manufacture’s price.
Jim
I am having electical issues with the new sets; directional changes don’t hold their memory when set, broken slide switches, or some won’t even toggle, bummer is; I can fix an old E unit to cycle, but I cannot fix the electronics if they go… even the Lionel repair parts outlet are out of replacement parts…seems I should just keep them on the shelves…