The American Flyer Model Train - By: John Vanse

Although The American Flyer model trains were at their peak of
popularity between the 1940s and the 1960s, they actually had a
long history before that, and their popularity seems to be on
the increase again today. William Hafner, working as a toymaker
in Chicago, developed a clockwork motor for use in toy cars in
the very early part of the 19th Century and by 1905 was making
toy trains using that clockwork motor.

With a friend, William Coleman, and using a small hardware
manufacturing business known as the Edmonds-Metzel Hardware
Company, Hafner began producing toy clockwork trains during
1906-7. These Edmond-Metzel trains were sold so successfully
through some major retailers that the brand name The American
Flyer was adopted for marketing purposes and by 1910, the name
of the hardware company had been changed to American Flyer
Manufacturing Company.

The American Flyer trains proved very popular, in part because
they were lower priced than other makes popular at that time,
and also because their detailing made them more realistic than
other low budget model trains.

Hafner left the partnership in 1913 to start up his own company
and Coleman's American Flyer trains did extremely well during
the First World War as they had no competition in the US from
the German companies. By 1918, the first of the American Flyer
electric trains were in production and business boomed during
the 1920s but declined sharply during the Great Depression.

In 1938, William Coleman Jr, son of the company's founder, who
had taken over the business following his father's death in
1918, sold the American Flyer to the A C Gilbert Company.
Gilbert had been manufacturing and selling an extensive range of
toys but not toy trains. He moved the company from Chicago to
New Haven, Connecticut and immediately began to re-design the
trains. He re-developed the American Flyer as S-scale in 1939 ,
a scale which was a modification of the very popular O gauge
model trains then on the market. The S scale, which scales
trains to the 1:64 ratio and made them smaller than the O scale
trains, had a number of major advantages in terms of the track
and track layouts.

In 1946 Gilbert made another major change to the American Flyer.
Until that stage model electric trains had run on three rails,
with the centre rail carrying the current. Gilbert developed a
two rail system for running the American Flyer. This two-rail
track, which had seven-eighths inches between the rails, made
the track layout, and hence train operation, more realistic as
the track now looked like 'real train track'.

With the advent of television - to distract both younger people
and older people from their regular hobbies - together with the
rise of the discount chain stores which undercut prices and
demanded lower wholesale prices, A C Gilbert Company ran into
trouble and in 1962 was sold to Wrather Group. The new owners
produced lines of toys, including model trains, which were of
very poor quality and sales dropped sharply until in 1966
production of the American Flyer ceased. By 1967 the Company was
bankrupt.

At this time, Lionel Corporation, which was itself in financial
trouble although it had been the leading model train
manufacturer for many decades, bought the rights to the American
Flyer. However, by 1969 Lionel Corporation itself was bankrupt
and sold the rights to the manufacture of its model trains,
including the American Flyer, to General Mills.

General Mills began selling some of the original Gilbert
designed American Flyer trains by 1979 but in 1984 sold its
Lionel Company section to a toy manufacturer, Kenner who on-sold
the company to Richard Kughn in 1985.

Kughn was very successful for over 10 years with the Lionel and
American Flyer trains but sold in 1996 to Wellspring Partners
who set up the company Lionel LLC, which operates today selling
a range of model trains, including the S-scale American Flyer.
Initially Lionel LLC concentrated on promoting the O and O27
scale model trains of its original lines but since 2002 has been
releasing more and more American Flyer models.

The American Flyer then, is now more that 100 years old, and has
gone though a number of ownerships and fluctuations in
popularity. Dedicated S-scale enthusiasts now believe that this
renowned model train is once again making a resurgence.

Although The American Flyer model trains were at their peak of
popularity between the 1940s and the 1960s, they actually had a
long history before that, and their popularity seems to be on
the increase again today. William Hafner, working as a toymaker
in Chicago, developed a clockwork motor for use in toy cars in
the very early part of the 19th Century.

John Vanse has a number of websites concerned with model trains. All these sites can be accessed through the hub site: The Model Train Guide For more specific information about American Flyers see: href="http://www.americanflyer-modeltrains.info">American Flyer Model Trains