The American Flyer is likely the most well known of all model train series. They did reach their peaks around the 40's and some other peak in the 60's, they had been around for much longer then that. Their popularity is also very famous nowadays too and they are, I feel they are going to be around another 100 years!
A toy maker in Chicago called William Hafner, in the very early 20th century invented a model train developed on a clockwork motor, primarily for the use in toy cars. By about 1905 however he made up his mind to put them into use in model trains as well. Luckily he did, the car did not sell as well as trains.
William Hafner share the exact same name as his best friend, William Coleman approached a small manufacturer of hardware, Edmonds-Metzel. They used this company to start selling trains in 1907.
They were first marketed under the name of Edmond Metzel trains, but because they were selling so fast and so well they required a perfectly new name and they came up with the name of the American Flyer. This happen at 1910. Even the name of the hardware company they were using had likewise changed its name to incorporate the American Flyer name in it.
They were really famous and there are a couple of reasons for it. They were quite cheaper then other popular makes of model trains at the time and because they were also quite a bit more realistic then more budget style model trains of the time.
Mr William Hafner draw out from the corporation around 1913. He used the money he had already made and built up his own organisation. Colemans American Flyer Trains. It did well for quite some time around the first world war. There were no competition because of the war. In 1938, the founders son with the exact name, who was in charge of the business after his dad pass on in 1918 sold the American Flyer to a organisation called A C Gilbert Company. Gilbert already had experience in manufacturing toys, but he is clueless about trains.
At the same time he decided to moved the corporation from Chicago where it was based to New Haven in Connecticut where he lived. He also began to drastically re design the American Flyer and turned it into an S-scale model train in 1939. It is a replicate of the popular O scale which is then the leader of the market.
The S-scale was much tinier then the O-scale and this made it more popular with enthusiasts as it required less room to setup a decent track. The scale is 1:64, considerably smaller then the O-scale yet still very detailed and precise.
He also made another change in 1946 that amended the realisticness of the American flyer more so. Model trains, electric model trains at that time had been run on 3 rail tracks. Not realistic. He changed it so they ran on 2 rail tracks, much like their huge counterparts. These tracks had 7/8th inches between each rail. This made the trains operate better as well.
How ever, television was starting to take hold at this time also. This distracted numerous from their hobbies they would commonly spend their extra time on. Likewise at this time, discount chain shops came into play, discounting train sets that companies like A C Gilbert could not compete with. in 1962, Gilbert traded the American Flyer to Wrather Group. This organisation produced toys as well, but usually on a large scale and tended to produce poor quality as well. Sales of course fell through the floor and in 1967 the organisation went bankrupt.
A better toy train maker and the market leader at time, Lionel Corp purchased the American Flyer. This organisation itself was having difficulty with finances as well and they too went bankrupt in 1969, so they sold off the rights to the American Flyer to some other maker, General Mills.
This firm, General Mills, started trading numerous of the designs of the original designed Gilbert American Flyer, it however sold off everything it purchased from then Lionel Corp to Kenner, who then in turn sold the corporation to a man named Richard Kughn. This occurred in 1985.
Mr Richard Kughn had huge success with the organization and design for eleven years, but he sold out in 1996 to a enterprise called Wellspring Partners, who then took on the first name of Lionel and called themselves Lionel LLC, which still functions now.
They sell the S-scale American Flyer still. They were initially focusing on selling some other scale models, but they started selling more of American Flyer in 2002.
The American Flyer nowadays is more then one hundred years old and has gone through many different hands. This model train will not be going anyplace as it's popularity is still strong.
A toy maker in Chicago called William Hafner, in the very early 20th century invented a model train developed on a clockwork motor, primarily for the use in toy cars. By about 1905 however he made up his mind to put them into use in model trains as well. Luckily he did, the car did not sell as well as trains.
William Hafner share the exact same name as his best friend, William Coleman approached a small manufacturer of hardware, Edmonds-Metzel. They used this company to start selling trains in 1907.
They were first marketed under the name of Edmond Metzel trains, but because they were selling so fast and so well they required a perfectly new name and they came up with the name of the American Flyer. This happen at 1910. Even the name of the hardware company they were using had likewise changed its name to incorporate the American Flyer name in it.
They were really famous and there are a couple of reasons for it. They were quite cheaper then other popular makes of model trains at the time and because they were also quite a bit more realistic then more budget style model trains of the time.
Mr William Hafner draw out from the corporation around 1913. He used the money he had already made and built up his own organisation. Colemans American Flyer Trains. It did well for quite some time around the first world war. There were no competition because of the war. In 1938, the founders son with the exact name, who was in charge of the business after his dad pass on in 1918 sold the American Flyer to a organisation called A C Gilbert Company. Gilbert already had experience in manufacturing toys, but he is clueless about trains.
At the same time he decided to moved the corporation from Chicago where it was based to New Haven in Connecticut where he lived. He also began to drastically re design the American Flyer and turned it into an S-scale model train in 1939. It is a replicate of the popular O scale which is then the leader of the market.
The S-scale was much tinier then the O-scale and this made it more popular with enthusiasts as it required less room to setup a decent track. The scale is 1:64, considerably smaller then the O-scale yet still very detailed and precise.
He also made another change in 1946 that amended the realisticness of the American flyer more so. Model trains, electric model trains at that time had been run on 3 rail tracks. Not realistic. He changed it so they ran on 2 rail tracks, much like their huge counterparts. These tracks had 7/8th inches between each rail. This made the trains operate better as well.
How ever, television was starting to take hold at this time also. This distracted numerous from their hobbies they would commonly spend their extra time on. Likewise at this time, discount chain shops came into play, discounting train sets that companies like A C Gilbert could not compete with. in 1962, Gilbert traded the American Flyer to Wrather Group. This organisation produced toys as well, but usually on a large scale and tended to produce poor quality as well. Sales of course fell through the floor and in 1967 the organisation went bankrupt.
A better toy train maker and the market leader at time, Lionel Corp purchased the American Flyer. This organisation itself was having difficulty with finances as well and they too went bankrupt in 1969, so they sold off the rights to the American Flyer to some other maker, General Mills.
This firm, General Mills, started trading numerous of the designs of the original designed Gilbert American Flyer, it however sold off everything it purchased from then Lionel Corp to Kenner, who then in turn sold the corporation to a man named Richard Kughn. This occurred in 1985.
Mr Richard Kughn had huge success with the organization and design for eleven years, but he sold out in 1996 to a enterprise called Wellspring Partners, who then took on the first name of Lionel and called themselves Lionel LLC, which still functions now.
They sell the S-scale American Flyer still. They were initially focusing on selling some other scale models, but they started selling more of American Flyer in 2002.
The American Flyer nowadays is more then one hundred years old and has gone through many different hands. This model train will not be going anyplace as it's popularity is still strong.
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