Although best remembered for the S gauge trains of the 1950s that it made as a division of the A. C. Gilbert Company, American Flyer was initially an independent company whose origins date back nearly a half century earlier. Chicago, Illinois-based toymaker William Frederick Hafner developed a clockwork motor for toy cars in 1901 while working for a company called Toy Auto Company. According to the recollections of William Hafner’s son, John, he had developed a clockwork train running on O gauge track by 1905.
Hafner’s friend, William Ogden Coleman, gained control of the Edmonds-Metzel Hardware Company, a struggling hardware manufacturer in Chicago, in 1906 or 1907. Hafner and Coleman began producing toy trains using Edmonds-Metzel’s excess manufacturing capability after Hafner was able to secure $15,000 worth of orders. By 1907, two American retailers, G. Sommers & Co. and Montgomery Ward, were selling Hafner-Coleman aka Edmonds-Metzel trains. In 1908, Edmonds-Metzel adopted the American Flyer brand name for the trains, and by 1910, Edmonds-Metzel was out of the hardware business and changed its name to American Flyer Manufacturing Company.
from Wikipedia
Model Trains History
The above quote shows only a small bit of the story of model trains. If you go to the link for Wikipedia, you’ll find even more interesting information. Today we often give a ‘ho hum’ response to the history of familiar items. But if you take the time to read a bit more about these items, there’s a new appreciation of how they even came about!
American Flyer S-Scale Trains
Our latest ‘collection of collections’ is this assortment of newly acquired American Flyer Showcase Line of S-scale model trains. You’ll want to stop by soon and check it out. Start someone on their collection or add to your own.
Plus we have other trains available including Lionel 0-gauge and S-scale trains, and some H0 as well. Stop in today and browse our collection. We’re here to help you find the perfect ‘starter’ for a new collection or to add to one you already own. We’re here and we’re watchin’ for ya!
