Gilbert O Gauge: Locomotives

The second 3/16" locomotive to appear in 1939 was the Union Pacific Northern 800-series. These, of course, were the largest steam locomotives American Flyer would ever produce.

Like the Hudson, the first production models used a spur gear drive. The model was cataloged as 568 and came with DRC. The cab number was 806; this was the number of the prototype that was used in UP publicity photographs.

Gear Drive

Unfortunately, I don't have an example of this model, but here are some pictures from an online auction.

Worm Drive

Like the Hudson, the Northern was later converted to worm drive. In 1940 and 41, the DRC model was cataloged as 534 and the standard remote control version as 572. These numbers were applied to the cab. The DRC version was available in kit form.

These models had some of the same problems with quality control of the castings that plagued pre-war production. It may not be immediately obvious, but the boiler on this engine is slightly bent just ahead of the firebox, and the cab is offset to the left. This seems to be a common problem. More seriously, when it was acquired, the diecast floor of the tender was badly bent upwards in the middle, making it unusable. An attempt to straighten the floor resulted in breaking it in two. It was then epoxied back together, and has been operating ever since. The break is very hard to notice.

With the boiler weights, this is an extremely heavy locomotive. The engine alone is 4 lb 9 oz, and with the tender it's an even 6 lb. That's a lot for a 3/16" scale model!

The 534 is the 40-41 DRC version of the Northern.

Set 4023

The tender design with six-wheel trucks remained with AF models until the end. Later versions of the UP 800's had pedestal tenders, but that would have made an impractical model for AF's 20" curves.