I'm new to the American Flyer scene and I have just acquired a 314AW locomotive that's in need of repair. Nothing major is wrong from what I can tell. I've disassembled the loc and here is what needs to be replaced

1. Rebuild the smoke unit - new wicking, gaskets (top and bottom) new brass smoke stack.
2. Missing front boiler piece where there headlight is
3. Is this loc suppose to have handrails that run along side the length of the engine? I see the tiny cotter pins that would hold the handrails. Handrails are up at the front of the loc.
4. Front pilot has a broken step.

Motor, gears, wheels, armature all look good. Just needs a bit of cleaning and the parts listed above. Is this loc worth fixing up? Should I just scrap it for parts? Are original parts available or do I have to get reproduction parts? Who's a good American Flyer dealer to go to?

I briefly looked at the tender and its in much better shape. Its missing one wheel on its front truck and the little connection pins which plug into the back of the engine. Whistle and reverse unit seem sound (just needs to be cleaned).

Thanks for the help!

Joe

Here's a link for Portline Hobbies they will have the parts your looking for including a repro whistle controller Parts and look down the list there instructions for rebuliding the smoke units they are easy to do Repair Info

Port Lines is an excellent source for the parts. You'll be hard pressed to find an original smoker rebuild kit, and original boiler front. Handrails you can fashion yourself or buy from a parts vendor. Yes, the loco came with them. The repro smoker wick kits are all consealed inside the smoker so thre is no big deal as the new kits work just as well or better than the originals. The difference is that the originals used genuine angel hair material for the wick where the reproductions use a modern equivilant. You do not need to replace the gaskets unless they are missing. Repro smoke stack inserts are exactly the same as an original without the discoloration from age. The repro boiler front may not come with the headlamp lens, bell, or headlamp bracket so be sure to order them seperately if the reproductions piece is not complete. Unless the engines paint and lettering are crisp and like new I'd not worry too much about the chipped pilot step. You have the hard part, the tender with complete whistle and relay on an original tender frame, the loco is therefore worth fixing.

PRRDave

Thanks guys. I'll call Port Lines and get the parts needed to repair the loc then. The paint on the loc, while OK, has a normal amount of paint chips from an engine that was well played with. The white engine numbers do look great - no noticeable wear. The engine does have the headlight bracket and bulb - it appears I am just missing the boiler front.

The loc also came with an original flyer whistle activation button. That thing is huge compared to a Lionel Whistle controller. Whats in that thing? It only has a a single spring loaded toggle switch on top. I have not tried it out yet to see if that works.

Joe

The guts to the 314AW whistle controller are essentially the same as the whistle circuit in a lionel transformer. A rectifier is entered into the line when the switch is thrown which passes a DC pulse through the track to activate the whistle relay. Lionel sued Gilbert over this design claiming patent infringement. However, Gilbert actually used this DC relay arrangement long before Lionel did, so many Flyer historians to this day scratch their heads and wonder why Gilbert didn't win that suit. You can use a Wistle capable Lionel transformer to run the 314AW and activate its whistle.

Order soon as Doug will be closing down August 1 thru 12 for the S Gauge club convention.

PS: Don't forget the bell!! It goes on the boiler front on the K5 class.

PRRDave

Port Lines is awesome. What a nice guy to deal with. He set me up with all the parts I'll need to restore the loc and tender. Plus he threw in a wiring diagram for the tender in case I have issues.

It gets even better. I had some Flyer cars beyond repair, and he said he take'em to salvage the good parts and credit me back for the parts.

This is such a great hobby!!!

Thanks guys for the help and directing me to Port Lines.

Joe

Doug is real nice, I see him at several shows a year and I always stock up with parts and he will always help with advise....