American Flyer: Classic Toy Trains [Hardcover]

Gerry Souter (Author), Gerry & Janet Souter (Author), Janet Souter (Author), Bill Milne (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2002

“Informative and colorfully illustrated....More than 200 color photos of trains and vintage ads make this a delight for collectors.”—Chicago Tribune

 

“A gloriously illustrated guide to the history of the American Flyer...this volume highlights the hardest-to-find, most valuable train cars, while exploring the fascinating evolution of American Flyer toy trains.”—From House to Home

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Friedman (September 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586635743
• ISBN-13: 978-1586635749
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 11.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,074,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Merchant seaman, guard & detective agency officer, artist, international photojournalist, film maker, video and television producer, director and writer, mark some of the career paths of author, Gerry Souter during a long life of world travel and adventures. Amazon lists 31 of 45 of his titles with mainstream publishing houses since 1997. His new fiction work evolves from his love of history, romance and bold characters drawn from his own experiences. His enjoyment of shooting sports, journalism and travel over past decades gives the ring of truth to his writing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All aboard for a magnificent ride, October 27, 2002

By 

M.A. CHRISTENSEN (The Woodlands, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Flyer: Classic Toy Trains (Hardcover)

It has been a while since I had a book I could not put down. This book gives you the complete story of American Flyer trains and competition in the toy train industry. The complete history from the original O and Standard Gauge trains produced by W.O. Coleman and friendship and eventual sale to A.C. Gilbert spans 3/4th of a century. Many of the staff of the original company worked for Gilbert and were influential in the development of 3/16 scale trains. The conversion from three rail to two rail track driven by A.C.Gilbert's goal to produce the most realistic model trains made. Well written and lots of excellent photos. You won't find photos of everything the company ever made, but you will find a page turning text that will entertain and inform from cover to cover

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Photos too artsy -- and filled with errors, October 17, 2006

By 

Phil Kosin (Chicago, Ill.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Flyer: Classic Toy Trains (Hardcover)

As a longtime Gilbert American Flyer fan, I got six copies of this book as gifts from well-meaning friends -- after buying a copy myself at a book-signing.

Upon close scrutiny the book's shortcomings were evident. IMHO, they wasted too much valuable four-color photo space on expensive, coated stock with multiple pictures of the same locomotives. The photo editor went for the "dreamy" look -- vignettes with a very, very shallow (one-inch) depth of field with the locomotive pointed head-on into the lens. The editorial copy was equally shallow.

The editorial copy has far too many errors, meaning that the authors and/or publisher never had someone with even a basic knowledge about Flyer check the manuscript. To wit, there is a photo of a Lionel pre-war M10000 in the book and it is identified as American Flyer.

This book looks nice, but is carelessly slapped together. I would also apply the tag of "punch-press journalism" to this American Flyer book. The cover -- which sells 60 percent of books -- is warm and fuzzy and is designed solely to appeal to impulse buyers. Unfortunately, as I said I've received six more as gifts from well-intentioned folks who know my love of Flyer.

So, if you want a useful book on Flyer and don't want to waste your money, buy a used copy of any one of the three out-of-print Greenberg books or the one written by Paul C. Nelson. But the Souter & Souter tome lacks both sizzle and steak.

4.0 out of 5 stars a decent book on the American Flyer company, February 6, 2010

By 

Kermit Krueger (Chicagoland USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Flyer: Classic Toy Trains (Hardcover)

To most people American Flyer is synonymous with A.C. Gilbert and his slightly smaller than the big name in toy trains products. But that's only the last third of a storied company's history. I wouldn't say this is the definitive work on the American Flyer company but it almost does justice to it, especially if your interest is in the company before A.C. Gilbert bought and transformed it. And, to those who assume the cover displays the competition's product, sorry, it IS an American Flyer train from 1936 -- and probably a better representation of the original than the more common version by the competition.