@Dennis Holler posted:I have another prewar Flyer Northern on the way. Tender is a little rough, but should be able to get it back running again with some side frames and a pilot. Looking forward to getting this one as it as nice solid numbers on it unlike my other 806. This would be the 1939 spur gear motor version with the RDC reverse (sort of like Lionel's Magic Electrol). It triggers using the Lionel whistle control if you don't have the proper Flyer RDC controller button. It is a little interesting that the tender is a chugger which they did not start making until 1941 so either it's a put together loco and tender or the accepted timeline is suspect.
I've got a love/hate relationship with those prewar Flyer 3/16ths O gauge locomotives - my first exposure to them was rebuilding a small fleet of them for a train museum. I loved the look, especially the UP 4-8-4 and long tender - I quickly discovered the dirty secret of the prewar Flyer pieces. I chose a 4-8-4, started to back out a screw and suddenly a chunk of the casting came off with the screw in place - grrrr, the dreaded Dorfan's Disease (zinc pest) reared its ugly head - this would be where the hate part ot the equation came into play. The shell disintegrated - I ended up with a chassis which I got running, all the non-cast detail pieces and luckily a boiler front; the tender shell had crazing and crumbling, all the steps had snapped off, and the chassis was warped from front to back L got all the trim pieces, a drawbar and unbelievably a pair of tender trucks with minimal bowing of the sideframes. Each piece was a crapshoot- some were solid, others looked solid but turned to zinc crumbles - never a dull moment working on those Flyer locomotives.
