The Gilbert American Flyer HO Index |
1959 was the 50th Anniversary of the A.C.
Gilbert Co. Gilbert had modified the chassis of the Atlantic to
produce an old time locomotive to head a set dubbed The Frontiersman.
This set was heavily merchandised in the S Gauge line, as evidenced by
the advertising of that time. In order to produce an equivalent
set in the HO line, Gilbert contracted with Mantua-Tyco, who was already
producing an old time set marketed as "The General" of Civil War fame.
Less well known is the fact that Gilbert also provided shells for Tyco
passenger cars in that same year. It is likely that the use of
these shells was part of the deal which included the manufacture of the
Gilbert HO Frontiersman set by Tyco.
Click here to view full 1959 catalog page
It is possible, though not likely, that some Gilbert length cars
exist decorated for New Haven and Santa Fe. The 1960 catalogs
consistently
show illustrations of such cars in the Gilbert length. They
continue to be shown inconsistently in catalogs for 1961 and 1962
along with photos of the shorter plastic Tyco cars. I checked with
several Gilbert Collectors and none had ever seen New Haven or Santa Fe
cars in the Gilbert length and the general consensus is that they don't exist other than
possible mockups created for catalog photos.
It is clear that Tyco did offer Santa Fe and New Haven cars, as well as those decorated in other road names, in 1960 and following years, but they used the shorter Tyco manufactured shells. I do think it is possible that some Gilbert sized cars were produced for the catalog photo shoots, possibly due to unavailability of the shorter cars, in an effort to make deadlines for printing the next year's catalogs. Once the illustrations were created, why waste money doing more accurate ones when the shorty cars became available. After all, they were just children's toys and who would notice. (us collectors 60 years later that's who!) Today, they would probably just photoshop the existing illustrations to do the same thing, but back then they needed a model for a photo shoot, so there may be some examples of such cars out there. If so, they would be extremely rare and quite collectible. If you come across any, be sure to let me know at flyerdisplays@att.net
Illustrations
above and catalog page courtesy of
hoseeker.net
These Gilbert body cars are easily distinguishable from the more common Tyco cars produced in 1960 and following years because they are longer, as can be seen in the photos below from Joe King's collection. They illustrate the short plastic Tyco cars, the long Tyco-Gilbert cars, and the Gilbert Cars. |
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Click on Images for a larger view | ||||
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![]() Tyco-Gilbert Coach - B&O - Dom San Giovanni Collection |
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![]() Tyco-Gilbert Observation - B&O - Dom San Giovanni Collection |
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![]() Tyco-Gilbert Combine - Canadian Pacific- Dom San Giovanni Collection |
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![]() Tyco-Gilbert Coach - Canadian Pacific- Dom San Giovanni Collection |
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![]() Tyco-Gilbert Observation - Canadian Pacific- Dom San Giovanni Collection |
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Size Comparison Photos of Tyco shorty cars, Gilbert Tyco cars, and Gilbert Cars | ||||
![]() Tyco-Gilbert Combine - Photo Courtesy of Joe King |
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![]() Tyco-Gilbert Coach - Photo Courtesy of Joe King |
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![]() Photo Courtesy of Joe King |
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![]() Inside of Tyco-Gilbert 1959 shell showing Gilbert part number |