Flyer layout mixes old and new
Tradition shapes Bill Clark’s S gauge layout
Sgauge layouts, like those with toy trains of other scales and gauges, vary dramatically in dimensions, appearance, and operation. A good number of them strike observers as products of tremendously skilled artists or technicians with access to a range of new materials and sophisticated methods of building. Then there are the wonderful S gauge railroads that run smoothly and elicit smiles while hearkening back a generation or two. They boast several loops of American Flyer track and multiple sidings to accommodate operating cars. And accessories from the postwar era dominate the different scenes far more than do structures and landscaping. In fact, scenic effects may be minimal and detailed buildings absent. Consider these layouts to have been built in the spirit of Gilbert.
These traditional sorts of S gauge displays would have greatly pleased Mr. A.C.
Gilbert. They would have gratified as well other executives at the company, along with its salesmen, engineers, and factory supervisors. One look at a layout such as the 9 x 20½-foot railroad developed by modeler Bill
Clark, and the men most devoted to American Flyer would have wished they might claim it as their own.
Knows it all
For a person to move beyond basic enjoyment of an activity with the goal of mastering its every facet is uncommon. Bill, whose passion for American Flyer trains can be traced to his infancy in the late 1940s, is one of those individuals. More than being satisfied operating his roster of postwar and modern locomotives, he has pushed himself to gain the knowledge to maintain and repair them. He has done the same with the stations, loaders, and signals he has bought over the past 40 years.
In addition, Bill has aimed to learn everything about what the Gilbert Co. made. He has scrutinized vintage catalogs and promotional literature and studied a variety of reference books and magazine articles. There’s nothing about the Flyer line he hasn’t expressed curiosity about.
Bill wanted to share his knowledge with other S gauge enthusiasts. So he became a regular contributor to the premier magazine for members of that niche, S Gaugian. For 10 years, right through the final issue of that publication in 2019, Bill wrote the authoritative column, “The Roundhouse.” Readers admired the depth of his learning and thanked him for sharing his expertise.
Find your teachers
Of course, Bill will be the first to tell you how great teachers have guided him along the life-long journey he has taken with American Flyer. Three men have shaped his appreciation for S gauge modeling – four, if you count old A.C. Gilbert himself.
Bill recalls first his dad bringing home for Christmas of 1948 a Flyer no. 4607A set with a no 312 Pennsylvania RR K5 4-6-2 Pacific and tender pulling four cars: the nos. 625 tank car, 632 hopper, 633 boxcar, and 630 caboose.
The toy seemed magical to Bill, as did the no. 577 whistling billboard he also saw. As grateful as the three-year-old boy must have been for this amazing gift, he quickly realized his dad considered it his personal toy. Before long, though, Bill was asserting control over the Flyer train.
Bill describes how his roster expanded over the years with more rolling stock, a slick no. 360/361 Santa Fe Alco PA diesel combination, and a no. 689 station. The father-and-son team built a 4 x 8 layout.
All the lessons about carpentry and electricity Bill gleaned from his dad remained engraved on his brain long after he grew up and launched a career. At Eastern Illinois University, he met his next Flyer mentor. Eugene McFarland gladly shared information about what Gilbert had cataloged and how it ran. Bill felt eager to return to a hobby he loved.
As the years passed and Bill welcomed two children (Beth and Mike), his involvement with American Flyer grew stronger. Friends he met while living near San Francisco introduced Bill to more of what Gilbert had made and Lionel had started to produce. They also advised him to join the Train Collectors Association and attend the NorCal trading get-togethers.
Another bit of advice motivated Bill to subscribe to S Gaugian. In its pages he became familiar with his third mentor, Don Heimburger, who had founded the magazine and served as its editor. The information filling its pages enriched Bill’s enjoyment of his trains and inspired him to build.
Knowledge at work
Graduate education and professional moves caused Bill to keep pulling up stakes as the 1980s and ’90s progressed. Bill realized his knowledge was advancing as steadily as his collection of postwar and modern American Flyer was growing. Sooner or later, he knew, he would build his dream layout.
The initial attempt came approximately 25 years ago during Bill’s self-described “trial-and-error stage.” He put to good use everything he had read and observed regarding benchwork and wiring, constructing a cool 6 x 10-foot two-rail display easily rolled on casters. What amounted to a train room actually was a vacant space in the family’s garage high enough Bill could park a car under it. Nice beginning, though he envisioned more.
Much more, to be honest. Eventually, Bill got what he had long hoped for. A subsequent move led to a bigger house, one with a spare room he could claim for his trains. Mary was thrilled her husband would be able to display his many Gilbert and Lionel sets, along with the engines and cars from American Models he had been purchasing. Modern S gauge products left a positive mark on Bill.
Once adequate lighting had been added and shelving had been put up on the walls, Bill prepared to commence construction on a fairly basic yet appealing tribute to the best Gilbert had ever manufactured. He imagined having a pair of 7 x 9-foot tables connected by a much smaller one measuring 6 inches by 4 feet.
What Bill had in mind was something out of the 1950s. Plenty of track, loads of accessories, and few details would provide opportunities to show others how much fun a Flyer layout could be. The display was going to be something visitors to the Gilbert Hall of Science might have seen.
Accessible to all
When asked to summarize the look of the layout in a few words, Bill will invariably state it is something a 10-year-old kid could execute. The pictures he took for this exclusive article belie that description. This is a model railroad more likely to have been planned, built, and wired by a very talented 16-year-old kid.
No disrespect is intended here. The nature of Bill’s layout – how you can imagine creating something similar – is what makes it both special and inspiring.
This experienced hobbyist deliberately set out to build an S gauge display traditional in almost every aspect. Like many of his peers, he wished to give it a toy-like appearance that departs from and almost contradicts the highly realistic and detailed approach widespread among model railroaders in all niches today.
The virtue of Bill’s approach is that it makes his layout accessible to every observer. Folks who may never have built one, maybe because what they’ve seen intimidates or overwhelms them, should feel comfortable with what Bill has done. He has demonstrated that with the skills a talented teenager could have acquired 60 years ago, you can create a meaningful and entertaining S (or O) gauge layout.
Basic proof
Possibly the assertions stated in the previous paragraphs have failed to dispel your doubts. Perhaps the superb look of the layout seems too good and even professional. Let’s break down Bill’s work to show how he pulled it off.
Consider the benchwork. Just fundamental tabletop standing 30 inches off the floor and assembled using 2 x 4 lumber and ½-inch-thick plywood supported by cross braces made out of 1 x 2 pieces. A novice can build what Bill attests is so sturdy and stable a person can walk over or sit on it. And yes, he has done both!
Or the track. Bill chose to use the postwar straights and curves he had been finding for years at train shows. “This is what I had as a boy and knew was the only way to have a genuine American Flyer layout. Same with the switches.”
Bill interjected that, prior to screwing the Gilbert track sections in place, he had covered the plywood surface with green
indoor/outdoor carpeting on sale at a local home-improvement center. “It’s inexpensive and looks great,” he said.
Any other tips? “Yes,” added Bill. “From the same dealer I also bought white roofing material that I cut and then placed under the main lines and sidings to simulate ballast.” There’s another way that simplicity and cost influenced him.
Something new
Another noteworthy quality about Bill’s layout reflects his understanding of what animated Gilbert, both the man and the business. To put it bluntly, for all the homage paid to the past (the track and accessories, above all), Bill absolutely refuses to neglect the present. How the hobby has improved, especially in regard to technology, continues to intrigue him. Such a fascination with change reminds us of A.C. Gilbert and Maury Romer, who supervised production of the train line.
Therefore, even though Bill depends on classic postwar transformers to power the trains and accessories, he has intelligently explored the options command control provides. He may operate the dozens of vintage Flyer locomotives on his roster strictly via the pair of no. 30B transformers, but the contemporary motive power from Lionel that Bill prizes performs its best with that firm’s FlyerChief and Legacy systems.
A similarly open attitude about modern reissues of favorite operating accessories from the 1940s and ’50s characterizes the layout. Bill venerates the coal and log loaders manufactured at Gilbert’s legendary plant in New Haven, Conn. He has an example of each of them, plus all the other innovative talking stations, baggage movers, and animated freight cars and platforms made there. Nonetheless, he will be the first to admit that some of the reissues produced by Lionel and MTH have great merit and shouldn’t be ignored.
Interest in and respect for current items complements Bill understanding of what elevated Gilbert in the marketplace when he was a boy. The addition of key newcomers to a wonderland of collectibles broadens his homage to Gilbert.
Wrapping it up
At this stage, when discussion of the scenery and structures may be fitting, Bill shrugs his shoulders and confesses, “There isn’t much to tell you.” After all, the landscaping on his layout boils down to a couple of the mountains cataloged in the Flyer line and a river consisting of crinkled aluminum foil with clear blue plastic wrapping paper on top. Nothing beyond what was tried half a century ago.
For the assorted buildings, Bill has made his way through American Flyer catalogs over the past 40 years and gradually acquired the wood and Masonite stations, industries, residences, newsstands, and more Mini-Craft made for Gilbert. He avoids altering the antiques in any way.
Miniature automobiles, trucks, and buses crowd the streets and highways. They’re either old die-cast metal items found at train shows and antique malls or recently produced versions of postwar vehicles. Either way, they look great when posed with the Plasticville trees and vintage metal and plastic people and animals.
A bit more
Bill refers to himself in a self-effacing manner as “just a toy train guy.” He feels no urgency how to create forests from scratch or add parts to S gauge locomotives. Weathering and kitbashing are tasks he diligently avoids, much preferring to spend his time running trains and troubleshooting accessories.
Which is all well and good except that it somehow misses the significance of what this American Flyer advocate has achieved. Bill has brilliantly designed and carefully finished a display capturing what made the Gilbert Co. a landmark producer of model trains in America. He has done so rather quickly yet without ever cutting corners. His layout is one to inspire everyone who loves Flyer.