American Flyer Trains

In 1937, The A.C. Gilbert Company purchased the American Flyer model train company. The company had been struggling, but A.C. Gilbert Co. made them successful again by improving the model offerings and marketing them with the rest of their engineering educational toys.

Every year from Thanksgiving to late January, visitors can also experience the A.C. Gilbert Train Display, a beloved annual tradition. As well as viewing a four-track model with Gilbert American Flyer trains, visitors can also run one of the train lines themselves. 

See More: American Flyer Train Show

The Passenger Car

Alfred Gilbert arrived at Yale in 1903 by rail. The Northern Pacific, The New York Central, and The New Haven railroads had carried him from Salem, Oregon to New Haven in a mere 96 hours. America was moving and railroads drew its map. By the time he brought American Flyer to market in 1946, the airport and highway had begun to reshape American geography.

The Coal Car

Gilbert pressed his Erector Square Factory complex against a rail siding in Fair Haven. Coal fired his factory and New Haven’s growth.

The Box Car

Rail united the states in commerce. Gilbert’s sold his products to the nation. And some of his products...his motorized orange juicer, for example, followed the delivery of other new products: Florida’s oranges.

The Circus Car

Before, television, before radio, rail was the entertainment network: it brought the circus. So smitten was the young Al Gilbert that he tried to join the circus at age 9. He remained a passionate showman throughout his life.

The Radio Car

Gilbert invented a new kind of showmanship. Briefly in the early 20’s he outfitted a garish mobile showroom linked to Erector Square by radio. His blend of entertainment and sales introduced America to broadcast advertising.