John...... "American Flyer" refers to toy trains sold by the A.C.Gilbert Company and/or Lionel Corporation which purchased the A.C.Gilbert Co years ago and has reintroduced American Flyer trains. Many S fellows are strictly AF folks and want nothing else on their shelves. Some even have layouts. Some want only ACGilbert trains and do not consider the Lionel trains to be authentic. Others mix AF with stuff from lots of other companies such as AM, SHS, Marx, K-Line, etc.
"Hi-rail" refers to a group of modelers who are attempting to make AF and similar trains more realistic, but do not try to achieve the full realism of scale modeling. The typical hi-rail guy might use wheels with smaller-than-AF-but-larger-than-scale flanges and/or couplers that are smaller-than-AF-but-larger-than-Kadee#5. Some hi-rail guys use Kadee O scale couplers. Some keep the AF couplers. Some use Kadee S couplers. Rail size is sometimes smaller than AF track, but larger than scale track (code 100). So hi-rail track can be code 148 or 125, but could be most anything. The tricky thing about hi-rail is there are no standards for much of anything. And, a hi-rail guy might change one, two or all three of the three basic factors: flanges, couplers, or rail. Each hi-rail guy does his own thing as he wishes. Some hi-rail guys add details to the models and repaint or weather them. Other hi-rail guys wouldn't consider doing that. I sometimes think of hi-railers as a group of fellows who are having difficulty deciding if they want to play with toy trains or realistic scale models. There is a tremendous range of layout quality within the hi-rail category. From exceptional to toy-like and everything in between. Hope this helps....Ed L. --- In [email protected], "John Degnan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Since I became interested in S scale, I have been under the impression that the terms "American Flyer" and "Hi-Rail" were references to the same standards... toys with pizza-cutter wheel flanges and low levels of detail and accuracy. but a recent comment by someone has me curious if my understanding is off-base a bit. So if there are, indeed any differences, can someone please relieve me of my apparent ignorance and educate me on the differences between the standards, type and make of models these terms refer to and to what type of models and the menufacturer(s) thereof either term refers? > > Confused and befuddled (as usual?)... > > > John Degnan To REPLY to the list, use REPLY ALL; to reply to the sender, use REPLY. For those of you on DIGEST mode, all REPLY messages go to the list (remember to edit the SUBJECT of your message). Change message settings, use our CALENDAR or LINKS, view shared files or photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
