Connecticut S Gaugers

For Scale, Hirail and American Flyer S Gauge Model Railroaders

Bob LaRiviere, the master craftsman of American Flyer conversions, has created an extended depressed center flatcar. Bob kitbashed the car using two AF depressed center flats cut and seamed together in the center...where else. He added pony trucks to the extensions with SHS trucks. He tapered the extension ends and added wooden slats and storm window screens for the flooring gridwork on the extended ends. The underbody was detailed to prototypical accuracy using information provided by Mr. Peters who has a rail museum in Wallingford, CT. The car was painted Tuscan and lettered with S scale transfers. Bob explained that this car was made circa 1956 and served the GE plant in Pittsfield, MA on the New Haven line. The car was used to ship generators through the days of the Penn Central Railroad, and I use that word "railroad" liberally in the context of the PC. While this project may have given avid AF collectors a bout of angina, it is nothing short of a masterful display of fine craftsmanship and creativity.

Photos by Craig S. O'Connell