Paul, my first set had #303 plastic Atlantic. I'm not sure of the car consist. The caboose said only "American Flyer Lines." Dad was "into" trains in a big way and bought a new car or three every year for a while. By the time I was old enough to take "model railroading" seriously, AF had stopped making everything but the cheapest sets. So we shopped classifieds, flea markets, etc. for trains. At one of these sources, we got your Pacific, already in bad shape. I repainted it, filed down the handrails and ran wires, made a water pump that stuck out like God intended, etc. It ran like a champ, I have to say, in spite of previous abuse and my "maintenance.
I had two of the flatcars, too, but I don't recall ever having the "stakes." Instead I made my own stakes and put my own loads on them, as a way of keeping them on the track as much as anything else. Somewhere along the line, we also scrounged a PRR 0-6-0 with a slope-backed tender and a K-5 Pacific. Then I grew up, got married, bought a house that had no room at all for such things, had kids, and discovered that the train were taking more and more maintenance just to run, on the few times I did get them out. I kept the Atlantic and a few other pieces, and sold the rest to a collector friend. Sometimes, when I see a K-5 I miss it hard, though. More than you wanted to know, I'm sure.
- Paul Race (other Paul)