Daniel,

The Atlantics are a great buy, as are most of the common link coupler freight cars. There's a site on-line that has all of the Gilbert American Flyer catalogs, you should be able to find your original set.

If you want to add passenger service to the Christmas Tree Central you should be able to find the New Haven coaches for around $25 each, just make sure they have metal frames and the round weights on the couplers. Flyers 1946-47 production trains lack the coupler weights and the cars can have severe warpage issues. Cast and sheet metal frames added to most of the rolling stock in '48 cured the serious warpage issues (although some roofs are a little humped) and the coupler weights help keep the links locked.

When I got back into Flyer I decided to stay in the link coupler era for cost reasons. By the time Flyer converted the entire line to knuckle couplers in 1954 the toy train craze had just about peaked. Flyers mid-to-late 1950's line includes some beautiful trains, but sliding sales meant lower production numbers and more collectable trains. Those higher priced cars you mentioned are an example. The trains that made Flyer (and Lionel) famous were produced in large numbers and are generally not very collectable. Good news for operators.

I have a web site with some info on Flyer, along with a checklist to tune up link couplers, located here

Brady