Advertising Transparencies
These transparencies from the Ray Mohrlang Collection constitute some of the few color photographs of American Flyer displays. These photos were apparently intended to be used in catalogs and other advertising media. Ironically few of these actually made it to the advertising in color.
With one exception, they were taken from 1959-1962. This was after the Hall of Science in New York closed in 1958. At this time, Gilbert maintained its sales office at 200 5th Ave., where most toy manufacturers of that era had their offices. Gilbert did have a major display in those offices, which can be seen at the following link. It is possible that some of these photos were taken on parts of that layout, but the photo of that layout is not detailed enough to confirm that. It is also possible that these photos were taken on dioramas constructed especially for photography purposes. My best guess is that it is a combination of those two possibilities.
The photos shown here were probably seconds which were discarded in favor of better shots. You can see that the advertising photos used differ slightly in several cases. Unfortunately, these photos had deteriorated with age, but thanks to the Photoshop skills of Daryl Olszeski, they have been restored to approximate their original condition. I have tried where possible to match them up with the advertising in which they were used.