#6464-425

Oh no!!! Not another @#$%^&*
#6464 Variation!
By Bob Mintz

In the 6464 Series VI of 1997, there was a reissue of the original Postwar 6464-425 boxcar, this one numbered # 6-19295.  It contained crisper graphics, (after all, this was some 41 years later); different built date of course, but all in all, a decent replica.

#6-19295

Lionel issued # 6-21763 in 1999, a New Haven Freight Set delivered in 2000, part of the Postwar Celebration Series.

1999 VOLUME 1 CATALOG

Well, celebrate I did not, since this set did not include the engine, selling separately as # 6-18319 New Haven EP-5.  The freight set, as the original Postwar set, included a 6464-425 New Haven boxcar.

#29293

Although I have the original Postwar version and the re-issue in Series VI, I hedged and purchased the New Haven Freight Set, hoping that the freight set's particular boxcar would be different from the one issued in 1997.

My instincts proved correct as there was a slight, but significant difference between the two.

The variation in the NH Freight set, which I later discovered to be numbered # 6-29293, says "BUILT 1999 BY LIONEL" with a "PW" beneath the number; while the version in Series VI says "BLT 1-97 BY LIONEL", sans the "PW".

To add insult to injury for my find, it turns out that Lionel was "blowing out" the 1999 Freight Set version of the 6464-425 at its factory liquidation sale.  In fact, since the doors were interchangeable, several were either sold or rebuilt with red and other door colors.

#6-29293 SHELL

The Lionel Volume II catalog presented #2507W New Haven F3 Freight Set #6-38324.

As an accountant, my background has “trained” me to look for patterns, and I figured that we would have yet another 6464-425 New Haven boxcar in this new issue.  This was a no brainer since the original Postwar set had one.

2009 VOLUME 2 CATALOG

When I got the nice replica of this Postwar set in a Postwar box, I noticed an immediate concern to further confuse the collector.  The problem is that there is absolutely no SKU number on the Postwar style box identifying it.  I have given it the name 6-38324-4 since it was the fourth item in the set.

Perhaps not as significant a variation as the #6464-300 Rutland solid shield or the #3435 Aquarium Car with the "Tank 1/Tank 2 and large circle "L"", the 6464-425 remains a unique variation nevertheless, especially in the Modern Era.

                                       #6-38324-4