ionel knew the value of this car from the pre-war years. Although, all of the post war cars would be made from plastic, they carried the tradition of hauling many types of loads into to the post war period. It was a rare train set that did not have at least one of these cars.

The first car issued was a nicely detailed eight inch car labeled for the Pennsylvania railroad in 1945. In 1948, this car was joined by another eight inch car that was labeled "LIONEL" and was always found in Lionel’s Scout and later their more economical sets. The third, and larger, 9-9/16 inch car was almost always imprinted with New York Central markings. There were other specialized cars that were issued and these are listed in the Operating Cars section.

Below we’ve listed these cars by their series type:

The Type 1b body mold was used on 1947 and later productions that had Type 3b trucks. Note that the early productions used flat fillister head body screws, while the 1947 and subsequent productions would use smaller round head screws to attach the body to the under frame.

This car was not available after 1949.

See the Numerical Index for additional details about the individual gondola cars in this series.

These 8 inch Gondola Cars were first produced for Lionel’s Scout Sets in 1948, and unlike their predecessors the 2452 Series they did not have a metal undercarriage. Equipped initially with scout trucks they would later be fitted with regular trucks with magnetic and later disc couplers. These cars are always imprinted with the "LIONEL" name and were made entirely from plastic.

These Large Lionel Gondola Cars measure 9-9/16 inches long and they joined the Lionel line in 1949. These cars almost always appeared with the markings for the "NEW YORK CENTRAL" railroad and sometimes they came with six barrels that, until 1954, were the type that have the top and bottom rims. After this date, these barrels were of the smaller type that were sometimes stained, and these barrels were developed for use with the No. 3562 Barrel Car.

First issues of these cars have brake wheels and side steps at the four corners that were part of the sheet metal under frame. These steps were eliminated by 1950. Lionel was not consistent in their use of brake wheels, which are sometimes found throughout the various issues until 1954, when they were eliminated.

In 1954 Lionel would change the way the heat-stamped lettering was applied. Prior to this date the "N" in "NYC" was located in the second panel and after 1954 this letter appeared in the third panel. It is important to note that the earlier issues have the number "Under-Scored," whereas later issues would have the "NYC" "Over-Scored" and only sometimes was the number still "Under-Scored."

Running concurrently with these changes was that of the weight data that was printed on the sides of the cars. From 1949 until 1951 there was three lines of data, and from 1950 until 1954 there would be only two lines of data. After 1954 Lionel would revert back to three lines of car weight data. First issues of these cars had Staple-End trucks. These were replaced by Bar-end trucks in late 1951.

All in all, this issue of these gondola cars makes one of the most interesting examples of variations for the collector. See the Numerical Index for additional details about the individual gondola cars in this series.