The Unloading Bin No. 160 was available throughout the entire post war period. This dump bin was also produced during the pre-war period, however, it was only available for separate sale during the Post War Era from 1952 until 1955. Although these bins made during these years are common, the boxes that were used to house the separate sale bins are difficult to find.

There are two types of boxes. One has the OPS price printed on them as is illustrated above, and the other more common box does not have any pricing information.

From 1947 until 1955 this bin was made from Bakelite, which is a hard plastic material that was compressed inside a mold instead of the injection procedure that was used during the majority of the post war period for Lionel’s plastic component parts. These Bakelite bins are very brittle and are often found with chips missing from them.

There are five variations:

Variation A: Common Bakelite BLACK 7" bin. It was produced for separate sale between 1952 and 1955. Like New Condition requires that the box is present.

Variation B: Identical to Variation A except it is made out of multicolored specks in addition to the predominantly BLACK color. Because the Bakelite scraps could not be melted down and reused Lionel was using up their stock of different colors on these bins. Each one of these multi-colored bins is unique in the pattern of colors.

Variation C: Identical to Variation A except it is made in a solid BROWN color. These were most likely made in a limited production run sometime in 1948.

Variation D: When Lionel produced the Automatic Coal Dump Car No. 3459 in 1947 they originally made the coal dump bin out of steel. However, this bin was too heavy with the added (then Bakelite) coal for the solenoid on the car to move the bin. So the material used for the bin on this car was changed to aluminum. The steel metal bins that had been made were sold as No. 160’s and included in the first manufactured production of the No. 3459 in 1947. This metal unloading bin, along with the regular Bakelite production (Variation A) are both shown in the 1947 catalog.

Variation E: Was introduced in 1955. This bin is longer, 8-1/2", and is made from BLACK injected molded plastic. The increased length was needed to accommodate the longer length of the Twin Bin Dump Car No. 3359. Using the injection mold for these bins saved Lionel money because the plastic from connecting sprues and malformed bins could be recycled.