Lionel Electric Trains Identification Guide Sub-Title
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This Identification Guide for Lionel Electric Trains covers the "Post-war Era" only from 1945 until 1969.

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Lionel Trains Rocket Flat Car No. 6407 LIONEL TRAINS ROCKET FLAT CAR No. 6407

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The Lionel Rocket Car No. 6407 with Blue Capsule
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Lionel Trains Rocket Flat Car No. 6407The Rocket Car No. 6407 had a rocket and capsule that were produced by Sterling Plastics, a leading manufacturer of school supplies of the time. Some of these rockets came with a pencil sharpener in the Mercury Capsule that twists off the end of the rocket that could be used to house pencils or other school supplies.

Produced only in 1963 on a RED No. 6511-2 flat car chassis, this car is not numbered on the sides and came with AAR trucks. Because of the "greasy" finish of the missile that required treatment to accept paint, it is difficult to find today without fading of the RED paint on the missile.

When Lionel contracted with Sterling to produce this missle they did not want to pay for the pencil sharpener. However, Sterling included this sharpener on some of the Mercury Capsules that were sent to Lionel. This is why Lionel never advertized that this car came with a pencil sharpener.
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Some rockets have been found with the word "ASTRONAUT" molded vertically on the rocket.
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The RED tail fins snap in place at the base of the rocket and are sharply defined. On reproduction rockets this RED color on the tail fins will blend with the WHITE of the rocket blurring the colors where they meet. This is the easiest way to tell if the rocket is original.
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Additional verification can be found on the base of the rocket where there is a "Sterling" imprint. When Sterling sold the molds for the rocket and the capsule they removed their imprint.

 Bottom of Capsule showing Pencil Sharpener
Original Sterling Packaging

This car was offered for separate sale by Lionel, but was mainly sold in sets. Only those cars that were sold separately came in an ORANGE picture box making this box hard to find today.

There are five variations that have different colors of capsules at the tip of the rocket:
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Variation A: Has a BLUE Mercury Capsule.
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Variation B: Has a RED Mercury Capsule.
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Variation C: Has a BLACK Mercury Capsule.
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Variation D: The rocket has large vertical lettering "ASTRONAUT" and came with a GOLD Mercury Capsule.
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Variation E: Has a LIGHT BLUE Mercury Capsule.
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Not all of these color changes in the capsule are confirmed and reader verification of original pieces are requested. Please use the contact link at the bottom of this page.
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 No. 6407 Orange Picture Box End
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