The Depressed Center Cable Reel Car No. 6561 was made from a die-cast chassis adapted from the No. 2461 Transformer Car and is painted in various shades of GRAY. Like the transformer car, this car came with Type 6 bar-end trucks with magnetic couplers mounted to the chassis with plates. There are two brake wheels and four steps on this car. These are often missing or broken.

Produced from 1953 until 1956, this car has BLACK rubber-stamped "6561 LIONEL LINES 6561" serif lettering on the sides.

The No. 2461 chassis was modified by drilling a hole and slot to hold the elastic cord that is stretched over the cable reels and held them in place. Reproductions of this cord are available.

The cable reels contained wound rolls of .072" diameter aluminum wire and "LIONEL" was cast in the sides. In some cases Lionel dealers sold these reels with actual insulated electrical wire and these reels are sometimes found on this car. There are four variations that involve the color of the chassis and the reels:

Variation A: Came with GRAY cable reels.

Variation B: Came with LIGHT ORANGE cable reels.

Variation C: Came with DARKER ORANGE cable reels.

Variation D: Produced on a BROWN chassis that has WHITE rubber-stamped "6561 LIONEL LINES 6561" serif lettering on the sides. with GRAY cable reels.