A Personal Guide to Collecting Postwar 6464 Boxcars – Part 6

e*Train Issue: Jan 2008 | Posted in: 1945-1969 PostWar Era, Collecting

By Mike Stella

**The 6464-475 comes in many variations. Here we see Blue, Aqua, and Purple**.

Well past the half way point I need to continue with the 6464-475 B&M with two additional variations, one in an AQUA shade and the other considered to be the Dark Purple version.

The Aqua color may actually be a sun faded regular Blue version but I must say mine is evenly colored BOTH inside and out. The darkest version really stands out next to all the lighter Blue versions. A nice variation to have.

Next up is the 6464-500 TIMKEN. I have heard the very first ones produced came with Timken trucks but I have never seen one. As with other 6464 boxcars, the later version came without a “BLT Date”. I like to find painted versions of 6464s and the Timken supplies another one.

**No “BLT Date” on top, PAINTED gray mold in middle, and common version on bottom**.

Did anybody remember that 2007 marks 50 YEARS since Lionel introduced the “Lady Lionel” train set more often referred to as the “Girl’s Train”?

**The 6464-510 “Girl’s” version of the NYC in blue** .

The 6464-510 is the first pastel colored boxcar while the 6464-515 is the second one.

**The 6464-515 “Girl’s” version of the MKT in yellow**.

I don’t think a week passes that you can’t find several of either car on the Internet. Lionel must have made thousands of sets and a huge percentage of them have been broken up over the past 50 years and individual cars are very easy to obtain. Expensive but easy!

**The good looking, easy to get 6464-525 M&St.L.**

The final 6464 boxcar in Part Six is the easy to find 6464-525 M&St.L It came is many sets both “O” and 0-27. A great looking boxcar, easy to obtain, and not at all expensive.

**Metal Trucks and Plastic Trucks but is this a variation?**

When I came across a second M&St.L boxcar, I noticed it had the later plastic trucks. I searched in vain for another difference like a change in BLT info, rivet pattern, mold color, ANYTHING! But I couldn’t find anything and then it dawned on me. This is the first 6464 boxcar (maybe the only one?) that comes with metal trucks and later plastic trucks WITHOUT and visible change in the car itself. This certainly makes it worth having both versions.

**Nine more 6464 boxcars with five different numbers**.

As we conclude Part Six I am looking forward to reaching the final boxcars in the postwar series.

BUT were there only 29?

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

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The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

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Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

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* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

A Personal Guide to Collecting Postwar 6464 Boxcars – Part 6

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