3362 Helium Tank Car

Production: 1961 - 1963 & 1969

History
On the real railroads, helium was largely shipped within the US via rail between 1957 and 1970. Then, beginning in the early 1970's, shipments quickly transitioned to US highways via trucks. Conceptually, the 3362 freight car was based up real life freight cars shipping helium -- however the actual railroads never dumped helium tanks as the standard unloading process!

The 3362 Helium Tank flatcar was introduced in 1961 and produced for three years. Subsequently, it was re-introduced as a freight car for a single year in 1969. The 3362 included three silver wooden simulated helium tanks during its initial production. Later production from 1969 only included two helium tanks.

Features
Standard features of the 3362 included: unpainted green frame with white lettering, AAR trucks and an unloading unit which required a manual reset after activation.

Production from 1961 and probably part of 1962 included AAR trucks with two operating couplers. Sometime in 1962, Lionel began to produce the car with either two operating couplers or one operating and one fixed coupler.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
The 1969 version of this car did not include any number or lettering. It was simply a green operating car with two wooden helium tanks.

Early Production, With Side Lettering - Shown in the photo above This is the earlier production run from 1961 - 1963.
Late Production, Unlettered - Produced as a single year item in 1969 and included only two helium tanks.

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