3413 Mercury Capsule Launching Car

Production: 1962 - 1964

History
The 3413 Mercury Capsule Launching flatcar is a unique looking freight car that is very loosely based upon a real life missile launching freight. Lionel's version is creative and designed to; carry and launch a missile, have the capsule separate from the missile at peak flight and finally have a parachute open and safely bring the capsule back to earth! In practice, all of these steps rarely worked perfectly -- but nevertheless was innovative for the early 1960's.

This freight car was included in five catalogued sets in the early 1960's as well as over 25 uncatalogued or promotional sets! When included in a set, Lionel usually included the 6512 Cherry Picker flatcar as these two freight cars paired up nicely in a space or military themed set. Even though the freight car was included in so many sets, it's a somewhat hard item to locate and it's components are fragile and frequently cracked, damaged or lost.

Lastly, locating an original and undamaged box for the Mercury Capsule car -- especially in collectable condition -- is near impossible. The launching mechanism does not have a locked position, so any slight shift or movement by the freight car while in transit with fire the launching mechanism -- which will inevitably shoot right through the side of the box!

Features
Standard features of the 3413 include: unpainted red flatcar with white lettering, AAR trucks with two operating couplers, gray launching platform with a red firing mechanism, gray missile cradle plus a brakestand and brakewheel. The missile is a two-piece component with a white missile, red base and the top gray Mercury Capsule. The capsule is removable from the missile plus a red parachute is attached to the capsule.

It is interesting to note, Lionel never printed the 3413 number on the side of this freight car.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information

Only Known Variation - All 3413's have a red flatcar, gray support structure and white missile with a removable gray capsule.

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