3424 Brakeman Car

Production: 1956 - 1958

History
Introduced in 1956, an interesting fact of this freight car is it is Lionel first action-based car to include an electrically controlled figure on the exterior. The action figure was controlled by two low bridge signal poles -- with the first pole lowering the figure prior to a track obstruction (such as a tunnel, bridge or overhead signal) while the second pole raised the figure back to its stand-up position.

The 3424 Brakeman car was included in several catalogued sets as well as being available for separate sale. It remains a popular and common item to locate these days. However, with many small and fragile components, locating a complete and undamaged brakeman car will require some time and patience. Lastly, this freight car always had the Wabash road name and graphics on the exterior.

Features
The 3424 was introduced with the following features: unpainted blue body with white lettering, bar-end trucks with tab couplers and a box of separate low signal bridge warning components. The top figure always included a hand-painted face and hands. Additionally, the component box was stamped 3424-100 and contained the following items:

• Instruction Sheet
• Two orange poles
• 24 white telltales (12 for each pole)
• Two 027 and two O gauge track activators
• Two metal pole support brackets -- which also attach to the track activators

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
There are a couple of known variations to the Wabash Brakeman car -- and collecting each combination can be a fun but length endeavor. Those variations include:

• The blue shell is known to exist in a light, medium and dark blue color. Although none are rare, the more common colors are the light and medium blue. The darker blue color is the hardest variation of the three different colors.
• The figure on top of the freight car was available in either white or blue -- each having a hand-painted face and fingers. Experienced collectors believe the white figure was produced for all three years while the blue figure was manufactured in 1956 and part of 1957. The white figure is the more common color.

Light Blue Body & White Figure - Shown in first photo above - All 3424's had unpainted blue bodies with white lettering and a figure on top.

All Three Blue Color Variations - (Second photo above) - The light blue is at the top, medium blue in the center and dark blue at the bottom.

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