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Product Description
Production: 1957 - 1959
History
The 3444 Erie Animated gondola was a new type of animated freight car produced by Lionel in 1957. Lionel's clever use of modifying their simple and traditional 6462 gondola to include striking animation of a patrolman chasing a hobo around the gondola was unlike anything previously offered by Lionel.
Lionel offered this new freight car in two sets in 1957. The first was an O gauge diesel set with the 2339 Wabash at the front while the second set had the 2379 Rio Grande F3 diesel as the lead locomotive. Additionally, the 3444 was available as a separate sale item for. that same year.
Finally, the Erie Animated gondola is a tempermental item as the vibromotor design is prone to needing frequent care or cleaning for proper operation. Although this freight car is a somewhat common item, locating one in nice condition -- which is also fully functional -- might require a bit of effort.
Features
Standard features on the 3444 Erie gondola include: unpainted red gondola with white lettering, bar-end trucks, tan crates with black lettering plus a patrolman wearing a blue uniform and a hobo wearing gray clothes. Lastly, there is an on/off switch located on the top of the tan crates which operates the patrolman and hobo.
It is interesting to note the early 1957 version of this gondola only had a single center rail pick-up truck to power the animated freight car. Then, according to Lionel production records, on October 29th of 1957, a second center rail pick up truck was added to the freight car. The early variation of this gondola with the single center rail pick up truck is much harder to locate compared to the later version. However, in today's market, there is not much of a premium for the early version having a single center rail power source.
Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
Only Known Variation - Other than the addition of a second center rail pick-up mentioned above, all 3444's were unpainted red gondolas with a blue patrolman pursuing a gray hobo endlessly around the gondola.
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