6464-300 Rutland

Production:  1955 & 1956

History
The 6464-300 Rutland box car was introduced in 1955 and was only produced for two years. It's a colorful and accurate model of the real-life Rutland box car seen in the United States in the 1950s. Although the Rutland was produced for only two years, there are many variations dealing with specific detail of the body mold and lettering. To keep things simple, this web page will discuss the common variations.

The Rutland box car was available as a separate sale box car as well as a component of two different O gauge sets in 1955. For 1956, the Rutland was not included in any Lionel outfit. 

Features
The 6464-300 box car included the following standard features: yellow shell painted green with yellow lettering on the green portion and green lettering on the yellow section. Bar-end trucks with magnetic couplers were standard as was a metal frame, a sliding side door on each side and a single brakewheel.

Other features common to a specific year are:

• 1955 - The side doors were generally the multi-block type and the 'R' in Rutland was printed in the first panel from the left.
• 1956 - The side doors were generally the single-block type and the 'R' in Rutland was printed in the second panel from the left.
• There are many instances where a single block door is on a 1955 box car and vice-verse. This usually indicates it was manufactured in late 1955 or early 1956.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
For a very brief production run, the Rutland shield (on the right of the box car side) was printed with a solid background. This solid shield variation is rare.

Solid Shield - A rare variation, extremely difficult to locate.
Rutland Lettering Starting In First Panel - Shown in first photo above - The common version from 1955.
Rutland Lettering Starting In Second Panel (Second photo above) - Much harder to locate compared to the 1955 variation.

To purchase quality Lionel Box Cars from our sponsors, click on either website:

Dave's Trains Inc.