Welcome to The Lionel trains Library – a website created to assist you in understanding differences in variations of engines, rolling stock, cabooses, passenger cars, and accessories sold by Lionel in the postwar era (1945-1969). Our objective is to construct a website that is robust, easy to use and informative as you learn about the products made by one of the most famous toy companies in the world during a glorious but challenging era.

We invite you to stroll down memory lane as you are rewarded with thousands of photos of the wonderful trains and accessories that you may have had as a kid – or wished you could have had when growing up.

Please note that the items described in the underlying pages are not available for sale. Please go to both of the websites shown below to view what is currently for sale by the authors . We also encourage you to e-mail us with feedback as to how close we are achieving our goal.

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6417 N5C Caboose

Production: 1953 - 1957

History
Beginning in 1953, there was an effort within Lionel to produce larger and more realistic trains while at the same time decreasing production costs. One of the nicest -- and more realistic -- offerings from that year was the 6417 caboose. The 6417 replaced the 6457 SP-style caboose as the premium caboose in its line of O Gauge trains.

The 6417 is a realistic and scale-like model of it real-life counterpart. It's usually found with Pennsylvania lettering, but was briefly produced with the Lionel Lines and Lehigh Valley roadnames. The Pennsylvania version was included in many sets as well as being available as a separate sale item. Clean examples of any 6417 caboose remain in demand by both collectors and operators.

In addition to Pennsylvania markings, Lionel also offered this caboose with both the Lehigh Valley and Lionel Lines roadnames. Each of these are hard to locate as they were only manufactured for a single year -- 1954.

Features
The 6417 caboose is a nice caboose with good detail. Standard features include: painted bodies and lettering, illumination, bar-end trucks with a single operating coupler, plastic end railing detail on each end plus plastic brakewheels and roof ladders.

The actual number on the side of the Pennsylvania caboose is '536417.' The Lehigh Valley version carries '641751' on the sides while the Lionel Lines version wears the number '64173.'

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
The length of this caboose is approximately 7 3/4" long (coupler to end).

Pennsylvania, with 'New York Zone' - Shown in the photo above - The most common version.
Pennsylvania, without 'New York Zone' - A scarce version, difficult to located.

Lionel Lines - Catalogued by Lionel with the number 6417-25, this is a hard variation to locate.

Lehigh Valley - Catalogued by Lionel with the number 6417-50, it has a gray body and is a rare variation of the 6417 caboose. An even scarcer variation of this caboose has a tuscan exterior.

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