METCA - Really, again? This time with a 6464.

Shhh...  I haven't ordered mine yet!

With the TCA offering a 6464-100 decorated as originally shown in the 1954 catalog (with a white feather), this year is a 6464 bonanza!

Nice, but it doesn't really have the overall look of a 6464 car in my opinion.  It looks more like the MPC-derived version of that type of boxcar, because it's missing the upper and lower metal door guides, and lacking any rivet detail running down the sides of the car.  Both of those are virtually hallmarks of a 6464 boxcar.  Unless that's just a concept picture and the actual car will be different.

As opposed to the first three contributors to this discussion, I truly am (aka C Weber) "an old 6464 nut"-who because of my age, should be at the end of train collecting. However my interest has not waned and so I continue to collect, trying to be more focused. I agree with J Korling regarding the differences between the true 6464 types ( including the door guides) and the most recent offerings. I forget which club I had an off-line discussion with-but it is clear that Lionel will very unlikely re-do the true 6464 type boxcars-so the offerings from NETCA, METCA, LOTS, TCA, etc. will have to do. On the other hand-some of these new cars labeled as 6464 are really nice-including the reverse color Alaskan. So I will likely continue to collect even the non-true 6464 box cars.

sold out already?

1. The paint scheme is nice but Menards could do it just as well and a allot cheaper. The body shell is exactly what Menards uses.

Dave

@VADarthDad posted:

sold out already?

Yes.  Everything available is here:

Available

If you see it here, it's unavailable.

Stu

sold out already?

@Former Member posted:

Shhh...  I haven't ordered mine yet!

With the TCA offering a 6464-100 decorated as originally shown in the 1954 catalog (with a white feather), this year is a 6464 bonanza!

Lets hope these are actual 6464 cars. I ordered a pair as well. The last run of TCA TOFC were supposed to have Weaver flats and trailers but instead Lionel shipped Lionel items. I admit Lionel PS4 flats are the best but still disappointing for a Weaver TOFC collector.
I agree with John, 6464s require both metal door guides, rivets and the number starts with 6464.

Pete

Perhaps someone from Lionel can tell us whether the true 6464 cars ( rivet pattern, metal door guides top/bottom, etc.) will ever be "available" again. As I said above, I've heard that Lionel will not do this mold again.

@traingezer posted:

sold out already?

Yes, the Alaska is sold out.

@Norton posted:

Lets hope these are actual 6464 cars. I ordered a pair as well. <snip> I agree with John, 6464s require both metal door guides, rivets and the number starts with 6464.
Pete

The cars will be produced exactly as they were shown in the advertisements.  Smooth sides, plastic door guides and numbered as shown.

Stu

@turtle7 posted:

Perhaps someone from Lionel can tell us whether the true 6464 cars ( rivet pattern, metal door guides top/bottom, etc.) will ever be "available" again. As I said above, I've heard that Lionel will not do this mold again.

I'm not from Lionel, but I know the answers to your questions.  Lionel box cars with full rivet detail, double metal door guides, etc. are available any time.  They never went anywhere.  The mold/tooling is readily available for use/production whenever anyone wants to make a car with that tooling.  Feel free to share where you heard that incorrect information regarding the availability of that mold.

Stu

@NOT LionelLLC posted:

The cars will be produced exactly as they were shown in the advertisements.  Smooth sides, plastic door guides and numbered as shown.

Stu

Stu, was that your call or your predecessor's? I am surprised the TCA of all organizations would offer a car lettered as 6464 that bears little resemblance to what most all its members regard as a 6464. I understand modern replicas don't always match the originals in every detail but this is like painting a N&W J in Daylight colors and calling it a SP GS engine.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Stu, was that your call or your predecessor's? I am surprised the TCA of all organizations would offer a car lettered as 6464 that bears little resemblance to what most all its members regard as a 6464. I understand modern replicas don't always match the originals in every detail but this is like painting a N&W J in Daylight colors and calling it a SP GS engine.

Pete

My call.  If there was a way to offer the car with the deluxe features, and not loose money on the project, we would.   Using the Made in USA style car with fewer details is what makes these projects viable.

Stu

@NOT LionelLLC posted:

My call.  If there was a way to offer the car with the deluxe features, and not loose money on the project, we would.   Using the Made in USA style car with fewer details is what makes these projects viable.

Stu

If that being the case, I myself would have numbered it as anything other than a 6464 box car.  Also I'd disagree with the description of the metal guide doors and side rivet detail as "deluxe features."  In the traditional and historical perspective of 6464 boxcars, those details were standard features, not deluxe or optional features.

Just my own opinion of course.

Stu      I honestly do not remember the person or the club from which I heard that " Lionel will unlikely make further traditional size box cars in the true 6464 style". It was a few years ago and I had contacted on of the major clubs ( LCCA, NLOE, RRMLI, LOTS, METCA, NETCA, TTOS, etc.-I dont think it was the national TCA ) about one of their club cars-it was one of the clubs that had done quite a few club cars in the true 6464 mold. The very nice person , as best I can remember, told me that he thought that subsequent box cars from that club would be more from the 9200/9700 molds because Lionel would no longer produce the 6464 type traditional box car. It made sense to me as neither Lionel nor any of the clubs ( even if they advertise a 6464 box car in their club offerings) have produced a 6464 type box car since that discussion. Clearly that club representative ( nor I ) did not intend to be negative-rather just stating what they thought the future would bring. Again, being an old 6464 box car nut, I would be happy if these reappeared on the scene.  Thanks, turtle7

Are 6464's that popular to drive this so quickly to sell-out status?   I snoozed and I lost;  I'm an Alaska RR collector, not a 6464 collector, so I thought I'd have more time.  In the words of the great Homer Simpson,  "D'oh!".

@Grampstrains posted:

In reality, it's a "9700".  I expected that when I ordered one.  It sold out pretty fast so the whole thing for now doesn't really matter.

Thats the key here. If METCA and TCA had simply numbered them and referred to them as 9700 cars there would be no complaints. Hard to imagine it costs that much more to produce a true 6464 than its does to make a 9700. It will be interesting to see what trucks come with these cars as well. Likely not the sprung diecast trucks we have seen on previous 6464 remakes.

Pete

BwanaBob  The 6464s were popular among PW collectors-there were about 30-some different #s made, many with significant variations-but except for a handful of truly rare pieces, one could collect many/most -and so there was a group of PW collectors who focused on these cars-lead initially at least by one of the original 6464 "experts"-Dr C Weber (" I am  a 6464 boxcar nut") who wrote about them in a TCA quarterly.  Since then there have been a number of experts including folks like Roger Carp and Joe Algozzini ( hope that spelling is correct) who, with the help of others, wrote a great series on the 6464s in CTT. There have been a number of nice OGR discussions-including some thoughtful input by RockyMountaineer who comments on how the market had been flooded by a rerun of the entire series by Lionel two ( or three) times and other sets like the Overstamped and Archives series. In addition, as mentioned above, multiple clubs have done numbered and un-numberes 6464s. TCA etrain keeps an updated list on PW and modern 6464s. The older Greenbergs also do these cars justice.  So they certainly were popular-but with the passing of time and aging of folks who grew up ( and old-like me) with these train cars , the number of true 6464 nuts is quickly decreasing. Therefore I would think that most of the interest in this reverse color Alaskan car is mainly because is is just a great color and would liven up your Alaska RR consist(s). Enjoy !!  turtle7