The R & D Corner
Not "Research & Development", but
"Randy & Dennis", taking an in-depth look at some of Lionel finest!
Lionel's Automatic Refrigerated Milk Car
The automatic refrigerated Milk Car was introduced by Lionel in 1947 with number 3462. The first run was produced with a clear plastic body painted cream. The car had aluminum doors and a small hatch in the roof to accept the returning milk cans. The trucks were staple-end and utilized a coil coupler. In 1947 the catalogue price for the milk car was $8.95. In 1948 the car received a change in its mechanism from a delicate brass mechanism to a simpler thicker Nickel-Plated Steel design. The price of the milk car was increased to $9.95 in 1948.
The milk car number was changed to 3472 in 1949 when Lionel changed to magnetic couplers for most of its rolling stock. The 3472 Milk Car still had aluminum doors and a small roof hatch.
In 1950 the milk car changed from aluminum doors to plastic doors and larger roof hatch was added. The plastic doors are often missing or broken and represent one of the largest opportunities for replacement parts yet today. In 1951 the milk car was not changed, except the price was increased to $11.50.
The only change that happened to the milk car in 1952 was the changing of the staple-end trucks to bar-end trucks. The price of the milk car was reduced slightly to $10.50.
In 1954 a change was made to the attachment of the body on the frame with a slot and tab on one end of the car and a screw on the other end. This change caused Lionel to change the number of the car to 3482. In their haste to make this change Lionel changed the large number on the left side of the car to 3482, but neglected to change the smaller RT 3472 on the right side of the car. This oversight was corrected in 1955.
The Automatic Refrigerated Milk Car was produced in this form from 1947 thru 1955. The design of this car was attributed to the inventor Richard G Smith, a carpenter in upstate New York, who invented many of the accessories marketed by both Lionel and American Flyer. He also invented other accessories, such as the barrel car, log dump car, log loader, icing station, and fork-lift platform. Some of which we will discuss later! In 1951 Lionel sold 180,000 milk cars at $11.50 each earning about a million dollars and inventor Smith earned two percent of wholesale gross, received a $20,000 royalty from Lionel.
From 1947 through 1955 Lionel sold “Two and a half million” Milk Cars. Price included a platform and seven cans.
Article prepared by Randy Box
Information taken from Looking at Lionel operating Milk Cars, by David Fleming.
Greenberg’s Guide to Lionel Trains 1945-1969 Volume II. Behind The Scenes
The publication was copyrighted in 1991.
Pictures supplied by Dennis Heban