Feb 2001 - Lionel Collectors Club of America

Lionel News& Viewsby Bill Schmeelk RM 6643Lionel and the Nuclear AgeLionel has involved trains in the nuclear age ever sincedemonstrating their knowledge of atomic energy concernsin 1958 when they released the No. 6805 Atomic EnergyDisposal Car. In the next year, they introduced the No.57 AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) switcher. Therewere even stories at the time that Lionel locos were usedto move radioactive materials in AEC test labs. Recently,we’ve seen AEC tank cars with liquid and luminous AECboxcars.1The latest entry in this area by Lionel is its new No.463 Nuclear Reactor. The first hint that Lionelville wasgoing to have its own nuclear reactor can be seen on page25 of the 1958 Lionel consumer catalog — it shows adrawing on the background of the page that appears to bea nuclear power plant.In volume five of the classic sixvolumeseries by Tom McComas & James2Tuohy, Lionel, A Collector’s Guide andHistory, the authors document many of theitems in Lionel’s archive of productionitems, prototypes and other ideas that forone reason or another never made it intoproduction. On page 50, we see a photo ofa Lionel prototype for the nuclear reactorthat Lionel planned, probably in the late50s. Now, 42 years after the 1958 catalogdrawing appeared, Lionel has produced the reactor as partof its Archive series. Even its number is typical of postwarproduction. This new model doesn’t depict a modernnuclear reactor, but rather a 1950s image of one. We canonly guess why it took so long for Lionelville to get atomicpower. Perhaps the Lionelville residents protested againsthaving a nuclear power plant in their backyard.Lionel’s new model is certainly more refined thanthe prototype pictured in the TM book, but it is quite clearthat Lionel’s postwar design was the basis for this newmodel. According to the TM book, the original modelworked with a hand crank and had some revolving lightsunder the dome. Lionel’s new model has a chrome-platedsphere where the original was painted silver.Just what does this accessory do? Glad you asked.First, the moving crane arm picks up “raw material” froma Lionel gondola car. No gondola is supplied as anyordinary one can be used. This “raw material,” mockuranium I suppose, is actuallysmall steel balls, 3/16-inch indiameter. The motorized craneuses a magnet to pick up theballs 1, 2, or 3 at a time. Thecrane arm brings these balls toa loading port on the dome.Photo 2 shows the crane justbefore dropping off its load ofsteel balls. As the crane armcontinues past the loading port,the balls are dropped off and rollinto the dome. As the interiorlights blink in three colors and shine against a prismaticreflector, the balls roll through the dome on a zigzag path.Through a process that is apparently proprietary toLionelville, the energy from them is extracted. The balls,now having given up their energy, continue out of theopposite side of thedome and fall into around container on thebase. During thisprocedure, a silver gateat the front of the reactoropens and allows anumber of “radioactiveisotope spheres” (smallglow-in-the-dark balls)to roll out against theunloading door. A bluishglow can be seen at the door. Photo 3 shows the silvergate and the red unloading ramp. The ramp in this photois shown in its lowered position. This procedure continuesas long as the unit is switched on. When all the raw1958 catalog artwork courtesy of Lionel LLC29The Lion Roars February, 2001