About This Space & Military Series Car

The 3665 Minuteman Boxcar was introduced by Lionel in 1961 and was sold for four years (through 1964). This interesting car was actually based on a missile-launching railroad car developed by the U.S. Air Force! There are three known versions of this car: the most common one has a dark-blue roof, while the other two versions have a light-blue roof. The 3665 produced with a 3619 body mold is the hardest to find. That variation is distinguished by a molded hole above the "E" in "MINUTEMAN" on one side. All of the 3665 boxcars came with an unpainted white body that was decorated with red and blue heat-stamped lettering. The launching mechanism must be set manually. When activated, the two-part roof halves open and the rocket is fired. A 413 Countdown Control Panel or a remote control track with an unload button is required to effect this action.

Photos of the 3665 Minuteman Boxcar (3619 mold version)
ABOVE: note molded hole above "E" on side. BELOW: roof open showing rocket.

Additional Details

The 3665 is part of Lionel's "Space & Military" series. The tabs that hold the roof halves are often broken. Because the roof halves are easily detached, one or both are sometimes missing. In addition, the multi-part rocket is usually missing. Both reproduction rockets and reproduction roofs are available. The launching mechanism is not a reliable device and it can be quite tricky to achieve consistent and accurate firings. This car always came with AAR trucks.

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This page is an information document only; nothing on this web page is being offered for sale. This page and all of the other pages from Our Archives were developed to assist you in understanding differences in variations of engines, rolling stock, cabooses, passenger cars, and accessories sold by Lionel in the postwar era. We have used pictures from our old files and personal collection to construct this area of our website to show the characteristics of collectible variations. If you are interested in buying something, please go to one of our inventory listings to see what we currently have for sale.

This web page was last updated on August 13, 2013. If you have suggestions for improving this page or if you see any errors, please contact us.