About This Space & Military Series Car

The 6805 Atomic Waste Car was introduced by Lionel in 1958 and was sold for two years (through 1959). It also has two other names: the Atomic Energy Disposal Car and the Radioactive Waste Car. The 6805 is essentially a flatcar with a unique feature: it has metal rails that are held in place with clips with the rails being energized from a truck with a collector assembly (pickup roller). The load consists of two simulated waste containers that contain a red plastic insert holding a special light bulb. The lights blink at random and are visible through clever cutouts in the containers thus showing the symbol for radioactivity.

Photo of the 6805 Atomic Waste Car

Additional Details

The containers can be painted either gray or tan. The gray ones are much harder to find. The containers have "RADIOACTIVE WASTE" in black lettering and "DANGER" in red lettering on them. Each container has four handles on the top which are extremely fragile. Because they are delicate, it is difficult to find a car with original, unbroken containers. The 6805 is considered to be part of Lionel's "Space & Military" series.

Return to The Archives Introduction Page	How can we help?	~~~~~ Return to ~~~~~ ~ Space & Military Cars ~

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 September 9, 2005. If you have suggestions for improving this page or if you see any errors, please contact us.