Refrigerator car

This article is about refrigerated railroad cars in the U.S.. For European practice, seeRefrigerated van.For the Spin Doctors song, seePocket Full of Kryptonite.

Arefrigerator car(or"reefer") is arefrigeratedboxcar(U.S.), a piece ofrailroadrolling stockdesigned to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Refrigerator cars differ from simpleinsulatedboxcars andventilatedboxcars (commonly used for transportingfruit), neither of which are fitted with cooling apparatus. Reefers can beice-cooled,come equipped with any one of a variety of mechanical refrigeration systems, or usecarbon dioxide(asdry ice) or liquid nitrogen as a cooling agent.Milk cars(and other types of "express" reefers) may or may not include a cooling system, but are equipped with high-speedtrucksand other modifications that allow them to travel withpassenger trains.

A modern refrigerator car. The mechanical refrigeration unit is housed behind the grill at the lower right, the car's "A" end.

Anheuser-Buschwas one of the first companies to transport beer nationwide using railroad refrigerator cars.

History

Background: North America

Illinois Central Railroad#14713, a ventilated fruit car dating from 1893

After the end of theAmerican Civil War,Chicago, Illinoisemerged as a majorrailwaycenter for thedistributionof livestock raised on theGreat Plainsto Eastern markets.Transporting the animals to market from ranches in Texas required herds to bedrivenup to 1,200 miles (1,900 km) torailheadsinKansas City, Missourior later to more westerly locations, such asAbilene, Kansas(1867,Kansas Pacific Railway) andDodge City, Kansas(1872,Santa Fe Railroad), where they were loaded into specializedstock carsandtransportedlive ( "on-the-hoof" ) to regional processing centers. Driving cattle across the plains also caused tremendous weight loss, with some animals dying in transit.

Upon arrival at the local processing facility, livestock wereslaughteredby wholesalers and delivered fresh to nearby butcher shops for retail sale, smoked, or packed for shipment in barrels of salt. Costly inefficiencies were inherent in transporting live animals by rail, particularly the fact that approximately 60% of the animal's mass is inedible. The death of animals weakened by the long drive further increased the per-unit shipping cost. Meat processors sought a method to ship dressed meats from their Chicago packing plants to eastern markets.

Early attempts at refrigerated transport

An advertisement taken from the 1st edition (1879) of theCar-Builders Dictionaryfor theTiffany Refrigerator Car Company,a pioneer in the design of refrigerated railroad cars

During the mid-19th century, attempts were made to shipagriculturalproducts by rail. As early as 1842, theWestern Railroad of Massachusettswas reported in the June 15 edition of theBoston Travelerto be experimenting with innovativefreight cardesigns capable of carrying all types of perishable goods without spoilage.The first refrigerated boxcar entered service in June 1851, on theNorthern Railroad (New York)(or NRNY, which later became part of theRutland Railroad). This "icebox on wheels" was a limited success since it was only functional in cold weather. That same year, theOgdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad(O&LC) began shipping butter to Boston in purpose-built freight cars, using ice for cooling.

Meat

The first consignment of dressed beef left theChicago stock yardsin 1857 in ordinaryboxcarsretrofitted with bins filled with ice. Placing meat directly against ice resulted in discoloration and affected the taste, proving to be impractical. During the same periodGustavus Swiftexperimented by moving cut meat using a string of ten boxcars with their doors removed, and made a few test shipments to New York during the winter months over theGrand Trunk Railway(GTR). The method proved too limited to be practical.

Detroit'sWilliam Davis patented a refrigerator car that employed metal racks to suspend the carcasses above a frozen mixture of ice and salt. In 1868, he sold the design toGeorge H. Hammond,a Detroit meat packer, who built a set of cars to transport his products to Boston using ice from theGreat Lakesfor cooling.The load had the tendency of swinging to one side when the car entered a curve at high speed, and use of the units was discontinued after several derailments. In 1878 Swift hired engineer Andrew Chase to design a ventilated car that was well insulated, and positioned the ice in a compartment at the top of the car, allowing the chilled air to flow naturally downward.The meat was packed tightly at the bottom of the car to keep thecenter of gravitylow and to prevent the cargo from shifting. Chase's design proved to be a practical solution, providing temperature-controlled carriage of dressed meats. This allowedSwift and Companyto ship their products across the United States and internationally.

Swift's attempts to sell Chase's design to major railroads were rebuffed, as the companies feared that they would jeopardize their considerable investments instock cars,animal pens, and feedlots if refrigerated meat transport gained wide acceptance. In response, Swift financed the initial production run on his own, then — when the American roads refused his business — he contracted with the GTR (a railroad that derived little income from transporting live cattle) to haul the cars intoMichiganand then eastward through Canada. In 1880 thePeninsular Car Company(subsequently purchased by ACF) delivered the first of these units to Swift, and the Swift Refrigerator Line (SRL) was created. Within a year, the Line's roster had risen to nearly 200 units, and Swift was transporting an average of 3,000 carcasses a week toBoston, Massachusetts.Competing firms such asArmour and Companyquickly followed suit. By 1920, the SRL owned and operated 7,000 of the ice-cooled rail cars. TheGeneral American Transportation Corporationwould assume ownership of the line in 1930.

Abuilder's photoof one of the first refrigerator cars to come out of theDetroitplant of theAmerican Car and Foundry Company(ACF), built for theSwift Refrigerator Linein 1899

Live cattle and dressed beef deliveries to New York (short tons):

	(Stock Cars)	(Refrigerator Cars)
Year	Live Cattle	Dressed Beef
1882	366,487	2,633
1883	392,095	16,365
1884	328,220	34,956
1885	337,820	53,344
1886	280,184	69,769

The subject cars travelled on theErie,Lackawanna,New York Central,andPennsylvaniarailroads.

Source:Railway Review,January 29, 1887, p. 62.

Acirca1870 refrigerator car design. Hatches in the roof provided access to the ice tanks at each end.

19th Century American Refrigerator Cars:

Year	Private Lines	Railroads	Total
1880	1,000est.	310	1,310est.
1885	5,010est.	990	6,000est.
1890	15,000est.	8,570	23,570est.
1895	21,000est	7,040	28,040est.
1900	54,000est.	14,500	68,500est.

Source:Poor's Manual of RailroadsandICCandU.S. Censusreports.

Fruit and fresh produce

In the 1870s, the lack of a practical means to refrigeratepeacheslimited the markets open to Samuel Rumph, aGeorgiapeach grower. In 1875, he invented a refrigerated railcar and crates that allowed him to grow peaches on a very large scale and ship them to distant markets. He was the first to achieve this. His innovations created Georgia's fame for peaches, a crop now eclipsed economically by blueberries.

Edwin Tobias Earlwas born on a fruit ranch near Red Bluff, California on May 30, 1858. His father was Joseph Earl, his mother Adelia Chaffee, and his brother was Guy Chaffee Earl. He started his career in the shipping of fruits. By 1886, he was President of the Earl Fruit Company. In 1890, he invented the refrigerator car to transport fruits to the East Coast of the United States. He established the Continental Fruit Express and invested US$2,000,000 in refrigerator cars. In 1901, he sold his refrigerator cars to Armour and Company of Chicago and became a millionaire.

By the turn of the 20th century, manufactured ice became more common. ThePacific Fruit Express(PFE) - a joint venture between theUnion PacificandSouthern Pacificrailroads, with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by theAmerican Car and Foundry Company(ACF)- maintained seven natural harvesting facilities, and operated 18 artificial ice plants. Their largest plant (located inRoseville, California) produced 1,200short tons(1,100t) of ice daily, and Roseville's docks could accommodate up to 254 cars. At the industry's peak, 1,300,000 short tons (1,200,000 t) of ice was produced for refrigerator car use annually.

On the east coast of the United States, in 1920 the companyFruit Growers Express(FGE) was established and owned by a consortium of eastern railroads to serve the wholesale market for refrigerated produce delivered by railcar. In addition to operating and servicing refrigerated railcars, FGE became a major manufacturer of insulated boxcars and mechanical refrigerated cars.

Ice

The use of ice to refrigerate and preserve food dates back to prehistoric times. Through the ages, theseasonal harvestingof snow and ice was a regular practice of many cultures. China,Greece,andRomestored ice and snow in caves, dugouts orice houseslined with straw or other insulating materials. Rationing of the ice allowed the preservation of foods during hot periods, a practice that was successfully employed for centuries. For most of the 19th century, natural ice (harvested from ponds and lakes) was used to supply refrigerator cars. At high altitudes or northern latitudes, one foot tanks were often filled with water and allowed to freeze. Ice was typically cut into blocks during the winter and stored in insulated warehouses for later use, with sawdust and hay packed around the ice blocks to provide additional insulation. A late-19th century wood-bodied reefer required re-icing every 250 miles (400 km) to 400 miles (640 km).

Top icing is the practice of placing a 2-inch (51 mm) to 4-inch (100 mm) layer of crushed ice on top of agricultural products that have high respiration rates, need high relative humidity, and benefit from having the cooling agent sit directly atop the load (or within individual boxes). Cars with pre-cooled fresh produce were top iced just before shipment. Top icing added considerable dead weight to the load. Top-icing a 40-foot (12 m) reefer required in excess of 10,000pounds(4,500kg) of ice. It had been postulated that as the ice melts, the resulting chilled water would trickle down through the load to continue the cooling process. It was found, however, that top-icing only benefited the uppermost layers of the cargo, and that the water from the melting ice often passed through spaces between the cartons and pallets with little or no cooling effect. It was ultimately determined that top-icing is useful only in preventing an increase in temperature, and was eventually discontinued.

• 
  Men harvest ice onMichigan'sLake Saint Clair,circa1905. The ice was cut into blocks and hauled by wagon to a cold storage warehouse, and held until needed.
• 
  Ice blocks (also called "cakes" ) are manually placed into reefers from a covered icing dock. Each block weighed between 200 and 400 pounds (91 and 181 kg). Crushed ice was typically used for meat cars.

The typical service cycle for an ice-cooled produce reefer (generally handled as a part of a block of cars):

1. The cars were cleaned with hot water or steam.
2. Depending on the cargo, the cars might have undergone four hours of "pre-cooling" prior to loading, which entailed blowing in cold air through one ice hatch and allowing the warmer air to be expelled through the other hatches. The practice, dating back almost to the inception of the refrigerator car, saved ice and resulted in fresher cargo.
3. The cars' ice bunkers were filled, either manually from anicing dock,via mechanical loading equipment, or (in locations where demand for ice was sporadic) using specially designed field icing cars.
4. The cars were delivered to the shipper for loading, and the ice was topped-off.
5. Depending on the cargo and destination, the cars may have been fumigated.
6. The train would depart for the eastern markets.
7. The cars were reiced in transit approximately once a day.
8. Upon reaching their destination, the cars were unloaded.
9. If in demand, the cars would be returned to their point of origin empty. If not in demand, the cars would be cleaned and possibly used for a dry shipment.

• 
  This engraving of Tiffany's original "Summer and Winter Car" appeared in theRailroad Gazettejust before Joel Tiffany received his refrigerator car patent in July, 1877. Tiffany's design mounted the ice tank in aclerestoryatop the car's roof, and relied on a train's motion to circulate cool air throughout the cargo space.
• 
  A rare double-door refrigerator car used the "Hanrahan System of Automatic Refrigeration" as built byACF,circa1898. The car had a single, centrally located ice bunker which was said to offer better cold air distribution. The two segregated cold rooms were well suited for less-than-carload (LCL) shipments.
• 
  A pre-1911 "shorty" reefer bears an advertisement forAnheuser-Busch'sMalt Nutrinetonic. The use of similar "billboard"advertisingonfreight carswas banned by theInterstate Commerce Commissionin 1937, and thereafter cars so decorated could no longer be accepted for interchange between roads.

Refrigerator cars required effective insulation to protect their contents from temperature extremes. "Hairfelt"derived from compressed cattle hair, sandwiched into the floor and walls of the car, was inexpensive, yet flawed over its three- to four-year service life it would decay, rotting out the car's wooden partitions and tainting the cargo with a foul odor. The higher cost of other materials such as" Linofelt "(woven fromflaxfibers) orcorkprevented their widespread adoption. Synthetic materials such asfiberglassandpolystyrenefoam, both introduced afterWorld War II,offered the most cost-effective and practical solution.

The United States Office of Defense Transportation implemented mandatory pooling of class RS produce refrigerator cars from 1941 through 1948.World War IIexperience found the cars spending 60 percent of their time traveling loaded, 30 percent traveling empty, and 10 percent idle; and indicated the average 14 loads each car carried per year included 5 requiring bunker icing, 1 requiring heating, and 8 using ventilation or top icing.

Following experience with assorted car specifications, the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association (UFF&VA) listed what they considered the best features of ice refrigerator cars in 1948:

• Steel cars (vs wood) for better insulation protection and greater rigidity resulting in reduced leakage around doors
• A minimum of 4 inches (10 cm) insulation thickness with all insulation protected from moisture
• Cushioned trucks anddraft gearto minimize jarring and bruising of produce
• Standardized interior dimensions to allow improved loading methods with standardized containers
• Adjustable ice bunker bulkheads to allow greater floor space for shippers using top icing alone
• Vertically adjustable grates within the ice bunkers to allow half-stage icing to reduce icing charges where appropriate
• Forced air circulation within the car
• An additional lining to allow side wall flues circulating air around all cargo preventing contact with exterior car walls
• Perforated floor racks providing similar protection and air circulation under the cargo
• Provisions for pre-cooling the cars with a portable unit at the loading platforms.

Mechanical refrigeration

In the latter half of the 20th century, mechanical refrigeration began to replace ice-based systems. Soon after, mechanical refrigeration units replaced the armies of personnel required to re-ice the cars. Thesliding plug doorwas introduced experimentally by P.F.E. (Pacific Fruit Express) in April 1947, when one of their R-40-10 series cars, #42626, was equipped with one. P.F.E.'s R-40-26 series reefers, designed in 1949 and built in 1951, were the first production series cars to be so equipped. In addition, the Santa Fe Railroad first used plug doors on their SFRD RR-47 series cars, which were also built in 1951. This type of door provided a larger six foot opening to facilitate car loading and unloading. These tight-fitting doors were better insulated and could maintain an even temperature inside the car. By the mid-1970s, the few remaining ice bunker cars were relegated to "top-ice" service, where crushed ice was applied atop the commodity.

Cryogenic refrigeration

TheTopeka, Kansasshops of the Santa Fe Railway built five experimental refrigerator cars employingliquid nitrogenas the cooling agent in 1965. A mist induced by liquefied nitrogen was released throughout the car if the temperature rose above a pre-determined level. Each car carried 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of refrigerant and could maintain a temperature of minus 20 degreesFahrenheit(−30 °C). During the 1990s, a few railcar manufacturers experimented with the use ofliquid carbon dioxide(CO₂) as a cooling agent. The move was in response to rising fuel costs, and was an attempt to eliminate the standard mechanical refrigeration systems that required periodic maintenance. The CO₂system can keep the cargo frozen solid as long as 14 to 16 days.

Several hundred "cryogenic"refrigerator cars were placed in service transporting frozen foodstuffs, though they failed to gain wide acceptance (due, in part, to the rising cost of liquid carbon dioxide).

Experimentation

Aluminum and stainless steel

Several experimental cars were built when wartime production restrictions were relaxed in 1946:

• Illinois Central Railroadnumber 51000 was built in theMcComb, Mississippishops with an aluminum superstructure to reduce weight with steel where required for strength and provided the standard dimensions, cushioned draft gear, easy-riding trucks, minimum 4 inches (10 cm) of insulation, adjustable ice bunker bulkheads and half-stage icing racks with forced air circulation through side wall flues and floor racks recommended by UFF&VA.
• Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatchnumber 13000 was built ofstainless steelby theConsolidated Steel CorporationofWilmington, Californiawith convertible ice bunkers, side ventilation ducts, and axle-driven circulation fans. It was thought that stainless steel would better resist the corrosive deterioration resulting from salting the ice. The one-of-a-kind unit entered service as #13000, but was subsequently redesignated as #1300, and later given #4150 in 1955.The car spent most of its life in express service. Cost was cited as the reason no additional units were ordered. The car was dismantled atClovis, New Mexicoin February 1964.
• Pacific Fruit Express rebuilt two steel-sided ventilator refrigerator cars in theirLos Angelesshops with aluminum car bodies to test durability of lightweight alloys versus that of steel.It was hoped that weight savings (the units weighed almost 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) less than a like-sized all-steel car) and better corrosion resistance would offset the higher initial cost.Alcoaprovided the body for number 44739, andReynolds Aluminum Companyprovided number 45698. The cars (outfitted with state-of-the-art fiberglass insulation and axle-driven fans for internal air circulation) traveled throughout the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific systems, where they were displayed to promote PFE's post-World War IImodernization. Though both units remained in service over 15 years (#45698 was destroyed in a wreck in May 1962, while #44739 was scrapped in 1966), no additional aluminum reefers were constructed.
• Fruit Growers Expressnumber 38374 was equipped with an experimental aluminum body in theIndiana Harbor, Indianashops.

"Depression Baby"

During the 1930s, theNorth American Car Companyproduced a one-of-a-kind, four-wheeled ice bunker reefer intended to serve the needs of specialized shippers who did not generate sufficient product to fill a full-sized refrigerator car. NADX #10000 was a 22-foot (6.71 m)-long, all-steel car that resembled theforty-and-eightsused in Europe duringWorld War I.The prototype weighed 13.5 short tons (12.2 t; 12.1 long tons) and was outfitted with a 1,500 lb (680 kg) ice bunker at each end. The car was leased toHormeland saw service betweenChicago, Illinoisand the southern United States. The concept failed to gain acceptance with eastern railroads and no additional units were built.

Dry ice

The Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch (SFRD) briefly experimented withdry iceas a cooling agent in 1931. The compound was readily available and seemed like an ideal replacement for frozen water. Dry ice melts at −109 °F or −78.33 °C (versus 32 °F or 0 °C for conventional ice) and was twice as effective thermodynamically. Overall weight was reduced as the need for brine and water was eliminated. While the higher cost of dry ice was certainly a drawback, logistical issues in loading long lines of cars efficiently prevented it from gaining acceptance over conventional ice. Worst of all, it was found that dry ice can adversely affect the color and flavor of certain foods if placed too closely to them.

Hopper cars

In 1969, theNorthern Pacific Railroadordered a number of modifiedcovered hoppercars fromAmerican Car and Foundryfor transporting perishable food in bulk. The 55-foot (16.76 m)-long cars were blanketed with a layer of insulation, equipped with roof hatches for loading, and had centerflow openings along the bottom for fast discharge. A mechanical refrigeration unit was installed at each end of the car, where sheet metal ducting forced cool air into the cargo compartments.

The units, rated at 100 short tons (91 t; 89 long tons) capacity (more than twice that of the largest conventional refrigerator car of the day) were economical to load and unload, as no secondary packaging was required. Apples, carrots, onions, and potatoes were transported in this manner with moderate success. Oranges, on the other hand, tended to burst under their own weight, even after wooden baffles were installed to better distribute the load. The Santa Fe Railway leased 100 of the hoppers from ACF, and in April 1972 purchased 100 new units, known as "Conditionaire" cars.

The cars' irregular, orange-colored outer surface (though darker than the standard AT&SF yellow-orange used on reefers) tended to collect dirt easily, and proved difficult to clean. Santa Fe eventually relegated the cars to more typical, non-refrigerated applications.

Preservation

Examples of many styles of refrigerator and ice cars can be found at railroad museums around the world.

TheWestern Pacific Railroad MuseumatPortola, Californiafeatures a very complete roster of 20th century cars, including wood bodied ice cars, steel bodied ice cars, one of the earliest mechanical refrigerator cars, later mechanical refrigerator cars and a cryogenic reefer, as well as several "insulated" boxcars also used for food transport.

Refrigerator cars in Japan

A JNRReMu 5000 typerefrigerator car atAmagasaki Station,June 1984

Preserved ReMuFu 10000 type refrigerator car atRailway Museum (Saitama),August 2014

The first refrigerated cars in Japan entered service in 1908, primarily for fish transport. They were of the ReSo 200 type, from 1909 followed by the ReSo 210 type and from 1912 followed by the ReSo 230 type; all reclassified intoRe 1 typein 1928. Many of these cars were equipped with ice bunkers, however the bunkers were not generally used. Fish were packed in wooden or foam polystyrene boxes withcrushed ice.

Fruit, vegetables and meat transportation in refrigerated rail cars was not common in Japan. For fruits and vegetables, ventilator cars were sufficient due to the relatively short distances involved, whereas since meat require low temperature storage, they were therefore typically transported by ship, since most major Japanese cities are located along the coast.

Refrigerator cars suffered heavy damage inWorld War II.After the war, the occupation forces confiscated many cars for their own use, using the ice bunkers as originally intended. Supplies were landed primarily atYokohama,and reefer trains ran from the port to U.S. bases around Japan. Around this time, the surviving pre-war refrigerator cars were gradually retired and replaced with newer types.

In 1966,JNRdeveloped theReSa 10000 and ReMuFu 10000 typerefrigerated cars that could travel at 100 km/h (62 mph) They were used in fish freight express trains. "Tobiuo" (Flying fish) train from Shimonoseki to Tokyo, and "Ginrin" (Silverscale) train from Hakata to Tokyo, were operated.

By the 1960s, refrigerator trucks had begun to displace railcars. Strikes in the 1970s resulted in the loss of reliability and punctuality, important to fish transportation. In 1986, the last refrigerated cars were replaced by reefer containers.

Most Japanese reefer cars were four-wheeled due to small traffic demands. There were very few bogie wagons in late years. The total number of Japanese reefers numbered approximately 8,100. At their peak, about 5,000 refrigerated cars operated in the late 1960s. Mechanical refrigerators were tested, but did not see widespread use.

There were no privately owned reefers in Japan. This is because fish transportation was protected by national policies and rates were kept low, and there was little profit in refrigerated car ownership.

Refrigerated trains in the United Kingdom

Further information:refrigerated van

1925 GWR Mica A ice-chilled van as preserved atDidcot Railway Centre.Preserved as a Tevan used for non-refrigerated perishable traffic such as dried tea.

Due to the shorter distance to be travelled in theUnited Kingdom,the need for refrigeration was limited to specialised goods, which could in express-train format - mostly run overnight to avoid delays from passenger traffic - be transported in suitable timescales of less than a day from the area of production to processing, or onwards to the point of consumer consumption.

Hence whilst similar cattle, fish, fruit and farm-fresh produce shipping requirements existed, the need to refrigerate was often minimised by the use of non-stop express train service to the required destination. In example, theLondon Midland and Scottish Railwayran specialised express trains from meat producer hubs inScotlandand the North of England to theSmithfield Meat MarketinLondon,with a dedicated goods station located below ground level directly into the market's slaughtering house. The LMS and the LNER also ran express fish trains from Fleetwood and Grimsby toBroad Streetto accessBillingsgate Fish Market.

The big four railway companies standardised within their own networks their own ice-chilled wagons, which being built with more insulation again minimised the need for onboard mechanical refrigeration. TheGreat Western Railwaydesigned and built their own Mica A (ventilated) and Mica B (Non-ventilated) vans for such express produce trains, with ice supplied by the original product producer from their own plant.

One specialised form of fresh produce train which existed in the UK was themilk train,which through use of specialised chilled glass-lined wagons remained in service until 1981.

Like many railways around the world, modern UK railways do ship specialised refrigerated containers on intermodal trains, with such trains now taking-over the roll again from long-distance trucking on hub-to-hub routes to reduce carbon foot print.DB Cargo UKruns Europe's longest-distance single-operator handled train fromValencia,SpaintoBarkinginEast Londontwice weekly, in partnership withEddie Stobart Logisticsand retailerTesco's, shipping fresh fruit and produce 1,800 km (1,118 mi) in refrigerated ISO containers.

Timeline

Further information:Timeline of low-temperature technology

• 1842: TheWestern Railroad of Massachusettsexperimented with innovative freight car designs capable of carrying all types of perishable goods without spoilage.
• 1851: The first refrigerated boxcar entered service on theNorthern Railroad (New York).
• 1857: The first consignment of refrigerated, dressed beef traveled from Chicago to the East Coast in ordinary box cars packed with ice.
• 1866: HorticulturistParker Earleshipped strawberries in iced boxes by rail from southern Illinois to Chicago on theIllinois Central Railroad.
• 1867: First U.S. refrigerated railroad car patent was issued.
• 1868: William Davis ofDetroit, Michigandeveloped a refrigerator car cooled by a frozen ice-salt mixture, and patented it in the U.S. The patent was subsequently sold to George Hammond, a local meat packer who amassed a fortune in refrigerated shipping.
• 1875: Samuel Rumph invented a railcar specifically to ship peaches, and a mortised-end peach crate., making possible large scale growing and long-distance shipping of peaches
• 1876: German engineerCarl von Lindedeveloped one of the first mechanical refrigeration systems.
• 1878: Gustavus Swift (along with engineer Andrew Chase) developed the first practical ice-cooled railcar. Soon Swift formed the Swift Refrigerator Line (SRL), the world's first.
• 1880: The first patent for a mechanically refrigerated railcar issued in the United States was granted to Charles William Cooper.
• 1884: The Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch (SFRD) was established as a subsidiary of theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railwayto carry perishable commodities.
• 1885: Berries fromNorfolk, Virginiawere shipped by refrigerator car to New York.
• 1887: Parker Earle joined F.A. Thomas of Chicago in the fruit shipping business. The company owned 60 ice-cooled railcars by 1888, and 600 by 1891.
• 1888: Armour & Co. shipped beef from Chicago to Florida in a car cooled byethyl chloride-compression machinery.Floridaoranges were shipped to New York under refrigeration for the first time.
• 1889: The first cooled shipment of fruit from California was sold on the New York market.
• 1898:Russia'sfirst refrigerator cars entered service. The country's inventory reached 1,900 by 1908, 3,000 two years later, and peaked at approximately 5,900 by 1916. The cars were used mainly for transporting butter fromSiberiato theBaltic Sea,a 12-day journey.
• 1899: Refrigerated fruit traffic within the U.S. reached 90,000 short tons (81,647 t; 80,357 long tons) per year; Transport from California to NY averaged 12 days in 1900.
• 1901: Carl von Linde equipped a Russian train with a mobile, central mechanical refrigeration plant to distribute cooling to cars carrying perishable goods. Similar systems were used in Russia as late as 1975.
• 1905: U.S. traffic in refrigerated fruit reached 430,000 short tons (390,089 t; 383,929 long tons). As refrigerator car designs become standardized, the practice of indicating the "patentee" on the sides was discontinued.
• 1907: The Pacific Fruit Express began operations with more than 6,000 refrigerated cars, transporting fruit and vegetables from Western producers to Eastern consumers. U.S. traffic in refrigerated fruit hit 600,000 short tons (544,311 t; 535,714 long tons).
• 1908: Japan's first refrigerator cars entered service. The cars were for seafood transportation, in the same manner as most other Japanese reefers.
• 1913: The number of thermally insulated railcars (most of which were cooled by ice) in the U.S. topped 100,000.
• 1920: The Fruit Growers Express (or FGE, a former subsidiary of the Armour Refrigerator Line) was formed using 4,280 reefers acquired from Armour & Co.
• 1923: FGE and theGreat Northern Railwayform the Western Fruit Express (WFE) in order to compete with the Pacific Fruit Express and Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch in the West.
• 1925 to 1930: Mechanically refrigerated trucks enter service and gain public acceptance, particularly for the delivery of milk and ice cream.
• 1926: The FGE expanded its service into the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest through the WFE and the Burlington Refrigerator Express Company (BREX), its other partly owned subsidiary. FGE purchased 2,676 reefers from thePennsylvania Railroad.
• 1928: The FGE formed theNational Car Companyas a subsidiary to service the meat transportation market. Customers includeKahns,Oscar Mayer,andRath.
• 1930: The number of refrigerator cars in the United States reached its maximum of approximately 183,000.
• 1931: The SFRD reconfigured seven reefers to use dry ice as a cooling agent.
• 1932:Japanese Government Railwaysbuilt vehicles specially made for dry ice coolant.
• 1934: The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) regulation #201 came into effect banning billboard advertisements on freight cars.
• 1936: The first all-steel reefers entered service.
• 1946: Two experimental aluminum-body refrigerator cars entered service on the PFE; an experimental reefer with a stainless-steel body was built for the SFRD.
• 1950: The U.S. refrigerator car roster dropped to 127,200.
• 1955:East of Edenpopularizes refrigerator cars by featuring a major plotline whereJames Dean's father tries to go into the business and fails when all the produce melts during transit.
• 1957: The last ice bunker refrigerator cars were built.
• 1958: The first mechanical reefers (using diesel-powered refrigeration units) entered revenue service.
• 1959: The flush, "plug" style sliding door was introduced as an option, providing a larger door to ease loading and unloading. The tight-fitting doors were better insulated and allowed the car to be maintained at a more even temperature. Early example is the DT&I XL-1 car by Evans.
• 1966:Japanese National Railwaysstarted operation of fish freight express trains by newly built "resa 10000" type refers.
• 1969: ACF constructed several experimental center flow hopper cars incorporating mechanical cooling systems and insulated cargo cells. The units were intended for shipment of bulk perishables.
• 1971: The last ice-cooled reefers were retired.
• 1980: The U.S. refrigerator car roster dropped to 80,000.
• 1986: The last reefers in Japan were replaced byreefer containers.
• 1990s: The first cryogenically cooled reefers entered service.
• 2001: The number of refrigerator cars in the United States bottomed out at approximately 8,000.
• 2005: The number of reefers in the United States climbs to approximately 25,000, due to significant new refrigerator car orders.
• 2006Railexlaunches 55-car unit train reefer service between U.S. west coast and New York.
• 2013 Additional unit train reefer services to Florida and Chicago are announced.

Specialized applications

Express service

Standard refrigerated transport is often used for goods with less than 14 days of refrigerated "shelf life" — avocados,cut flowers,green leafy vegetables, lettuce, mangoes, meat products, mushrooms, peaches and nectarines, pineapples and papayas, sweet cherries, and tomatoes. "Express" reefers are typically employed in the transport of special perishables: commodities with a refrigerated shelf life of less than seven days, such as human blood, fish,green onions,milk, strawberries, and certain pharmaceuticals.

The earliest express-service refrigerator cars entered service around 1890, shortly after the first express train routes were established in North America. The cars did not come into general use until the early 20th century. Most units designed for express service are larger than their standard counterparts, and are typically constructed more along the lines ofbaggage carsthan freight equipment. Cars must be equipped with speed-rated trucks and brakes, and — if they are to be run ahead of the passenger car, must also incorporate an air line for pneumatic braking, a communication signal air line, and a steam line for train heating. Express units were typically painted in passenger car colors, such asPullmangreen.

The first purpose-built express reefer emerged from theErie RailroadSusquehanna Shops on August 1, 1886. By 1927, some 2,218 express cars traveled America's rails, and three years later that number rose to 3,264. In 1940, private rail lines began to build and operate their own reefers, theRailway Express Agency(REA) being by far the largest. In 1948, the REA roster (which would continue to expand into the 1950s) numbered approximately 1,800 cars, many of which wereWorld War II"troop sleepers"modified for express refrigerated transport. By 1965, due to a decline in refrigerated traffic, many express reefers were leased to railroads for use as bulk mail carriers.

Intermodal

For many years, virtually all of the perishable traffic in the United States was carried by the railroads. While railroads were subject to government regulation regarding shipping rates, trucking companies could set their own rate for hauling agricultural products, giving them a competitive advantage. In March 1979, theICCexempted rail transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables from all economic regulation. Once the "Agricultural Exemption Clause" was removed from theInterstate Commerce Act,railroads began aggressively pursuing trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC) business (a form ofintermodal freight transport) for refrigerated trailers. Taking this one step further, a number of carriers (including the PFE and SFRD) purchased their own refrigerated trailers to compete with interstate trucks.

Tropicana "Juice Train"

Main article:Juice Train

Former Tropicana refrigerator car

In 1970, Tropicana orange juice was shipped in bulk viainsulatedboxcarsin one weekly round-trip fromBradenton, Florida,toKearny, New Jersey.By the following year, the company was operating two 60-car unit trains a week, each carrying around 1,000,000 US gallons (3,800,000 L; 830,000 imp gal) of juice. On June 7, 1971, the "Great White Juice Train" (the first unit train in the food industry, consisting of 150 100-short-ton (91 t; 89-long-ton) insulated boxcars fabricated in theAlexandria, Virginia,shops ofFruit Growers Express) commenced service over the 1,250 miles (2,010 km) route. An additional 100 cars were soon added, and small mechanical refrigeration units were installed to keep temperatures constant. Tropicana saved $40 million in fuel costs during the first ten years in operation.

Railex and other unit trains

In 2006RailexLLC launched service in partnership with theUnion Pacific RailroadandCSXbetweenWallula, Washington,andRotterdam, New York,followed in 2008 by aDelano, California,to NY line, andJacksonville, Floridaservice from the west coast in 2014. Railex runsunit trainsof 55 large,"plate F"refrigerated cars. Two additional refrigerated unit-train services were announced in 2013, the Green Express, fromTampa, FloridatoKingsbury, Indiana,operated by CSX and the Tampa Port Authority,and the TransCold Express operated by McKay Transcold, LLC and BNSF, connecting theCalifornia Central Valleywith the midwest.

AAR classifications

AARclassifications of refrigerator car types

Class	Description	Class	Description
RA	Brine-tank ice bunkers	RPB	Mechanical refrigerator with electro-mechanical axle drive
RAM	Brine-tank ice bunkers with beef rails	RPL	Mechanical refrigerator with loading devices
RAMH	Brine-tank with beef rails and heaters	RPM	Mechanical refrigerator with beef rails
RB	No ice bunkers — heavy insulation	RS	Bunker refrigerator — common ice bunker car
RBL	No ice bunkers and loading devices	RSB	Bunker refrigerator — air fans and loading devices
RBH	No ice bunkers — gas heaters	RSM	Bunker refrigerator with beef rails
RBLH	No ice bunkers — loading devices and heaters	RSMH	Bunker refrigerator with beef rails and heaters
RCD	Solid carbon-dioxide refrigerator	RSTC	Bunker refrigerator — electric air fans
RLO	Special car type — permanently enclosed (covered hopper type)	RSTM	Bunker refrigerator — electric air fans and beef rails
RP	Mechanical refrigerator

• Note:Class Brefrigerator cars are those designed for passenger service; insulated boxcars are designatedClass L.

See also

• Cold chain
• Reefer (ship)
• Refrigerated container
• Refrigerated transport Dewar
• Refrigerated van(European style)
• Refrigeration
• Refrigerator truck
• Swift Refrigerator Line

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Boyle, Elizabeth and Rodolfo Estrada. (1994)"Development of the U.S. Meat Industry"—Kansas State UniversityDepartment of Animal Sciences and Industry.
• Hendrickson, Richard and Richard E. Scholz. (1986). "Reefer car 13000: a postmortem."The Santa Fé RouteIV(2) 8.
• Hendrickson, Richard H. (1998).Santa Fe Railway Painting and Lettering Guide for Model Railroaders, Volume 1: Rolling Stock.Highlands Ranch, CO:The Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society, Inc.
• Pearce, Bill. (2005). "Express Reefer from troop sleeper in N."Model Railroader72(12) 62–65.
• Reefer Operations on Model Railroads with an emphasis on the ATSFApril 15, 2005 article atThe Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Societyofficial website — accessed on November 7, 2005.
• Thompson, Anthony W. et al. (1992).Pacific Fruit Express.Signature Press,Wilton, CA.ISBN1-930013-03-5.
• White, John H. (1986).The Great Yellow Fleet.Golden West Books,San Marino, CA.ISBN0-87095-091-6.
• White, John H. Jr.(1993).The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel.Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN0-8018-4404-5.OCLC26130632.

External links

• Guide to Rail Cars