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Modeling Reefer Traffic on the PRR

DISCLAIMER: I am not a reefer expert, by any means. But what follows is a summary of information I have gathered for my own modeling purposes, which is a 1954 representation of the PRR in central Pennsylvania. The model references on this page are currently restricted to N scale.

Reefers in Passenger Service

General Information

As of 1954, the PRR's "Makeup of Trains" consist books list show only PRR reefers used in the creation of passenger trains. With few exceptions, class R50b is prescribed. Videos and photos, however, show Railway Express Agency reefers in use as well, though to a lesser extent.

Pennsylvania Railroad

PRR Class R50b Express Reefer:

The Pennsy had 550 class R50b high speed express reefers, numbered 2551-3100. They were 54'6" long and rode on PRR standard 4-wheel cast steel passenger trucks, class 2D-P5. When not needed for refrigerator duties, express reefers often carried dry express shipments. One unit is preserved at the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, PA.

The Pennsy also had 36 class R60 63' reefers, built by ACF in 1913. Car and load could not exceed 140,000 pounds. Ice capacity was 184 cu. ft.

Paint & Lettering

Bob Zoeller writes "The roof would have been metallic brown until about July, 1939, car cement (dull black) through 1943, and black thereafter. Underbodies were olive until January 1944. The PRR Historical Society Painting and Lettering Guide then lists about 6 months where underbodies were painted tuscan, 6 months Truck Green, a technicality which I list but I believe I can safely say even diehard Pennsy fans ignore. From mid-1945 on, the underbodies were black. Handholds were black. Technically, window sashes, if there are any on the R60, are listed as dark orange until 1936 on headend cars, tuscan red 1937 on. Lettering was gold leaf until mid-1952 on Pennsy passenger cars, but I am almost sure the R50b express reefers were an exception and switched to the buff (or Deluxe or Imitation Gold) color by WWII, probably because the gold leaf didn't hold up well.

Available N Scale Models

NJ International produced a brass R50b Express Reefer in the 1990's.

Hell Gate Models seems a likely candidate to produce the R50b Express Reefer in resin.

Railway Express Agency

The Railway Express Agency 6100-series Express Reefer...

Available N Scale Models

InterMountain ran a Steel Refrigerator Car in REX livery. This does not appear to be a valid model, especially for the number series offered, but would serve as a good stand-in until an appropriate model arrives.

#65535 [???]):

Pacific Fruit Express

Available N Scale Models

Micro-Trains ran a R-40-10, which was the second most common PFE steel reefer. They called it a 40' Steel Ice Reefer (59000 series). It was also offered with Preco fans (59500 series).

#59510 with Preco Fan [???]):

InterMountain ran a Steel Refrigerator Car in PFE livery. I am not sure if this is a valid model or not.

#65512 (HO Model Shown) [???]):

Reefers in Freight Service

General Information

Gregg Mahlkov writes "Fresh fruits and vegetables went to two types of consignees. The largest portion, by 1954, would have gone to grocery store chain warehouses, like Acme Markets of Philadelphia. The remainder would have gone to the "Pennsylvania Produce Terminals" in the larger cities, where it was sold by brokers who maintained offices and leased trackage in the terminal and sold to restaurants and independent grocery stores."

"The only PRR port involved by then (1954) was Wilmington, DE, for bananas, and to my knowledge they went principally by truck no further than Pittsburgh."

"As to meat, it also moved to two types of consignees. Again, most of what moved were whole carcasses on meat rails at that time, which went either to local butchering plants of the meatpackers, where it was packaged for delivery to restaurants and independent grocers, who may have received whole sides. Again some went to the grocery chain warehouses, most of whom did their own butchering and packaging."

"This whole meat business has fundamentally changed in the past 50 years, much more than the fresh fruit and vegetable business, as the meat industry discovered that with the ability to ship frozen meat, it was much cheaper to ship the finished product than live animals across the country!"

"Loaded reefers would travel in solid blocks wherever possible, as they did require inspection at every major yard or enroute if it was over 24 hours between yards, and of course required ice at regular intervals. The Eastern railroads had a group, the Railroad Perishable Inspection Agency, or RPIA, that handled these inspections, as well as freight claim inspections. The RPIA records were often a big factor in freight claims."

Bruce Smith notes "When modeling ice reefers in the 1950's... in ice or ventilator service. In the former, hatches were down to keep the load cool, in the later hatches were open to keep the produce ventilated. Hatches were closed on empties.

A modeling/spotting feature on ice reefers is a "sill-mounted Preco fan". According to Bob Zoeller, "The first patent was issued to Willliam E. Van Dorn in September, 1940, a second in May, 1944. Pacific Railway Equipment Company (PRECO) began marketing them and PFE began their use in 1941. FGEX followed three years later. By 1945, 7000 reefers had them and by 1950 one-third of the reefer fleet had them. Mechanical drive was superceded by electrical drive in the early 1950's, alllowing the fans to be mounted near the ceiling. Purpose was to stimulate internal air circulation. Worked sufficiently well to put off the conversion to mechanical refrigeration a few years."

Roadnames on the Pennsy System

The PRR and its associated companies were not the majority owners of reefers on America's railroads. However, due to the way reefers were routed, a higher percentage of "home" reefers would appear on the Pennsy's rails.

Rick Tipton writes "The PRR and about 20 other eastern and southeastern railroads established Fruit Growers' Express in answer to produce shippers' demands for a refrigerator car fleet. It had already been proved more efficient to form a pool of such specialized equipment than for each railroad to have its own. Fruit Growers Express established major shops for servicing and rebuilding refrigerator cars at Jacksonville FL (JAX), Alexandria VA (AX), and in the Chicago area."

The PRR did not have control over what road's reefers were used on inbound shipments, but they did control, of course, outbound shipments. The railroad paid per diem rates for the use of cars, so it was more economical to use their own cars. That said, foreign road reefers -- such as PFE and Santa Fe -- often went home empty.

The general consensus is that for the majority of shipments originating on the PRR system in and around Pennsylvania, FGE and WFE reefers would be used.

Bruce Smith writes "The subject of car mixes has come up extensively on the Steam Era Freight Car list, and its is clear that PFE and SFRD routed their reefers preferentially over ERIE rather than PRR. Thus while PFE had the most reefers, SFRD the second and FGE was third, the mix is different on the PRR. Probably closer to 50% or more FGE is appropriate (as noted a mix of wood and steel cars... the new InterMountain cars are POST WWII) with some PFE and a few SFRD cars with loads. More PFE and SFRD cars were routed home over the PRR, so the ratio of these in westbounds can be higher. Throw in some ART, URTX (General American) and you've got a fleet. As Greg Mahlkov noted here back in November '02, cargos were regional, and so were reefer lines, so some cargoes nearly always rode in one line's reefers. For the mid-1940's, the approximate ratio for FGEX to WFEX to BREX is 6:3:1.

Gregg Mahlkov writes "When I called on the Penna. Produce Terminal in Baltimore for the PRR in 1965-1966, the majority of the cars were still ice reefers - the mechanicals were reserved for frozen foods and were received at Terminal Warehouse. The PFE's and SFRD's were all steel, but the FGE's were still a mix of wood side and all steel. By that time FGE, WFE, and BREX were all under common management and the cars were used interchangeably, as the seasons differed between Florida and the Pacific Northwest. There were also some ART's that came in from the Rio Grande Valley off the MP."

Andrew Harmantas writes "By the late 1950's, ALL reefer trains I saw were all steel cars, mostly FGEX and BREX, in solid blocks. By that time, most were mechanical reefers."

Andrew Miller writes "In the early 50s most reefers were still ice and many wooden cars could still be seen. The dominant owners were PFE and SFRD."

Obviously there are differing recollections of what was running!

Fruit Grower's Express

In 1919 the Federal Trade Commission forced the breakup of the Armour Refrigerator Line due to unfair competition. As a result, Fruit Growers Express was incorporated in Delaware on March 18, 1920 -- based out of Washington, D.C. -- to provide a shared reefer pool for the benefit of the ACL, B&O, PRR and Southern Railroads. Additional railroads later joined -- New Haven and N&W (1920), L&N and FEC (1923), C&O (1927), NYO&J (1931), and Pere Marquette (1940). (This list may not be all-inclusive.)

In 1926 the PRR sells 2,676 class RF 36' reefers to the FGE.

In Feb. 1928 FGE forms the National Car Company as a subsidiary to serve the meat reefer market. Initial customers include Kahns, Rath, and Oscar Meyer.

Painting & Lettering

Rick Tipton writes "FGE's distinctive Block Gothic black lettering on a yellow carside with red-brown roof and ends has been in use at least since 1929. As Gregg Mahlkov points out, these cars were painted "VENTILATOR AND REFRIGERATOR" (stacked on three lines) from that date to at least 1950, and may have been seen as late as 1959. By 1952, the legend became "REFRIGERATOR" ("MECHANICAL REFRIGERATOR" on one or two lines where appropriate). A minor change in 1956 eliminated the 1-inch "AAR bars" above and below the reporting marks. In 1969, the legend became "Fruit Growers Express/for/Greater/Efficiency" (four lines), but this was applied only to 50+ foot mechanical reefers. When needed during harvests, steel and even wood-sheathed ice reefers continued to run in the 1952 and 1956 paint schemes into the early 1970's."

"FGEX was the most-used reporting mark, but others included FGCX (mechanical), FHIX (documented between 1951 and 1961), and FOBX (with special overhead ice bins and 10 roof hatches). FGE also was the reefer contract operator for Western Fruit Express (WFEX, see below) and Burlington Refrigerator Express (BREX). In addition, FGE operated meat reefers under the name National Car Company, with reporting marks including MNX. These other three fleets used elements of the FGE image, but lettering often departed some (or a lot) from FGE standard."

"Starting in the 1950's, FGE began to build 40' and 50' insulated box cars in its shops for lease to its member railroads; these cars carried a wide variety of reporting marks (including PRR and PC) and are sometimes referred to as "grocery cars". The AAR Mechanical Code for these cars is typically RBL ("bunkerless refrigerator car") or XMI/XLI ("insulated boxcar"). While lacking refrigerating equipment, these cars are well-enough insulated to keep loads cool through days of warm weather. These cars use some parts of the FGE image, their lettering has its own peculiarities Ð beware of confusing FGE refrigerators with their insulated boxcar brethren".

Martin McGuirk writes "Also, an interesting note that several of the cars were obviously in assigned service -- I have pics of several cars with routing instructions stenciled in a fairly large rectangle on the left side of the car between the reporting marks and the end grabs. One car, FGE 37363 has a route box that is very readable in the photo and reads (in the following format):

When Empty Return To
Pennsylvania Railroad
Greenville N J
Via Service Route"

The Steam Era Freight Cars web site indicates that "Aluminum-painted roofs appeared on some FGE cars during the 1940s and were common by 1954." However, Martin McGuirk counters "while there are certainly a few of the cars in our photo files (about 300 pics of FGE/WFE cars) very fewer -- less than 10 -- show silver roofs clearly. Some are questionable but I'd hesitate to say that 'silver roofs were commonplace' by 1955. The evidence I've seen in these photos, and all the pics I have of these cars on Central Vermont trains, simply indicates otherwise, at least before 1957 or so. In short, silver roofs in 1954 on FGE cars seem to be the exception, not the rule.

Available N Scale Models

InterMountain offers a 40' Wood Reefer. Prior to initical release, Martin McGuirk wrote "Our FGE reefer is a rebuilt car, by the way, which carries its service life well into the late 1960s. Our model features the optional 'sill mounted' Preco fan -- not on these first few runs but will be on later runs -- and the geared brakewheel end -- some of the rebuilds had vertical brake staffs an option we're including on the HO model but not on the N scale one. Other features include a Hutchins roof, with the roof hatch guards molded in place. If you see a photo of a FGE car running with the hatches open it's rare."

InterMountain #67706 ("VENTILATOR AND REFRIGERATOR" scheme [Pre 1952]):

InterMountain #67701 ("REFRIGERATOR" scheme [Post 1952]):

Western Fruit Express

Great Northern Railway incorporates WFE on July 18, 1923. While maintaining separate ownership, WFE joins operations with FGE.

Painting & Lettering

Rick Tipton writes "Starting in 1929, the Western Fruit Express (WFEX) reefer was done in recognizable Fruit-Growers-Express-style lettering; this because FGE contracted to operate and maintain Great Northern's WFE fleet around this date. In 1929 these yellow-sided reefers were probably lettered much like other FGE cars, but carrying a GN herald above the legend "VENTILATOR and REFRIGERATOR" to the right of the door. By 1948, the standard is known to be FGE-like, and the right half of the carside carried a GN herald with GREAT NORTHERN around a ring, with the side-facing goat inside. Under that herald was a single line "VENTILATOR-REFRIGERATOR". In 1950, the herald changed to "GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY". In 1952, the herald stayed "GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY" and lettering under it changed to "REFRIGERATOR". The big circle with goat came in with the "Big Sky Blue" image in 1967. Since this lasted under three years until the BN merger, number of reefers carrying it may have been limited. Post-BN merger paint schemes for WFE and RBWX reefers carried the BN herald in black on the right; the lettering styles used begin to get more modern also. Note: in all cases, the preceding is true only for ice and mechanical reefers. Phases of lettering (and the dates) of insulated box cars, even those built or maintained by FGE, will be different. WFEX was the most-used reporting mark, but Western Fruit Express reefers also used BNFE, RBWX, WFBX, WFCX, WFIX, WFMX, and WHIX at one time or another.

Available N Scale Models

InterMountain #67702 (Small Goat, "REFRIGERATOR" scheme [1948-53 - 1967]):

Atlas #41475-41478 (Small Goat, "REFRIGERATOR" scheme [1948-53 - 1967]):

InterMountain #67703 (Large Goat scheme [Post 1967]):

Burlington Refrigerator Express

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy incorporates BRE on May 1, 1926. While maintaining separate ownership, BRE joins operations with FGE.

Painting & Lettering

Burlington Refrigerator Express (BREX) was the minor partner in the FGE/WFE/BRE cooperative operation. Cars painted similarly to FGE, WFE. I don't have the differences yet, but Microscale offers decal sets (under Chicago Burlington & Quincy) for two eras: 1926-1957 and 1957-1970. The differences probably include "VENTILATOR-REFRIGERATOR" vs. "REFRIGERATOR" only. Ben Hom suggests "the definitive reference is Burlington Bulletin #12, an all-BREX issue still available from the Burlington Route Historical Society (http://www.burlingtonroute.com).

Available N Scale Models

InterMountain #67705:

Pacific Fruit Express Express

Painting & Lettering

From an early period until 1946, the paint scheme had an SP herald on one side of the car and a UP herald on the other side. In 1946 the scheme switched to have both heralds on both sides of the car, with the SP herald near the door and the UP herald at the end of the car. The UP herald was in color.

Martin McGuirk indicates that "PFE switched from the red, white, and blue UP shield to the black & white double herald in June 1950. In June 1951 PFE began painting side sills and steps orange (same as the car sides) and moved the SP medallion back to the traditional location at the B end of the car. These changes were introduced on the R-40-26 but would have been applied to the R-40-23's as the cars were shopped and painted. The typography changed to the Gothic type in April 1960."

Available N Scale Models

Micro-Trains ran a R-40-10, which was the second most common PFE steel reefer. They called it a 40' Steel Ice Reefer (59000 series). It was also offered with Preco fans (59500 series).

Micro-Trains #59010 without Preco Fan [Pre ?]):

Micro-Trains #59520 with Preco Fan [1950 scheme]):

InterMountain offers the R-40-23 in a variety of road names and paint schemes. Some of the paint schemes are incorrectly applied to this car but the following cars are among those correct.

InterMountain #65501 Double Herald (color [1946 scheme]):

InterMountain #65520 Double Herald (black & white [1950 scheme]):

InterMountain #65537 Gothic (black & white [Post 1960 scheme]):

Santa Fe

Painting & Lettering

Greg Mahlkov writes "ATSF went from curved to straight line maps in 1940, and dropped maps in favor of 'Ship and Travel' in 1947, so by 1954, most would be 'Ship and Travel' cars."

Available N Scale Models

InterMountain offers several Santa Fe Reefers that are all correct. Some of the cars feature a map of the SF system on one side.

InterMountain #66117 ATSF (No Slogan [Pre Curved Line Map]):

InterMountain #66104 The Scout RR-27 (Curved Line Map [Pre 1940]):

InterMountain #66112 El Capitan RR-27 (Curved Line Map [Pre 1940]):

InterMountain #66101 Super Chief (RR-32 - Straight Line Map [1940-1947]):

InterMountain #66102 El Capitan - (Straight Line Map [1940-1947]):

InterMountain #66105 The Chief RR-23 (Ship & Travel [Post 1947]):

InterMountain #66115 Texas Chief RR-28 (Ship & Travel [Post 1947]):

Swift

The Swift fleet (S.R.L.X.) was part of the General American Transportation Corp. (wood car division) fleet.

Although I have not researched their paint schemes for absolute accuracy, someone posted the following information to the Atlas HO Scale Forum in July 2005:

Early - Orange or yellow with a small Swift herald. Conservative lettering.
1949ish - Classic red sides with white billboard SWIFT.
1958 - Silver car with the red 'bar' with SWIFT appeared.
1959 - Silver car changed; now had the red ball with Swifts Premium on it.

Available N Scale Models

InterMountain offers several Swift reefers.

InterMountain #67708 Wood Reefer:

InterMountain #67707 Wood Reefer:

Bangor & Aroostook

Though the BAR was a relatively minor player in the reefer trafficing, there are some interesting tidbits worth noting. I've learned through several former employees that a lot of the BAR traffic from Maine was routed west, then down the Delaware & Hudson (D&H) to their produce terminal at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. In fact, that was the route used by their notorius potatoes bound for Philadelphia. They interchanged from the D&H to the PRR at Harrisburg.

One popular BAR scheme featured red, white and blue stripes and featured the slogan "STATE OF MAINE" with either "PRODUCTS" or "POTATOS" below. Reefers were used in potato traffic during the warmer months but box cars were often sufficient during other months.

The BAR also had a number of wood reefers in the 6000-6999 number series. According to a source on the Atlas Forum this was the RS class of various 40' wood reefers with steel fishbelly underframes. They were purchased second hand from MDT in 1950 and had original build dates of 1926. Most were retired between 1955 and 1964.

Available N Scale Models

InterMountain offers several Bangor & Aroostook reefers and box cars (included due to potato routing).

InterMountain #65744 STATE OF MAINE PRODUCTS Box Car:

InterMountain #67709 Wood Reefer:

Other Notes

Greg Mahlkov writes "I distinctly recall ART reefers with full color MP and Wabash heralds in the Baltimore PPT with Rio Grande Valley grapefruit in 1966-67. Again. Clover indicates this scheme began in 1950, prior cars just had the ART shield, like the InterMountain cars. You gotta figure a way to get some of these, they're such good looking cars!"

Greg Mahlkov closes with "Then there's the meat trade with Swift, Oscar Mayer, Armour, Dubuque, Rath, etc. with their own cars."

N scale models, known incorrect for one reason or another, not to be discussed here: Red Caboose R-40-23 Steel Ice Refrigerators, Red Caboose Wood Side Reefers, Red Caboose Steel Side Plug Door Refrigerators, Atlas 40' Wood Refrigerator in FGE.

References

The wonderful cast of the "PRR-talk" list, with special thanks to Bruce Smith, Gregg Mahlkov, Bob Zoeller, and Andrew Miller.

Martin McGuirk, InterMountain Railway Company.

Anthony W. Thompson, Robert J. Church and Bruce H. Jones, Pacific Fruit Express, Second Edition, Signature Press.

Roseman, V.S., Railway Express Agency: An Overview, Highlands Station (out of print).

Welch, Bill, The Wood Sheathed Cars of the FGEX/WFEX/BREX Freight Refrigerator Fleet: 1940-1953, self published, 2002.

Copyright 1996 - 2008

Last modified: November 23 2007.

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