Editing Refrigerator car (section)

==History==

===Background: North America===
[[File:Illinois Central Railroad 14713.jpg|thumb|[[Illinois Central Railroad]] #14713, a ventilated fruit car dating from 1893]]

After the end of the [[American Civil War]], [[Chicago, Illinois]] emerged as a major [[railway]] center for the [[Distribution (business)|distribution]] of livestock raised on the [[Great Plains]] to Eastern markets.<ref>Boyle and Estrada</ref> Transporting the animals to market from ranches in Texas required herds to be [[Cattle drives in the United States|driven]] up to {{convert|1200|mi|km}} to [[railhead]]s in [[Kansas City, Missouri]] or later to more westerly locations, such as [[Abilene, Kansas]] (1867, [[Kansas Pacific Railway]]) and [[Dodge City, Kansas]] (1872, [[Santa Fe Railroad]]), where they were loaded into specialized [[Stock car (rail)|stock car]]s and [[transport]]ed live ("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 were [[Animal slaughter|slaughter]]ed by 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===
[[File:Tiffany ad 1879 CBD.jpg|thumb|left|An advertisement taken from the 1st edition (1879) of the ''Car-Builders Dictionary'' for the '''Tiffany Refrigerator Car Company''', a pioneer in the design of refrigerated railroad cars]]

During the mid-19th century, attempts were made to ship [[agriculture|agricultural]] products by rail. As early as 1842, the [[Western Railroad of Massachusetts]] was reported in the June 15 edition of the ''Boston Traveler'' to be experimenting with innovative [[freight car]] designs capable of carrying all types of perishable goods without spoilage.<ref>White, p. 31</ref> The first refrigerated boxcar entered service in June 1851, on the [[Northern Railroad (New York)]] (or NRNY, which later became part of the [[Rutland Railroad]]). This "icebox on wheels" was a limited success since it was only functional in cold weather. That same year, the [[Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad]] (O&LC) began shipping butter to Boston in purpose-built freight cars, using ice for cooling.

====Meat====
{{anchor|meat|beef}}
The first consignment of dressed beef left the [[Union Stock Yards|Chicago stock yards]] in 1857 in ordinary [[boxcar]]s retrofitted with bins filled with ice. Placing meat directly against ice resulted in discoloration and affected the taste, proving to be impractical. During the same period [[Gustavus Franklin Swift|Gustavus Swift]] experimented 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 the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] (GTR). The method proved too limited to be practical.

[[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit's]] William 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  to [[George Hammond (industrialist)|George H. Hammond]], a Detroit meat packer, who built a set of cars to transport his products to Boston using ice from the [[Great Lakes]] for cooling.<ref>White, p. 33</ref> 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.<ref>White, p. 45</ref> The meat was packed tightly at the bottom of the car to keep the [[center of gravity]] low and to prevent the cargo from shifting. Chase's design proved to be a practical solution, providing temperature-controlled carriage of dressed meats. This allowed [[Swift and Company]] to ship their products across the United States and internationally.

{{anchor|Swift}}
Swift's attempts to sell Chase's design to major railroads were rebuffed, as the companies feared that they would jeopardize their considerable investments in [[Stock car (rail)|stock cars]], animal pens, and feedlots if refrigerated meat transport gained wide acceptance. In response, Swift financed the initial production run on his own, then&nbsp;— when the American roads refused his business&nbsp;— he contracted with the GTR (a railroad that derived little income from transporting live cattle) to haul the cars into [[Michigan]] and then eastward through Canada. In 1880 the [[Peninsular 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 to [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. Competing firms such as [[Armour and Company]] quickly followed suit. By 1920, the SRL owned and operated 7,000 of the ice-cooled rail cars. The [[General American Transportation Corporation]] would assume ownership of the line in 1930.

[[File:Swift Refrigerator Line car, 1899.jpg|thumb|A [[builder's photo]] of one of the first refrigerator cars to come out of the [[Detroit]] plant of the [[American Car and Foundry Company]] (ACF), built for the [[Swift Refrigerator Line]] in 1899]]

{{anchor|data}}
'''Live cattle and dressed beef deliveries to New York ([[short ton]]s):'''
{| class="toccolours"
|-
|
|align=center | <small>''(Stock Cars)''</small>
|align=center | <small>''(Refrigerator Cars)''</small>
|-
|align=center | &nbsp; '''Year &nbsp;'''
|align=center | '''Live Cattle &nbsp;'''
|align=center | '''Dressed Beef'''
|-
|&nbsp; 1882
|align=center | 366,487
|align=center | 2,633
|-
|&nbsp; 1883
|align=center | 392,095
|align=center | 16,365
|-
|&nbsp; 1884
|align=center | 328,220
|align=center | 34,956
|-
|&nbsp; 1885
|align=center | 337,820
|align=center | 53,344
|-
|&nbsp; 1886
|align=center | 280,184
|align=center | 69,769
|}

<small>The subject cars travelled on the [[Erie Railroad|Erie]], [[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad|Lackawanna]], [[New York Central Railroad|New York Central]], and [[Pennsylvania Railroad|Pennsylvania]] railroads.</small>

<small>Source: ''Railway Review'', January 29, 1887, p.&nbsp;62.</small>

[[File:Early refrigerator car design circa 1870.jpg|thumb|A ''circa'' 1870 refrigerator car design. Hatches in the roof provided access to the ice tanks at each end.]]

'''19th Century American Refrigerator Cars:'''
{| class="toccolours"
|-
|align=center | &nbsp; '''Year &nbsp;'''
|align=center | '''Private Lines &nbsp;'''
|align=center | '''Railroads &nbsp;'''
|align=center | '''Total'''
|-
|&nbsp; 1880
|align=center | 1,000 ''est.''
|align=center | 310
|align=center | 1,310 ''est.''
|-
|&nbsp; 1885
|align=center | 5,010 ''est.''
|align=center | 990
|align=center | 6,000 ''est.''
|-
|&nbsp; 1890
|align=center | 15,000 ''est.''
|align=center | 8,570
|align=center | 23,570 ''est.''
|-
|&nbsp; 1895
|align=center | 21,000 ''est''
|align=center | 7,040
|align=center | 28,040 ''est.''
|-
|&nbsp; 1900
|align=center | 54,000 ''est.''
|align=center | 14,500
|align=center | 68,500 ''est.''
|}
<small>Source: ''Poor's Manual of Railroads'' and [[Interstate Commerce Commission|ICC]] and [[U.S. Census]] reports.</small>

====Fruit and fresh produce====
{{anchor|fruit}}
In the 1870s, the lack of a practical means to refrigerate [[peach]]es limited the markets open to Samuel Rumph, a [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] peach 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.<ref name="georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu">{{Cite web|url=http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/samuelrumphhistmarker.htm|title = Georgia Historical Markers Collection Items - Digital Library of Georgia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/ga-blueberry-knocks-peach-off-top-fruit-pile-153423288.html|title=Ga. blueberry knocks peach off top of fruit pile, Associated Press, July 21, 2013, published by Yahoo News on-line, retrieved July 21, 2013|accessdate=31 July 2023}}</ref>

[[Edwin T. Earl|Edwin Tobias Earl]] was 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. The [[Pacific Fruit Express]] (PFE) - a joint venture between the [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] and [[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific]] railroads, with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by the [[American Car and Foundry Company]] (ACF)<ref>{{cite web|title=Inventory of the Pacific Fruit Express Company Collection, 1906-1989|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf7199n8cr/|publisher=Online Archive of California|access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> - maintained seven natural harvesting facilities, and operated 18 artificial ice plants. Their largest plant (located in [[Roseville, California]]) produced {{convert|1200|ST|t|lk=on}} of ice daily, and Roseville's docks could accommodate up to 254 cars. At the industry's peak, {{convert|1300000|ST|t}} of ice was produced for refrigerator car use annually.

On the east coast of the United States, in 1920 the company [[Fruit 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===
{{anchor|ice}}
The use of ice to refrigerate and preserve food dates back to prehistoric times. Through the ages, the [[Ice trade|seasonal harvesting]] of snow and ice was a regular practice of many cultures. China, [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] stored ice and snow in caves, dugouts or [[Ice house (building)|ice houses]] lined 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 {{convert|250|mi|km}} to {{convert|400|mi|km}}.

{{anchor|Top icing}}
Top icing is the practice of placing a {{convert|2|in|mm|adj=on}} to {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on}} 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 {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=on}} reefer required in excess of {{convert|10000|lb|kg|lk=on}} 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.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">
File:Ice Harvesting on Lake St Clair Michigan circa 1905--photograph courtesy Detroit Publishing Company.jpg|Men harvest ice on [[Michigan|Michigan's]] [[Lake Saint Clair (North America)|Lake Saint Clair]], ''circa'' 1905. The ice was cut into blocks and hauled by wagon to a cold storage warehouse, and held until needed.
File:Men loading ice blocks into reefers.jpg|Ice blocks (also called "cakes") are manually placed into reefers from a covered icing dock. Each block weighed between {{convert|200 and 400|lb|kg}}. Crushed ice was typically used for meat cars.
</gallery>

{{anchor|service cycle}}
The typical service cycle for an ice-cooled produce reefer (generally handled as a part of a block of cars):
# The cars were cleaned with hot water or steam.
# 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.
# The cars' ice bunkers were filled, either manually from an [http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/photos/pfe/graphics/24.jpg icing dock], via mechanical loading equipment, or (in locations where demand for ice was sporadic) using specially designed field icing cars.
# The cars were delivered to the shipper for loading, and the ice was topped-off.
# Depending on the cargo and destination, the cars may have been fumigated.
# The train would depart for the eastern markets.
# The cars were reiced in transit approximately once a day.
# Upon reaching their destination, the cars were unloaded.
# 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.


<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">
File:Tiffany RRG 1877.jpg|This engraving of Tiffany's original "Summer and Winter Car" appeared in the ''Railroad Gazette'' just before Joel Tiffany received his refrigerator car patent in July, 1877. Tiffany's design mounted the ice tank in a [[clerestory]] atop the car's roof, and relied on a train's motion to circulate cool air throughout the cargo space.
File:Reefers-shorty-ATSF-CM-type-1898-cyc ACF builders photo.jpg|A rare double-door refrigerator car used the "Hanrahan System of Automatic Refrigeration" as built by [[American Car and Foundry Company|ACF]], ''circa'' 1898. 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.
File:Reefers-shorty-Anheuser-Busch-Malt-Nutrine ACF builders photo pre-1911.jpg|A pre-1911 "shorty" reefer bears an advertisement for [[Anheuser-Busch|Anheuser-Busch's]] ''Malt Nutrine'' tonic. The use of similar "billboard" [[advertising]] on [[freight car]]s was banned by the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] in 1937, and thereafter cars so decorated could no longer be accepted for interchange between roads.
</gallery>

{{anchor|insulation}}
Refrigerator cars required effective insulation to protect their contents from temperature extremes. "[[felt|Hairfelt]]" derived from compressed cattle hair, sandwiched into the floor and walls of the car, was inexpensive, yet flawed&nbsp; 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 from [[flax]] fibers) or [[cork (material)|cork]] prevented their widespread adoption. Synthetic materials such as [[fiberglass]] and [[polystyrene]] foam, both introduced after [[World 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 II]] experience 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.<ref name=rmc>{{cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=Dave |last2=Lambert |first2=Jenny |year=1994 |title=The post war refrigerator car -- a brief history: part I |journal=Railroad Model Craftsman |issue=March |pages=86–94 |publisher=Carstens Publications }}</ref>
{{anchor|features}}

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:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=Dave |last2=Lambert |first2=Jenny |year=1994 |title=The post war refrigerator car -- a brief history: part II |journal=Railroad Model Craftsman |issue=April |pages=86–93 |publisher=Carstens Publications }}</ref>
* Steel cars (vs wood) for better insulation protection and greater rigidity resulting in reduced leakage around doors
* A minimum of {{convert|4|in|cm}} insulation thickness with all insulation protected from moisture
* Cushioned trucks and [[draft gear]] to 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. The [[Bus doors#Sliding plug doors|sliding plug door]] was 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===
The [[Topeka, Kansas]] shops of the Santa Fe Railway built five experimental refrigerator cars employing [[liquid nitrogen]] as 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 {{convert|3000|lb|kg}} of refrigerant and could maintain a temperature of minus 20 degrees [[Fahrenheit]] (&minus;30&nbsp;°C). During the 1990s, a few railcar manufacturers experimented with the use of [[liquid carbon dioxide]] (CO<small><sub >2</sub></small>) 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 CO<small><sub >2</sub></small> system 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 Railroad]] number 51000 was built in the [[McComb, Mississippi]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rspicture.aspx?id=64684 |title = Pictures of IC 51000}}</ref> shops 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 {{convert|4|in|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.<ref name=rmc/>
* [[Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch]] number 13000 was built of [[stainless steel]] by the [[Consolidated Steel Corporation]] of [[Wilmington, California]] with 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.<ref>Hendrickson and Scholz, p. 8</ref> 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 at [[Clovis, New Mexico]] in February 1964.
* Pacific Fruit Express rebuilt two steel-sided ventilator refrigerator cars in their [[Los Angeles]] shops with aluminum car bodies to test durability of lightweight alloys versus that of steel.<ref name=rmc/> It was hoped that weight savings (the units weighed almost {{convert|10000|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} less than a like-sized all-steel car) and better corrosion resistance would offset the higher initial cost. [[Alcoa]] provided the body for number 44739, and [[Reynolds Metals|Reynolds Aluminum Company]] provided 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 II]] modernization. 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 Express]] number 38374 was equipped with an experimental aluminum body in the [[Indiana Harbor, Indiana]] shops.<ref name=rmc/>

===="Depression Baby"====
During the 1930s, the [[North American Car Company]] produced 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 {{convert|22|ft|m|2|adj=on}}<!-- rather short??? -->-long, all-steel car that resembled the [[forty-and-eights]] used in Europe during [[World War I]]. The prototype weighed {{convert|13.5|ST|t LT}} and was outfitted with a {{convert|1500|lb|abbr=on}} ice bunker at each end. The car was leased to [[Hormel]] and saw service between [[Chicago, Illinois]] and 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 with [[dry ice]] as a cooling agent in 1931. The compound was readily available and seemed like an ideal replacement for frozen water. Dry ice melts at {{convert|-109|°F|2|disp=or}} (versus {{convert|32|°F|disp=or}} 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, the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]] ordered a number of modified [[covered hopper]] cars from [[American Car and Foundry]] for transporting perishable food in bulk. The {{convert|55|ft|m|2|adj=on}}-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 {{convert|100|ST|t LT}} 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.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.kansasmemory.org/mobile/i/213800
|title = Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe covered Hopper Conditionaire car
|publisher = Kansas Historical Society
|date =  2007–2012
|access-date = 2012-04-01}}</ref>

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.

The [[Western Pacific Railroad Museum]] at [[Portola, California]] features 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.