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Pacific Fruit Express was an American
Timeline - Transportation, Agriculture
'. Retrieved May 18, 2005 — company startup details. * Thompson, Anthony W. et al. (1992). ''Pacific Fruit Express''. Signature Press, Wilton, CA. . * White, John H. (1986). ''The Great Yellow Fleet''. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. .
Pacific Fruit Express Company #11207
— photo and short history of one of the last ice-type refrigerator cars built.
Pacific Fruit Express Company #300010
— photo and short history of one of the first mechanical-type refrigerator cars built.
Pacific Fruit Express photo gallery
at the
Pacific Fruit Express was an American railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
refrigerator car
A refrigerator car (or "reefer") is a refrigerated boxcar (U.S.), a piece of railroad rolling stock designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Refrigerator cars differ from simple insulated boxcars and ventilated boxcars (co ...
leasing company that at one point was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world.
History
The company was founded on December 7, 1906, as a joint venture between theUnion Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
and Southern Pacific railroads. It began operation on October 1, 1907, with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by the American Car and Foundry Company
ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...
(ACF).
In 1923, the Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
joined the venture by leasing its own new fleet of 2775 reefers to PFE. They were painted in standard PFE colors with only WP heralds on the cars instead of the paired UP-SP markings. The WP cars were all retired by the late 1950s, among the last wooden reefers in PFE's fleet. WP ended its partnership with PFE in late 1967 and joined Fruit Growers Express
Fruit Growers Express (FGE) was a railroad refrigerator car leasing company that began as a produce-hauling subsidiary of Armour and Company's private refrigerator car line. Armour controlled both the packing operations and the transport insulate ...
instead.
PFE's assets were divided between the UP and SP when the company was split on April 1, 1978. It is now a UP subsidiary.
On September 1, 2022 Union Pacific closed the final Fruit Express shop in North Platte, Nebraska
North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the west-central part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River. T ...
at Bailey Yard
Bailey Yard is the world’s largest railroad classification yard. Employees sort, service and repair locomotives and cars headed all across North America. Owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP), Bailey Yard is located in North ...
and all personal and equipment were transferred to the North Platte Service Unit Car Department.
Pacific Fruit Express Roster, 1907–1970:
Source: ''The Great Yellow Fleet'', p. 17.
Paint and markings
Modern cars owned by PFE typically carried both UP and SP heralds and either "Union Pacific Fruit Express" or "Southern Pacific Fruit Express". Thereporting mark
A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...
s were UPFE for cars operated by Union Pacific or SPFE for cars operated by Southern Pacific.
Legacy
PFE's impact is still seen inRoseville, California
Roseville is the most populous city in Placer County, California, located within the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of 2019, the US Census Bureau estimated the city's population to be 141,500. Interstate 80 runs through Roseville and State Rout ...
, site of a major Union Pacific classification yard
A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...
, where there is a road named "PFE Road".
There are a pair of PFE tracks in the Union Pacific Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
There is PFE track in Tucson Yard Tucson, Az.
PFE shops in Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the ...
are still used by the car department.
A PFE boxcar is on final display in Cody Park in North Platte, Nebraska behind Centennial
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at a ...
6922.
References
Further reading
* Sacramento History Online (2004),Timeline - Transportation, Agriculture
'. Retrieved May 18, 2005 — company startup details. * Thompson, Anthony W. et al. (1992). ''Pacific Fruit Express''. Signature Press, Wilton, CA. . * White, John H. (1986). ''The Great Yellow Fleet''. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. .
External links
Pacific Fruit Express Company #11207
— photo and short history of one of the last ice-type refrigerator cars built.
Pacific Fruit Express Company #300010
— photo and short history of one of the first mechanical-type refrigerator cars built.
Pacific Fruit Express photo gallery
at the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
official website.
{{Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States
Railway companies established in 1906
Refrigerator car lines of the United States
Southern Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
Western Pacific Railroad
American companies established in 1906