The Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch was a
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 pre ...
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 ...
line established as a subsidiary of the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
in 1884 to carry perishable commodities. Though the line started out with a mere 25
ventilated fruit cars and 8 ice-cooled refrigerator cars, by 1910 its roster had swollen to 6,055 total units (compared to the 8,100 units its largest competitor, the
Pacific Fruit Express, operated).
As of 1929 the line was carrying some 43 percent of California's citrus crop, most of which travelled aboard its "Green Fruit Express" refrigerator car special. Some 100,000 produce loads were shipped from the fields of Arizona and California to East Coast markets each growing season.
Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch Roster, 1890–1970:
Source: ''The Great Yellow Fleet'', p. 17.
References
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* White, John H. (1986). ''The Great Yellow Fleet''. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. .
*
External links
Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway #21335— photo and short history of a steel-sheathed "billboard" car.
"Coast to Coast"article by Richard Hendrickson at th
Pacific Southwest Railway Museumofficial website.
{{Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States
1894 establishments in the United States
Refrigerator car lines of the United States