Atlas Trainman N 50006472 50ft Mechanical Reefer Burlington Northern BNFE #420

Following the end of World War II, the wider acceptance of frozen food nationwide caused a shift in the traditional refrigerator car (or reefer) industry. While it was possible to maintain some foods in a frozen state by using heavily insulated ice reefers over relatively short distances, for some foods such as frozen orange juice – which had a low freezing point and required constant temperatures between 0 and -10 degrees F – or for travel over longer distances, a new method for railcar refrigeration was required. Companies such as Fruit Growers Express (FGE), Pacific Fruit Express (PFE), and Santa Fe began to explore mechanical methods of refrigeration. FGE, which was more invested in the new orange juice traffic, led the way in these designs with over 175 mechanical cars operating by 1952. Through exchange of information between all three companies, mechanical reefer design underwent numerous updates and changes throughout the 1950s and 60s, with converted ice reefers and the “new” 50’ designs soon giving way to the larger 57’ designs by the mid 1960s. The 50’ reefer, however, remained a staple in refrigerator car fleets throughout the 1960s and 70s.