They Tried to Kill Swift’s Fridge Car — and Created a Monster Instead
Swift and Armour, boy, those names are a blast from the past. I haven't come across them in a coon's age, but evidently they are still in business. Swift was purchased by Brazilian company JBS in 2007 and continues to operate. Armour has become Smithfield Foods.
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| Reefer Rail Car |
I vaguely remember having a book about trains when I was a kid. It had pictures of various kinds of railroad cars, like boxcars and reefers, and they were loading ice into the reefer. I'm old, but I don't think I'm that old. Turns out the last ice cooled reefers were built in 1957, and the first mechanical refrigerated railcars were built in 1958.
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| Icing Reefers |
Google gave me some numbers about railroads in North America.
There are:
- 28,000 locomotives
- 1.6 million freight railroad cars, including:
- 570,000 covered hoppers
- 439,000 tank cars
- 208,000 flat cars
- 195,000 gondolas
- 104,000 box cars.
However, there are only 8,000 to 10,000 reefers.
Mechanical refrigeration (Thermo King) was adapted to long haul trucks in the late 1930's, just in time for WW2.
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| 1965 DIVCO Milk Truck |
Remember these old milk trucks? I got a look at one once. They had a weird refrigeration system. They had big blocks (tanks?) lining the freight compartment. These blocks were hooked up at night, chilled all night long, and then kept the truck cool all the following day. DIVCO stands for Detroit Industrial Vehicle COmpany.
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