Cryo-Trans Cars Refrigeration Systems today

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Hello All,

I see a fair number of Cryo-Trans refrigerator cars on the rails and have noticed that some of them have external truck-style refrigeration units and platforms, but many others do not. As I understand it, the ones with the obvious refrigeration units are old CO2 cooled cars that have been converted to mechanical refrigeration (and some are newer cars built that way). What about the ones without an obvious refrigeration unit, as shown in the photo in this article?

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/digest-refrigerator-car-firm-cryo-trans-purchased-by-cold-storage-specialist-lineage/

Are they still cooled by CO2 or nitrogen? Are they just serving as insulated boxcars nowadays? Do they have another mechanical refrigeration system that is inside the car and just isn’t obvious?

Thanks

2

I don’t think they have an CO2 cars left. I think some not converted to mechanical refrigeration are now just insulated box cars.

I recently had some cars of both types in a train. The ones with mechanical refrigeration had a reefer car code, and temperature control instructions for the load. The cars that didn’t have loads, or instructions for temperature, had a different car code. The car codes I mention are what my company uses for train lists and not the AAR mechanical codes used for other purposes.

Jeff