Railway Express Agency car

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Good morning all.
I just picked up Great Northern REA car labeled “Express Refrigerator”. Can anyone tell me?
1 What era?
2 What kind of train would haul it?
The car is an Athearn ice car REA brown with roof walk.
Would it have been put on a heavy weight passenger train or a dedicated fast freight?

Thanks [:)]

lee

2

Hi Lee,

Express refrigerator cars were equipped to run as head-end cars in passenger trains. This equipment included through steam and air signal lines, trucks and wheels rated for passenger train speeds, and brake systems compatible with passenger trains. They could occasionally be seen in freight consists, usually when being moved empty to a loading point. And although equipped for ice refrigeration, they were also used to carry “dry” or non-refrigerated express loads when not needed as reefers.

For more information see my book, The Model Railroader’s Guide to Passenger Equipment & Operation, and Paul Dolkos’ two-part article, “Head-end equipment and operation,” in the August and September 2007 issues of Model Railroader.

so long,

Andy

3

Those REA cars would be found on the head end of most passenger trains or mail/express trains…These cars lasted till at least 1970.

4

Thanks Guys

I was browsing in an old hobby shop and the car caught my eye. The blue box looks like it was made in the forties. LOL . I suppose I will put it on my Empire Builder heavy weights with a 4-8-2 pulling.

Thanks for the info. [tup]

Lee

5

I would go as far as to say that these cars were frequently used in non-refrigeration service (often this was a function of travel direction). Storage mail or general express were common contents. When in refrigeration service, they were usually used for carrying very highly perishable goods (like flowers or strawberries) or to transport first-of-the-season produce which sold at relatively high prices.

Such cars were often seen operating on other than the owners’ railroads. For instance, on October 15, 1952 GN #2122, a 42-foot refrigerator express reefer, left Oakland on the Southern Pacific Railroad carrying express to Omaha. (Gee, and on August 3, 1954 there was even an NYC milk car carrying general express from Oakland.) Consider getting some REA express reefers as they were the most frequent type.

Typical premier passenger trains never (or rarely) included express reefers (or express box cars) in their consist. Such cars traveled on second-class passenger and/or mail/express trains, typically made up of older heavyweight rather than newer lightweight passenger cars. Such trains are much more interesting visually and operationally to me than the premier trains.

Mark

6

If it’s a GN express reefer it should be Pullman Green, not brown - the same color as GN passenger cars before 1947. Your car may appear brown under some lighting conditions since it’s a pretty dark/dull green. If you model the steam era, you might see it in a silk train, which had the highest priority on the RR.