Are refrigerator cars used much anymore? I’ve noticed a couple of BNSF PFE cars in Chicago and a couple of huge Lamb-Weston frenchfry cars but they are very few and far between. Am I just looking in the wrong place(s)?
Yes, the Union Pacific, BNSF, and Tropicana have bought many new refrigerator cars since 2000.
The Union Pacific repaired and repainted numerous old Refrigerator Cars for the Chilled Express service.
Andrew
The former FGE cars have “Chilled Express” on them but the service is the Express Lane. UP has bought 1,500 reefers from TRG in the past few years and has refurbished 2,600 PCF and FGE built cars. http://www.uprr.com/customers/ag-prod/exlane/index.shtml#3.
BNSF has bought over 1,000 (I do not know the exact number) TRG reefers. Also, Cryo-Trans bought some Gunderson buit reefers (CRYX 3000 series), they probably only have a few dozen at most.
Actually, there are over 300 Cryo-Trans mechanical reefers out there somewhere, Eric.
Some of the lower-numbered BNSF 793000-series mechanical reefers were relettered TILX, and are now used by UP. (I think BNSF since got more, though.)
I’ve also seen some freshly-built CEFX reefers, that look a lot like the newest ARMN cars (no logos, though, of course).
I don’t know where in Chicago you “didn’t see” the reefers, but if you can go to Rochelle, check out the cold storage plant on the eastern edge of town. Also, we’ve had threads about the Express Lane Service and the ZWASSP trains coming in the fall.
Do the Cryo-Trans reefers go mainly to Washington? I rarely see these down here. Are any of these converted Articars? The only one I have ever seen is CRYX 1200. I must say that those Gunderson built reefers look significantly better than the TRG built reefers.
Interesting about the TILX and CEFX reefers. I wonder when these will start appearing down here. I know that the BNSF TRG built reefers go up into the 794000s now. I do not remember what the highest number I have seen is though. BNSF lists them going up to 794112. I have also been seeing more BNSF PCF and FGE built reefers lately than I had been seeing.
Actually, Eric, Cryo-Trans had a series of cryogenic reefers in the 2000 series, all of which were converted into 3000-series mechanical reefers. Then they got some new mechanicals in the 4000-4099 series. I suspect that most of them operate out of Oregon and Washington, but I haven’t seen too many myself lately, either.
No idea what may have happened to the Arcticars, unless they are somehow connected to CAGX and FURX cars I’ve seen.
I’ve looked mainly in Clyde Yard (which is almost all intermodal anyway) and the Ashland Avenue Yard on the BNSF as I ride through on METRA. Haven’t noticed many at Eola Yard either. Maybe I’ve been assuming any reefers were boxcars, so I’ll have to look more closely. Haven’t made it out to Rochelle yet - it’s about an hour drive from me.
I did see the “Tropicana Train” yesterday east of D.C. as I drove along the Beltway from Virginia to Baltimore Airport.
up thru rochell has lots of them reefers, with some switching to the cold storage warehouse along the bnsf. there has been a upsurge of them like crazy as gas prices get higher and up is getting faster transit times, ect. they are the favorite cars for grafitti artists to put some lovely art on, the all white boxes.
I see large blocks of potatoes shipped mostly in ARMN cars out of Idaho. A lot of french frys but mostly fresh pack potatoes.
dd
I saw a large 80’ reefer car with the Nestle’s logos on the side the other day in Reading, PA at Spring street yard. Also I believe the Arkansas Midland has reefers to haul frozen chicken meat. There is another company that has blue colored reefers with a steam engine logo, I see them in N.J. on CSX, not sure of the name of the company.