REMX

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Yes, this is another thread about refrigerated boxcars (reefers), after all I do live in the San Joaquin Valley. Those of you who are model railroaders may know that Athearn has released an RTR model of REMX reefers. They have an R-70-19 class stencil on them, which leads one to believe that there some relation to PFE. According to the various reporting marks websites REMX is the reporting mark for REMX Corp. When I search the internet I cannot find anything about these reefers (real ones).

I think I may have seen a few SLC reefers that used to be REMX reefers back in 2003, let me compare and constrast them.
Color:
SLC were white, Athearn model is light tan.
Class:
Both stencilled with R-70-19.
Logo:
The Athearn model has a medium blue silhouette of the US on it with ice and icicles on top and REMX on it. The SLC reefers appeared to have had this at one time.
Road number:
Athearn model is in 1000s. SLC cars were in the 351000s and the number did not appear to have been painted over. According to Pacific Fruit Express, 2nd Edition these SLC cars coorespond to PFE R-70-16s with load restraints removed and improperly stencilled R-70-19.

I should also note that some of the SLC reefers that I saw used to have the orange PFE on the side.

Does anybody know anything about the prototypes?

2

Of course!

One hundred eighty-four PFE reefers were transferred to the Packers Cold Storage Company in 1979. Some of these were repainted and renumbered into PCSX series 1001-1184; the paint scheme was pale green, with black data. (They were stencilled R-70-19; your statement about them possibly being old R-70-16s is something I can’t respond to.)

By the end of 1979, most of the PCSX cars had disappeared, and the REMX cars (series 1001-1183 began showing up). I can’t be sure of this, but it seems likely that some cars went directly from PFE to REMX, and that the PCSX series was never filled.

The REMX cars actually had several paint schemes–here are the number ranges I personally observed (other cars in series 1001-1183 existed, but I didn’t see them):

Pale blue, small white data, blue, green, and white “Lamb-Weston” markings: 1003-1073.
White, black data, the blue, green, black, and white “REMX” decal markings you describe: 1076-1100, 1114-1174.
Orange, black data, large white reporting marks and numbers; no other markings: 1102-1110.

Apparently the REMX Corporation ceased operation in early 1983. Some cars were restored to their original numbers, but lettered SPFE instead of PFE. Most, however, were relettered SPFE and sequentially renumbered into the 351001-351183 series (eventually the ones that had gone back into the 456000 series were also renumbered to the 351000 series). Some were fully repainted into the white PFE paint scheme used by SP at the time; others only had the REMX logos obliterated. White, not tan, was always the correct color for these cars.

One car, REMX 1032, apparently was sold to the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad, becoming GNWR 1032.

San Luis Central obtained cars from SPFE series 351002-351141 (only) in 1986.

Carl

3

Carl, thanks, I figured you would know something about this. I guess I might as well address freight car questions to you directly. We could probably take care of freight car stuff via e-mail, but there may be a third person in the world who is as interest in freight cars as we are.

This class confusion is interesting. Like I said, the cars I saw had an R-70-19 stencil. The photograph of SPFE 351050 in Pacific Fruit Express, 2nd Edition is listed as an R-70-19 (I can’t read the stencil in the picture, however the authors state it is stencilled R-70-19). In Table 9-3 this series is listed as R-70-14s and R-70-16s. I sent an e-mail to the publisher about this discrepancy and one of the authors replied and wrote “You raise a good point: the photo of 351050 on page 229 is in fact stenciled as R-70-19, perhaps a painter’s mistake. The renumbering table on p. 205 is from PFE records and agrees with the photos I checked, but I must have missed the photo of no. 352050 [sic].”

4

Carl, I was rereading this thread and noticed that you said that some of the cars were transfered back to the 456000 series. That would eliminate R-70-14s and R-70-15s. According to Pacific Fruit Express, 2nd Edition, by Signature Press, the classes in the 456000 series are as follows.
455501-456000 R-70-17
456001-456500 R-70-18
456501-456900 R-70-19
456901-457500 R-70-20
If the information you have is correct, that solves the mystery as to the class of the cars.