I see a lot of these cars around in the yard, in Sioux Falls, S.D. Since we are not exactly western, nor a fruit producing area, I wonder what else they are used for?
Western Fruit Express was/is the refrigerator car operating subsidiary of Great Northern, later Burlington Northern. Although “Fruit” is in the title, the cars are actually used to handle any sort of perishable produce.
No, it was an independent company co-owned by Fruit Grower’s Express and the GN.
I’ll guess frozen meat for export. You might want to check the Morrell (now owned by Smithfield) hog facility in Sioux Falls to see if there are reefers there.
The cars could take the meat west to Seattle/Tacoma, then be reloaded east with apples/onions/pears/potatoes, etc. Then they’d move empty to SF to get another meat load.
greyhounds- I think you’re absolutely right, now that I stop to look around. Morrel’s has a rail spur that’s maintained quite well, but I don’t recall ever seeing a train on it in the 23 years I’ve lived here. There is a freezer warehouse a mile away from Morrel’s, that is shipping boxed meat by truck and railcar. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Sometimes I can’t see the forest through the trees.