Where Does The Ice Come From? (Refrigerator Cars)

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Every once in a while the question of icing refrigerator cars comes up here and—inevitably—someone asks “Where does all that ice come from?”

There’s a recent photo posted at Shorpy showing exactly where all that ice comes from…

http://www.shorpy.com/node/20843?size=_original#caption

Look at those straight cuts! And all by hand saw! Amazing!

Just thought you’d like to take a look,

Regards, Ed

2

Ed,That was one way the other way they manufactured ice at the ice house.

Back to the photo…They also harvest ice from the great lakes from ice over to just before ice out…

3

I have a couple of pictures from my grandfathers stuff of an ice harvest and storage building in a small town that the CSt.P&P went through. The storage building was buildt next to where an old mill used to be, as now the pond supplied ice, and not water power for the mill.

If I remember right, the lines were initially layed out/cut with a blade pulled by a horse. The saw guys finished the job with their hand saws. Quite an operation. I suppose each railroad had specs on what size blocks should be.

I’ll have to see if I can locate the pictures, or if they are in my mothers collection.

Mike.

4

That’s a wonderful photograph. If you ever get to Cedar Falls Iowa (near Waterloo) don’t fail to get to their ice house museum. A fully restored ice house filled with the tools and machines, with old photos and dioramas including the railroad element (the old IC line is nearby).

http://www.cfhistory.org/page.aspx?n=2

Their local historical society has other intersting stuff nearby including a preserved old fashioned gas station, so it is worth the trip, not to mention that there are local railfanning opportunities.

Dave Nelson

5

I had a relative that lived in a converted ice house. The walls were a foot thick and filled with sawdust. Supposedly, ice would last until late July, early August.

6

There’s a wonderful book by Gavin Weightman on the history of the ice trade. Ice from Walden Pond was cut when Thoreau lived there and was to have been shipped by rail to port and then by ship to Calcutta India! but for some reason never made it to market. Lots of fascinating stories like that. Great book, excellent read. Here’s a link.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Frozen-Water-Trade-Story/dp/0786886404