Railworks America

An iconic car seen all over the place, were Mechanical Reefers. One that stands out in my mind are the mid 70s, 57ft, PFE orange and black cars, belonging to UP and SP in a joint operation.
These cars were used all over the U.S. by many railroads, with many liveries.
I grew up seeing huge unit trains coming out of Oakland Ca and traveling throughout California headed East.


I'd love to see one.
Eric.

I could do some similar 50 plug door boxcars but I don't know of a mechanical refrigerator car model that has fuel tanks and a cooling system.

Santa Fe had a bunch of similar cars. Most of the mechanicals were tucked into an end with covered grates tho'.

Hack wrote:Santa Fe had a bunch of similar cars. Most of the mechanicals were tucked into an end with covered grates tho'.

Yes, with a long narrow tank for diesel mounted near the car centerline.
I'm trying to find more examples, but these cars apparently weren't a favorite photo item.

This may in fact be an older 50ft car.

Thanks for the link Buzz. I used the exact same search words and came up with entirely different results.

This is what I had in mind.

+1

I would be happy to tackle this one if no one else wants to.

Larry

MaineLines wrote:I would be happy to tackle this one if no one else wants to.

Larry

Go for it Larry. If I had the smallest clue, I'd do this one and a S,P. C-50 Bay window caboose to go with it.
I'm not being greedy though, I'd take just the 57ft reefer.

Thanks Eric.

MaineLines wrote:I would be happy to tackle this one if no one else wants to.

Larry

Your FMC Rail boxes are a staple of any scenarios I make. This reefer in the game would absolutely make my day

We actually do have a 50' mechanical reefer in our file library, it's bright yellow FGE and models beautifully.
http://railworksamerica.com/index.php/d ... k-repaints

thecanadianrail wrote:We actually do have a 50' mechanical reefer in our file library, it's bright yellow FGE and models beautifully.
http://railworksamerica.com/index.php/d ... k-repaints

This model is an insulated boxcar. A mechanical reefer has a built-in refrigeration system and carries fuel tanks in its underframe.

"You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." I don't remember who said that, but the second part doesn't seem to apply to forum members.
[That's me trying to be a humorous old man instead of a grumpy one.]

I have begun researching the cars and will probably do the SP R-70-20 version.

MaineLines wrote:I have begun researching the cars and will probably do the SP R-70-20 version.

That looks like a good choice. There were quite a few railroads that seemed to use that particular reefer, including Santa Fe, Pacific Fruit Express, SPFE, UPFE, and others.
I think I even saw a Wisconsin Central one in that type.
The paint guys will have a field day.
If you pick that one Larry, you want to do a "unmodernized" one.
The "modernized" ones have a open top over the refrigeration unit.
I'm feeling like a kid in a toy store.