Pacific Fruit Express: Difference between revisions
Lordkinbote (talk | contribs) m tweaks |
added ref |
||
(64 intermediate revisions by 43 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{more citations needed|date=October 2011}} |
|||
[[Image:Icing PFE reefers at Oxnard produce packing plant--Spring 1964.jpg|thumb|350px|right|A string of refrigerator cars owned by '''Pacific Fruit Express''' is supplied with fresh ice in the Spring of [[1964]].]] |
|||
[[File:Pacific Fruit Express boxcar in Sebastopol, April 2018.JPG|thumb|A former Pacific Fruit Express refrigerator car on display in Sebastopol, California]] |
|||
'''Pacific Fruit Express''' {{reporting mark|PFE}} was a [[railroad]] [[refrigerator car]] leasing company that at one point was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world. The company was founded on [[December 7]], [[1906]] as a joint venture between the [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] and [[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific]] railroads. It began operation on [[October 1]], [[1907]], with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by the [[American Car and Foundry Company]] (ACF). |
|||
'''Pacific Fruit Express''' {{reporting mark|PFE}} was an American [[railroad]] [[refrigerator car]] leasing company headquartered in San Francisco. At one point, it was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world. |
|||
==History== |
|||
[[Image:Pfe ad.jpg|thumb|150px|left|A magazine ad for the Union Pacific Railroad and Pacific Fruit Express.]] |
|||
The company was founded on December 7, 1906, as a joint venture between the [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] and [[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific]] railroads. It began operation on October 1, 1907, with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by the [[American Car and Foundry Company]] (ACF).<ref>{{cite web|title=Inventory of the Pacific Fruit Express Company Collection, 1906-1989|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf7199n8cr/|publisher=Online Archive of California|accessdate=20 March 2012}}</ref> In the period of 1901-1913, the Pacific Fruit Express was the largest refrigerator car company and transported perishable fruit and vegetables which allowed for the increased production of produce in California.<ref name="Sunset">{{cite book | last=Orsi | first=Richard J. | title=Sunset Limited | publisher=University of California Press | publication-place=Berkeley | date=2005-05-16 | isbn=978-0-520-20019-7 | page=34}}</ref> The refrigeration cars used natural ice from the [[Rocky Mountains]] and as late as the 1940s they were still harvesting ice to use for refrigeration.<ref name="Anderson">{{cite book | last=Anderson | first=Oscar Edward | title=Refrigeration in America | chapter=REFRIGERATION AND THE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD, 1890-1917 | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=1953 | isbn=978-0-691-62719-9 | jstor=j.ctt183q1k7.17 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183q1k7.17 | access-date=2024-06-22 | page=151}}</ref> |
|||
[[Image:Hewes' Transcontinental Brand, El Modena.jpg|thumb|220px|left|Crate label for Hewes' Transcontinental Brand of El Modena, California ''circa'' [[1930]].]] |
|||
In 1923, the [[Western Pacific Railroad]] joined the venture by leasing its own new fleet of 2775 reefers to PFE. They were painted in standard PFE colors with only WP heralds on the cars instead of the paired UP-SP markings. The WP cars were all retired by the late 1950s, among the last wooden reefers in PFE's fleet. WP ended its partnership with PFE in late 1967 and joined [[Fruit Growers Express]] instead. |
|||
<br style="clear:both;"> |
|||
PFE's assets were divided between the UP and SP when the company was split on April 1, 1978. It is now a UP subsidiary.<ref>[http://www.stb.dot.gov/econdata.nsf/f039526076cc0f8e8525660b006870c9/c47c345c03f9d3668525744300675f26/$FILE/2007%20Annual%20Report%20Form%20R-1's%20Union%20Pacific%20Railroad.pdf Class I Railroad Annual Report R-1: Union Pacific Railroad Company to the Surface Transportation Board for the Year Ending Dec. 31, 2007]</ref> |
|||
On September 1, 2022 Union Pacific closed the final Fruit Express shop in [[North Platte, Nebraska]] at [[Bailey Yard]] and all personnel and equipment were transferred to the North Platte Service Unit Car Department.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bulletin |first=The North Platte |date=2022-09-17 |title=Union Pacific Fruit Express hits end of line |url=https://northplattebulletin.com/union-pacific-freight-express-hits-end-of-line/ |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=North Platte Bulletin |language=en}}</ref> |
|||
'''Pacific Fruit Express Roster, 1907–1970:''' |
|||
{| class="toccolours" |
|||
|- |
|||
|align=center | '''1907''' |
|||
|align=center | '''1910''' |
|||
|align=center | '''1920''' |
|||
|align=center | '''1930''' |
|||
|align=center | '''1940''' |
|||
|align=center | '''1950''' |
|||
|align=center | '''1960''' |
|||
|align=center | '''1970''' |
|||
|- |
|||
|align=center | 6,600 |
|||
|align=center | 8,100 |
|||
|align=center | 16,000 |
|||
|align=center | 40,509 |
|||
|align=center | 36,899 |
|||
|align=center | 38,840 |
|||
|align=center | 28,818 |
|||
|align=center | 17,648 |
|||
|} |
|||
<small>Source: ''The Great Yellow Fleet'', p. 17.</small> |
|||
==Paint and markings== |
==Paint and markings== |
||
Modern cars owned by PFE typically carried both UP and SP heralds and either "Union Pacific Fruit Express" or "Southern Pacific Fruit Express". The |
Modern cars owned by PFE typically carried both UP and SP heralds and either "Union Pacific Fruit Express" or "Southern Pacific Fruit Express". The [[reporting mark]]s were '''UPFE''' for cars operated by Union Pacific or '''SPFE''' for cars operated by Southern Pacific. |
||
==Legacy== |
|||
PFE's impact is still seen in [[Roseville, California]], site of a major Union Pacific [[classification yard]], where there is a road named "PFE Road". |
|||
{{-}} |
|||
There are a pair of PFE tracks in the [[Albina Yard|Union Pacific Albina Yard]] in [[Portland, Oregon]] |
|||
There is PFE track in Tucson Yard Tucson, Az. |
|||
PFE shops in [[Pocatello, Idaho]] are still used by the car department. |
|||
A PFE boxcar is on final display in Cody Park in North Platte, Nebraska behind [[EMD DDA40X|Centennial]] 6922. |
|||
==References== |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
== |
== References == |
||
{{reflist}} |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
== Further reading == |
|||
[[Image:OP-19447.jpg|thumb|350px|left|[[Union Pacific]] gas-turbine-electric locomotive #57 pulls a block of [[Pacific Fruit Express]] [[refrigerator car]]s past [[Dale, Wyoming]] in August, [[1958]].]] |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
== External links == |
|||
[[Image:OP-14250.jpg|thumb|350px|right|'''PFE''' [[refrigerator car]] #458330, photographed at [[Denver, Colorado]] in March, [[1970]]. The steel car relies on a mechanical [[refrigeration]] unit to keep its perishable cargo within the specified temperature range.]] |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
{{Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States}} |
|||
<br style="clear:both;"> |
|||
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1906]] |
|||
{{US-rail-stub}} |
|||
[[Category: |
[[Category:Refrigerator car lines of the United States]] |
||
[[Category:Southern Pacific Railroad]] |
[[Category:Southern Pacific Railroad]] |
||
[[Category:Union Pacific Railroad]] |
[[Category:Union Pacific Railroad]] |
||
[[Category:Western Pacific Railroad]] |
|||
[[Category:American companies established in 1906]] |
Revision as of 01:54, 22 June 2024
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2011) |
Pacific Fruit Express (reporting mark PFE) was an American railroad refrigerator car leasing company headquartered in San Francisco. At one point, it was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world.
History
The company was founded on December 7, 1906, as a joint venture between the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. It began operation on October 1, 1907, with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by the American Car and Foundry Company (ACF).[1] In the period of 1901-1913, the Pacific Fruit Express was the largest refrigerator car company and transported perishable fruit and vegetables which allowed for the increased production of produce in California.[2] The refrigeration cars used natural ice from the Rocky Mountains and as late as the 1940s they were still harvesting ice to use for refrigeration.[3]
In 1923, the Western Pacific Railroad joined the venture by leasing its own new fleet of 2775 reefers to PFE. They were painted in standard PFE colors with only WP heralds on the cars instead of the paired UP-SP markings. The WP cars were all retired by the late 1950s, among the last wooden reefers in PFE's fleet. WP ended its partnership with PFE in late 1967 and joined Fruit Growers Express instead.
PFE's assets were divided between the UP and SP when the company was split on April 1, 1978. It is now a UP subsidiary.[4]
On September 1, 2022 Union Pacific closed the final Fruit Express shop in North Platte, Nebraska at Bailey Yard and all personnel and equipment were transferred to the North Platte Service Unit Car Department.[5]
Pacific Fruit Express Roster, 1907–1970:
1907 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 |
6,600 | 8,100 | 16,000 | 40,509 | 36,899 | 38,840 | 28,818 | 17,648 |
Source: The Great Yellow Fleet, p. 17.
Paint and markings
Modern cars owned by PFE typically carried both UP and SP heralds and either "Union Pacific Fruit Express" or "Southern Pacific Fruit Express". The reporting marks were UPFE for cars operated by Union Pacific or SPFE for cars operated by Southern Pacific.
Legacy
PFE's impact is still seen in Roseville, California, site of a major Union Pacific classification yard, where there is a road named "PFE Road".
There are a pair of PFE tracks in the Union Pacific Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon
There is PFE track in Tucson Yard Tucson, Az.
PFE shops in Pocatello, Idaho are still used by the car department.
A PFE boxcar is on final display in Cody Park in North Platte, Nebraska behind Centennial 6922.
References
- ^ "Inventory of the Pacific Fruit Express Company Collection, 1906-1989". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
- ^ Orsi, Richard J. (2005-05-16). Sunset Limited. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-520-20019-7.
- ^ Anderson, Oscar Edward (1953). "REFRIGERATION AND THE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD, 1890-1917". Refrigeration in America. Princeton University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-691-62719-9. JSTOR j.ctt183q1k7.17. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
- ^ Class I Railroad Annual Report R-1: Union Pacific Railroad Company to the Surface Transportation Board for the Year Ending Dec. 31, 2007
- ^ Bulletin, The North Platte (2022-09-17). "Union Pacific Fruit Express hits end of line". North Platte Bulletin. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
Further reading
- Sacramento History Online (2004), Timeline - Transportation, Agriculture. Retrieved May 18, 2005 — company startup details.
- Thompson, Anthony W. et al. (1992). Pacific Fruit Express. Signature Press, Wilton, CA. ISBN 1-930013-03-5.
- White, John H. (1986). The Great Yellow Fleet. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. ISBN 0-87095-091-6.
External links
- Pacific Fruit Express Company #11207 — photo and short history of one of the last ice-type refrigerator cars built.
- Pacific Fruit Express Company #300010 — photo and short history of one of the first mechanical-type refrigerator cars built.
- Pacific Fruit Express photo gallery Archived 2005-11-06 at the Wayback Machine at the Union Pacific Railroad official website.