Kit Classics HO Scale 40' Transition Era Reefer, Wilson Car Lines

Railroads started to develop refrigerator cars in the late 1800s. By 1870, groups were working to find a way to ship various products by rail that needed to be kept cool. This included meat, fruits, vegetables and various other commodities. Special cars wereconstructed with insulated sides and a variety of cooling methods were tried. The predominant method was using ice – either crushed or in blocks.

Ice reefers typically have 4 hatches on the roof at the ends of the car. Here, ice is loaded into bunkers, usually at specially built structures called icing platforms. Cool air circulates over the ice and throughout the car, keeping the contents cool. Initial cars were of all wood construction. By the early 1900s, reefer cars were typically built with wood bodies and steel ends and roofs. All steel cars started in 1936, and became the norm. In the 1950s, mechanical refrigeration was developed, spelling the end of ice reefers. While steel ice reefer numbers dwindled, they could still be seen into the early 1970s.