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User:Pencilsforall/Pacific Fruit Express

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A former Pacific Fruit Express refrigerator car on display in Sebastopol, California

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

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Founding and Early History

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The company was founded on December 7, 1906 by E.H. Harriman, 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] In 1913, executives from the PFE met with fruit growers in Lodi, CA to discuss improvements to communications and loading operations to improve service to growers. PFE executives also promised and additional 3,000 cars to avoid car shortages in previous years.[3] However, conflicts between growers and PFE about the number of available cars continued through the 1920s[4] The refrigeration cars initially used natural ice including from the Rocky Mountains and as late as the 1940s they were still harvesting ice from the Rockies to use for refrigeration.[5] One account describes the use of pond ice from Oregon from the early 1900s to 1912 when a refrigeration plant was built.[6]

Number of Refrigerator Cars in Pacific Fruit Express, 1907–1970[7]
  1907   1910   1920   1930   1940   1950   1960   1970  
  6,600   8,100   16,000   40,509   36,899   38,840   28,818   17,648  

1920s – 1950s

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In 1923, the Western Pacific Railroad joined the venture by leasing its own new fleet of 2775 refrigerator cars to PFE. They were painted in standard PFE colors with only WP heralds on the cars instead of the paired Union Pacific-SP markings. The WP cars were all retired by the late 1950s, among the last wooden refrigerator cars in PFE's fleet. WP ended its partnership with PFE in late 1967 and joined Fruit Growers Express instead.

1970s to Present

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In 1970 a large fire destroyed the ice house owned and operated by the PFR in Tuscon, Arizona.[8]

PFE's assets were divided between the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific when the company was split on April 1, 1978. It is now a Union Pacific subsidiary.[9]

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.[10]

Pacific Fruit Express Boxcar 1987

Paint and markings

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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.

Cultural impact

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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 and Tucson Yard Tucson, Az.[citation needed] PFE shops in Pocatello, Idaho are still used by the car department.[citation needed] A PFE boxcar is on final display in Cody Park in North Platte, Nebraska behind Centennial 6922.[citation needed]

PFE refrigerator cars are available as model railroad cars in several gauges, including N, HO, and Z. Model railcars of the PFE were available as early as 1928.[11] At the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose, California there is a rollercoaster ride called the Pacific Fruit Express and the cars are stylized to look like wooden fruit cartons.

An episode of Tracks Ahead featured the Pacific Fruit Express in 2002.[12]

A car in someone's backyard will be restored and eventually be on display at the Western Pacific museum in Plumas County[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Inventory of the Pacific Fruit Express Company Collection, 1906-1989". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  2. ^ Orsi, Richard J. (2005-05-16). Sunset Limited. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-520-20019-7.
  3. ^ "Railroads Promise to give Fruit Shippers Quick Service". The Lodi Sentinel. 12 August 1913. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  4. ^ "P.F.E Insists it is doing all Possible to Relieve Car Shortage". The Lodi Sentinel. 20 October 1923. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Urey, Gladys Orcutt; Peck, Lucile Urey (1982). "Ice Plant". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 83 (2). Oregon Historical Society: 195–199. ISSN 0030-4727. JSTOR 20613843. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  7. ^ White, John H. (1986). The Great Yellow Fleet. San Marino, Calif: Golden West Books. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-87095-091-9.
  8. ^ Wiley, Rick (2024-05-20). "Photos: Ice House fire in 1970". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  9. ^ Class I Railroad Annual Report R-1: Union Pacific Railroad Company to the Surface Transportation Board for the Year Ending Dec. 31, 2007
  10. ^ Bulletin, The North Platte (2022-09-17). "Union Pacific Fruit Express hits end of line". North Platte Bulletin. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  11. ^ Union Pacific Railroad Company (1928). The Union Pacific Magazine. Union Pacific System. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  12. ^ "Pacific Fruit Express Clip". YouTube. 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  13. ^ Pizarro, Sal (2019-02-22). "How do you move a 95-year-old rail car from a San Jose yard? Very carefully". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2024-06-25.

Further reading

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