Welcome, follow along with George Dutka in his journal which documents the additions and future thoughts for the HO scale White River Division model railroad and to his continuing historical New England railroad research. The White River Division is now in its 17th modeler's season. The "modeler's season" runs from November to April each year. Inspiration comes from the Boston and Maine, Rutland and Central Vermont Railway during the 1950's with additional posts by Don Janes and Peter Mumby.
Saturday, 20 October 2018
BAR Reefer
BAR 2343 built in June 1953 and viewed here later in the same year. Paul Dunn photo, RJ Burg collection, Bob Bowes copy.
Here is a look at the BAR reefer when it was new. I have posted photos of this car as a model recently...George Dutka
Actually, these cars had heaters, not ice racks! The heater is visible under the "UC" at the right side of the door. The New Haven had similar cars with similar paint. I believe at some point the heaters were removed, because the float bridges in New York Harbor could create a hump that would damage them. They were for potato service and intended to keep the potatoes from freezing in the winter. There were similar cars on Canadian roads, though I believe they were to keep beer from freezing. However, a noted Canadian freight car expert disputed me on this, saying he didn't believe Canadian cities drank enough beer to require carload deliveries. Not a joke.
Actually, these cars had heaters, not ice racks! The heater is visible under the "UC" at the right side of the door. The New Haven had similar cars with similar paint. I believe at some point the heaters were removed, because the float bridges in New York Harbor could create a hump that would damage them. They were for potato service and intended to keep the potatoes from freezing in the winter. There were similar cars on Canadian roads, though I believe they were to keep beer from freezing. However, a noted Canadian freight car expert disputed me on this, saying he didn't believe Canadian cities drank enough beer to require carload deliveries. Not a joke.
ReplyDeleteThanks John...George
ReplyDeleteShould have called them insulated boxcars
DeleteInteresting cars, too bad PC messed everything up for them.
ReplyDelete