Western Railroad Discussion > Old Icehouse Structure in Modesto Burns in Five Alarm Fire

Structures of the icehouse complex that served the Southern Pacific and the Tidewater Southern just north of downtown Modesto burned in a spectacular five alarm fire Sunday night.  The buildings were currently vacant (I'll bet some homeless people were living in there).  9th St. (old Highway 99) separated the structure from the SP mainline, and SP had a through siding off of the mainline to access the quarter mile long icing dock.   When I was a kid, entire reefer trains would pull off of the main and into the siding to be iced, crossing busy Highway 99 when entering and leaving, and tying up traffic for half an hour at a time.

Although a former Modesto resident, I cannot recall an ice house. What is the nearest cross street to Ninth?

Westbound Wrote:
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> Although a former Modesto resident, I cannot
> recall an ice house. What is the nearest cross
> street to Ninth?

Should be Ninth Street and Tully.  Here is a street view: https://goo.gl/maps/9qTA2GpJqDq5Do8W9

This was located in what the Tidewater Southern called North Yard, an industrial district just off the north end of the 9th Street trackage.  The TS reached it via a switch along the canal just south of College Avenue.  The switch was accessed coming south.

This yard was once all under wire, including the TS spurs to their side of the ice dock.

Z
 

Here's what the trackage looked like on ACME Mapper-  http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=37.64941,-121.01192&z=15&t=U&marker0=47.30700%2C-122.22800%2CAuburn%20WA&marker1=37.63900%2C-120.99700%2CModesto%20CA%2Cundefined%2Cundefined

mapboy

The Modesto Bee reports the walls of the icehouse were lined with cork--presumably as insulation.  Once the cork ignited, the fire really took off.  The Modesto FD also reported seeing a number of homeless people fleeing the structure as they arrived on scene.
I too remember as a kid during the 1950s being held up by SP reefer blocks crossing Ninth Street to get to the ice dock.