Nostalgia & History > Railway Express Agency- High Speed Wood Reefers

Seems there only a few pics of these General American Car design here on TO's and most aren't the greatest shots. Just wondering if there are others who have pics they might post. I recall these reefers in the 50's and 60's passing through SW Kansas on the Rock Island either as an individual or two at the front of a passenger train or as a special train as a series of 15 or 20 cars carrying perishables from the west coast like strawberries, cherries, etc. I recall one of these old "woodies" was set out in Haviland, Ks in the late 50's that had the drawbar almost entirely pulled from it and it had pulled a portion of the wooden end at the bottom forward. I don't recall what happened to the merchandise or how it was moved, as this drawbar was on the east end in which I'd presume the car was headed toward eastern markets.

I only have a memory of these trains with no pictures. I've seen Walthers HO scale models of these special design with the rounded roof with various railroad names posted on the letterboard above the doors, but I always those that I saw had the "Railway Express Agency" posted there usually. Does anyone know why there may have been individual railroad names rather than this agency's name whom would have owned these cars? Did these specific railroads also buy this design car for their passenger runs competing with the REA or was this some sort of lease agreement with the latter?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/15 19:07 by rrman6.

I think Broadway Limited did a few runs of the named cars. Most of those leases died out in the 40s and (very) early 50s - I know the D&RGW's did.

Here's their page :
http://www.broadway-limited.com/gacx536expressrefrigeratorcars-2.aspx
The Rock's is the third one in the first row. They are fairly accurate for what they are - I think, as you said, Walthers also did some.

One of the Prototype Cyclopedias had an article on them, I threw mine all out years ago though.

Thanks for the info here. That's more than I've ever seen or heard concerning the railroad's operation of these cars.

rswebber Wrote:
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> One of the Prototype Cyclopedias had an article on
> them, I threw mine all out years ago though.

Definitely, the definitive work:

http://www.rpcycpub.com/v7.html

You should have kept the issue:

http://www.amazon.com/Railway-Prototype-Cyclopedia-Vol-7/dp/B003JDVQOO/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422034235&sr=1-14&keywords=railway+Prototype+Cyclopedia

For the original poster, some railroad owned these cars that also carried REA markings. If there is any specific road that you are curious about, send me a PM.