Nostalgia & History > FCF – Mechanical Reefers at the PFE shop in COI

Pacific Fruit Express (PFE) had a running repair facility at the SP City of Industry (COI) yard until PFE closed it in 1974.  My father worked for PFE at this location until the end, and I recall spending a few summer weekdays in the late 1960’s riding around, along with my brother (TO member hawkfather), in the back of a PFE service truck while hiding from management and the seemingly every present SP cops.   For this edition of Freight Car Friday here’s three mechanical reefers in for work during the facility’s final years of the operations.


1.  PFE 459381         29 October 1972         City of Industry, CA

2.  RMDX 845           29 October 1972         City of Industry, CA

3.  SPFE 450603     16 December 1973        City of Industry, CA


Today marks what would have been my father’s 102nd birthday…thanks Dad for the memories.

Ron
 

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Help out this east coast ignoramus here:  What's the story with reefer #2?  I'd never heard of an NW/Mopac joint operation. 

Super photos - Thanks for sharing these.
Bob

Armeican Refrigerator Transit (ART) was jointly owned by MoPac and Wabash.  Towards the end, they leased purchased mechanical reffers. I believe it late 1970s the fleet was split. Some went to NW and Mop keep the ART Company and some of the more modern reefers. When I joined Mopac in 1980 the remains fleet was leased out to other carriers or hauling items such as cheese or meat associated with USDA contracts. The irony was when I went to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, you could still see carrots being loaded in reefers bound for Toronto and Montreal in SPFE/UPFE reefers on the SP. Mopac quit the produce business in the late 1970s.