Re: Hormel Four-Wheeled Ice Bunker Reefer


Richard Hendrickson
 

On Feb 16, 2014, at 8:32 AM, thecitrusbelt@... wrote:

I came across this reference to a petite refrigerator car:
 “During the 1930s, the North American Car Company produced a one-of-a-kind, four-wheeled ice bunker reefer intended to serve the needs of specialized shippers who did not generate sufficient product to fill a full-sized refrigerator car. NADX #10000 was a 22-foot-long, all-steel car that resembled the forty-and-eights used in Europe during World War I. The prototype weighed in at 13½ tons and was outfitted with a 1,500- pound ice bunker at each end. The car was leased to Hormel and saw service between Chicago, Illinois and the southern United States. The concept failed to gain acceptance with the big eastern railroads and no additional units were built.”
Bob, inquiries about this car turn up periodically on this list, and the answer is always the same:  it was a singular experiment and, as it turned out, a dismal failure.  This rigid wheelbase four wheeled car, with a weight only a fraction of other cars then in service, had to have resulted in an array of operating problems, so it’s no wonder the major railroads wanted nothing to do with it.  I’d be surprised if it made more than one revenue run before it was black-balled.  It received considerable attention from railroad industry journals (e.g., Railway Age, Railway Mechanical Engineer) at the time it was introduced but dropped off the industry radar almost immediately, corresponding with its sudden disappearance from revenue service.  Owing to its unconventional appearance, photos of it turn up from time to time in journals and books (e.g., Duke and White, The Great Yellow Fleet) but it had zero influence on the railroad industry.  

Richard Hendrickson


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