Date
1 - 6 of 6
BAR Reefer
George Hollwedel <georgeloop@...>
I have a two part BAR reefer question.
When did they start painting them yellow or orange? Would a load of Maine potatoes ever have made it's way to California? Thanks for any help! George Hollwedel Prototype N Scale Models georgeloop@...
|
|
SP/PFE borrowed lots of reefers in the off-season from BAR. Early
1960's photos of Donner pass show lots of BAR reefers, plus C&NW/NWX reefers mixed in with PFE reefers. Before the mid 1950's, I don't think the BAR had enough reefers to make a notable contribution to traffic in California. Maine potatoes were shipped mostly in the cold months beginning with the September harvest and continuing through the winter. They were usually more concerned with freezing than with keeping the loads cold. I have a two part BAR reefer question. Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...> -->> NOTE EMAIL CHANGE <<-- Sterling, Massachusetts
|
|
Don Valentine
Quoting George Hollwedel <georgeloop@...>:
I have a two part BAR reefer question. I'm not dead certain on the shift to orange paint for BAR reefers, George, but believe it was in the 1960's. Maine potatoes making it to California is a bit of a stretch unless processed by McCain's into, what's the proper term since we can't call the "French" fries anymore? In other words, as frozen food, possibly, as bagged potatoes for sale it's not very likely. Too many Idaho's and others around I suspect. Take care, Don Valentine
|
|
SHAY STARK
--- In STMFC@..., newrail@s... wrote:
Maine potatoes making it to California isproper term since we can't call the "French" fries anymore? In other words, asfrozen food, possibly, as bagged potatoes for sale it's not very likely.Too many Idaho's and others around I suspect.Don, I agree with you that Maine potatoes in California or any other Western state might not be extremely common but it did happen with some regularity on a small scale. Hod Sanders founded a regional snack food company in the mid 40's called Clover Club. He started out of his garage and then a couple years later built a plant in Kaysville, Utah. In the late 40's and early 50's he received carloads of potatoes from Maine on a regular basis. It is rumored that he felt Maine potatoes made a crisper chip due to the variety grown and the growing conditions. On a similar note E.F. Mariani had a dry ice business in Salt Lake City. He purchased his ice from back east. I have seen many photos of wooden MDT refers on the local railroads that served his warehouse. I have often wondered why he chose to purchase dry ice from the east coast when there were several plants manufacturing dry ice in the Western United States. I am happy about it though as it means I get to have a couple of MDT refers for variety. Shay Stark
|
|
SHAY STARK
--- In STMFC@..., "shaystark" <SHAYS@A...> wrote:
I agree with you that Maine potatoes in California or any otherI got home from work and looked up my notes on Clover Club to see what additional information I might have. In doing so I realized that I had a couple of points wrong in the previious post. That is what happens when I go from memory. I will try to correct it here. Clover Club began in 1938. The potato chips were prepared in the Sanders garage for several years and used Utah potatoes. In 1948 they built a factory in Kaysville, Utah. As the business grew they were unable to purchase enough Utah potatoes to keep up with demand. Sometime between 1949 and 1952 they built a single car siding into the factory and began supplementing the Utah potatoes with Maine potatoes. A note in a local County history states that Clover Club received Maine potatoes in wooden ice refers. My uncle who was a freight and passenger motorman for the Bamberger at this time told me that he remembers red, white and blue State of Maine insulated boxcars being spotted at the plant. The supplement of Maine potatoes usually began in the spring depending on the availibility of the local crop and continued through the summer. When this occurred the company would receive one car a week. Clover Club seemed to think that this was a novel idea and advertised the use of Maine potatoes. This part of the Bamberger line was abandoned in January 1959 and thus direct shipments to the factory ended at that time. In 1958 Clover Club may not have received many cars of potatoes as there were less than 100 cars spotted along the Bamberger line in Davis County during that year. While incomming coal traffic was dwindeling because of the development of natural gas, Outgoing perishible traffic was still strong in the County at this time meaning that much of that 100 cars were outgoing. I don't have any records to show exact break down but I do have a break down of how many cars were spotted on team tracks versus at customer locations. The number of cars on team tracks far surpassed the number of cars delivered to customers. This was Bambergers arguement for abandonment as the Union Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande Western parralleled the line and had team tracks with in a mile or two of Bambergers. I don't know what Clover Club did after the rail connection was removed. Shay Stark
|
|
ljack70117@...
Just for the record. We had Maine Spuds in Salina Ks to at least 1954.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Thank you Larry Jackman
On Thursday, October 2, 2003, at 11:42 AM, shaystark wrote:
--- In STMFC@..., "shaystark" <SHAYS@A...> wrote:I agree with you that Maine potatoes in California or any otherI got home from work and looked up my notes on Clover Club to see
|
|