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CA vegetables sent east ( and non domestic fruit)

Robert G P
 

Hello everyone,

Wanted to ask what some of the most common non fruit produce shipped East from the West Coast was? You hear a lot about citrus/berries/cantaloupe/cherries and some other fruits like Grapes. 

But id like to know if large amounts of Kale/Spinach or Carrots/Onions/Garlic was also just as prominent? Or did the South and various "local" farms normally supply these east of the Mississippi? 

I know California has always had a large Tomato crop, and these are technically fruits but for all intents and purposes classified more commonly as vegetables. 

Another interest of mine is imported fruits. Were Kiwi, Mangoes or Avocados seen back then? Bananas and Pineapple were definitely THE tropical fruits of the period, surely because they keep well.  Kiwi can be grown in CA. 

Did PFE/SFRD reefers carry Hawaiian Pineapple that landed in LA or SF? 

Happy New Year,
Rob
ed_mines
 

Rob, the Pacific Fruit Express book by Tony Thompson has a chart - "normal growing and shipping seasons on the Southern Pacific"

I recall seeing a similar chart somewhere else but can't remember where. The Car Builders Cyclopedia?

My SFRD book is in storage, never to be seen by me again.
Bill Parks
 

On Sat, Dec 31, 2022 at 03:39 PM, Robert G P wrote:
Bananas and Pineapple were definitely THE tropical fruits of the period
Rob - 

Most bananas and pineapples destined for locations east of the Rockies came into the USA in places like New Orleans, Miami or Mobile, or went up the coast by ship to places like NYC or Baltimore.  There might have been some shipments from the west coast, but I imagine it was a very small percentage of refrigerator carloads.

A major vegetable crop from California that you did not mention was lettuce.  There were usually as many carloads of lettuce shipped from California in a year as there were of citrus.

Another source to look at is Model Railroader's book "Produce Traffic & Trains".  Like most of MR's industries series, it can be a bit basic for some, but does provide a good starting point.  There is also another IO group - "RailroadFruitIndustryModelers" that is specific to the produce industry.  Feel free to join if you wish.
 
--
Bill Parks
Cumming, GA
Modelling the Seaboard Airline in Central Florida
Tim O'Connor
 


I seem to recall that PFE carloadings peaked at over 400,000 annually. If you ponder that for a sec, it's
over 1% of all carloadings of everything on US railroads - probably close to 1 in 75 carloads or something
like that. California -- but also Arizona, and Texas. Veggies, fruits, meat (not much), and taters & onions.


On 12/31/2022 5:40 PM, Bill Parks via groups.io wrote:

On Sat, Dec 31, 2022 at 03:39 PM, Robert G P wrote:
Bananas and Pineapple were definitely THE tropical fruits of the period
Rob - 

Most bananas and pineapples destined for locations east of the Rockies came into the USA in places like New Orleans, Miami or Mobile, or went up the coast by ship to places like NYC or Baltimore.  There might have been some shipments from the west coast, but I imagine it was a very small percentage of refrigerator carloads.

A major vegetable crop from California that you did not mention was lettuce.  There were usually as many carloads of lettuce shipped from California in a year as there were of citrus.

Another source to look at is Model Railroader's book "Produce Traffic & Trains".  Like most of MR's industries series, it can be a bit basic for some, but does provide a good starting point.  There is also another IO group - "RailroadFruitIndustryModelers" that is specific to the produce industry.  Feel free to join if you wish.
 
--
Bill Parks

--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts
Jeffrey White
 

The IC ran seasonal strawberry trains through the time period of this list.  Called the Crimson Flyer they started in Hammond, LA and followed the harvest north.  I have a photo of one of the last runs being pulled by Geeps.  They also ran banana trains out of New Orleans.  I've got the information of other produce on the IC for 1936, I'll have to dig the nook out.

Jeff White

Alma IL

On 12/31/2022 2:39 PM, Robert G P wrote:

Hello everyone,

Wanted to ask what some of the most common non fruit produce shipped East from the West Coast was? You hear a lot about citrus/berries/cantaloupe/cherries and some other fruits like Grapes. 

But id like to know if large amounts of Kale/Spinach or Carrots/Onions/Garlic was also just as prominent? Or did the South and various "local" farms normally supply these east of the Mississippi? 

I know California has always had a large Tomato crop, and these are technically fruits but for all intents and purposes classified more commonly as vegetables. 

Another interest of mine is imported fruits. Were Kiwi, Mangoes or Avocados seen back then? Bananas and Pineapple were definitely THE tropical fruits of the period, surely because they keep well.  Kiwi can be grown in CA. 

Did PFE/SFRD reefers carry Hawaiian Pineapple that landed in LA or SF? 

Happy New Year,
Rob
Bill Parks
 
Edited

I have a collection of annual reports for the Seaboard that covers the end of WW2 into the early 60s (just past the time frame of this group).  In it, they list tonnage of different types of commodities carried.  Since produce was a major source of tonnage, they broke out different types of produce.  I've included a table I compiled below to show what, and how much was shipped by the SAL (primarily originating in Florida).

If you notice, the tonnage drops over the decade (especially for citrus).  This was due to the rapid increase in frozen foods.  As an example, by 1949, half of all oranges grown in Florida were used in Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice (FCOJ), and by the end of the decade, the number was close to 80%.

For the years that have "N/R" for a product, it is because the SAL did not report it separately that year, but instead included it in the "Other Fresh Vegetables" line.  The figures below are in 1,000 tons

  1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
                               
Bananas, Fresh  N/R   N/R         50,622        21,105           12,003           12,068           15,985  N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R 
Citrus Fruits      608,639      718,128      594,596      527,787        450,877        369,254        462,151        562,440        423,582        402,199        334,516        280,956        271,458        159,161        179,021
Watermelons  N/R   N/R         93,101        82,854           84,822           86,283           90,952           88,983           90,439        108,690           92,278           80,955           49,936           49,586           18,201
Other Fresh Fruits      276,121      267,963        82,230        52,661           43,798           42,659           49,807           58,632           58,813           56,601           56,655           53,001           49,208           48,617           51,501
Celery  N/R   N/R         43,378        48,775           47,860           54,195           58,465  N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R 
Potatoes other than sweet      214,245      212,835      158,734      110,811           99,438           95,183        103,117        104,082        112,084        102,780           87,814           71,365           69,458           61,961           70,419
Tomatoes  N/R   N/R         20,896        31,361           46,529           32,197           34,833  N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R   N/R 
Other Fresh Vegetables      297,261      287,276      126,162      139,393        127,839        120,359        133,955        250,576        229,349        215,352        236,889        223,000        197,894        175,928        186,394


--
Bill Parks
Cumming, GA
Modelling the Seaboard Airline in Central Florida
Tony Thompson
 

Robert G P (not signing his full name) wrote:

Wanted to ask what some of the most common non fruit produce shipped East from the West Coast was? You hear a lot about citrus/berries/cantaloupe/cherries and some other fruits like Grapes.

But id like to know if large amounts of Kale/Spinach or Carrots/Onions/Garlic was also just as prominent? Or did the South and various "local" farms normally supply these east of the Mississippi?
Data I have are only for PFE (see the table on p. 449 of the PFE book 2nd edition). For 1953, for example, potatoes exceeded 85,000 carloads, followed by lettuce at almost 67,000 carloads. Citrus was well behind at 34,000, followed by cantaloupes at 26,000 and canned goods at 25,000. Carrots were about 17,000; bananas were almost 16,000. Onions were about 12,000, and BTW “other vegetables” were about 17,000. I’m not giving over a third of the list.

Tony Thompson
tony@...
spsalso
 

Avocados have been grown commercially in California for quite awhile now--I think about 100 years.  And shipped east, I'd say.


Ed

Edward Sutorik
Andy Carlson
 

Until post WWll times, California Avocados were a regional thing with the rest of the nation needing a few more decades to embrace avocados. So though many were grown in California, most remained here.
-Andy Carlson
Ojai CA

On Sunday, January 1, 2023 at 07:30:41 AM PST, spsalso via groups.io <edwardsutorik@...> wrote:


Avocados have been grown commercially in California for quite awhile now--I think about 100 years.  And shipped east, I'd say.


Ed

Edward Sutorik

Bob Chaparro
 

I recalled reading an obituary of a Fallbrook, CA, avocado grower which mentioned that he developed a commercially viable method for delaying the ripening of avocados (around the mid-1960s), which lead to a great expansion of the market for this product. A check of production figures from state records indicated large increases in avocado production starting in the early 1970s and this supported rail transportation.
The undated photo below is of a Santa Fe Class Rr-69 built in 1961.

These days most avocado consumed in the U.S. are imported from Mexico. Unfortunately, Mexican cartels in the growing regions collect a “tax” on this industry.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA
Bob Chaparro
 

Calavo was a major avocado grower in Southern California.
Here are photos of the Calavo plant and rail spur in Fallbrook (undated) and their distribution warehouse in Los Angeles. The warehouse had service tracks behind it.
Bob Chaparro
Hemet, CA
BRIAN PAUL EHNI
 

Blowing up the photo, it appears the car number is SFRD 1746.

 

 

Thanks!
--

Brian Ehni

 

 

From: <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of "Bob Chaparro via groups.io" <chiefbobbb@...>
Reply-To: <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io>
Date: Sunday, January 1, 2023 at 12:20 PM
To: <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io>
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] CA vegetables sent east ( and non domestic fruit)

 

I recalled reading an obituary of a Fallbrook, CA, avocado grower which mentioned that he developed a commercially viable method for delaying the ripening of avocados (around the mid-1960s), which lead to a great expansion of the market for this product. A check of production figures from state records indicated large increases in avocado production starting in the early 1970s and this supported rail transportation.
The undated photo below is of a Santa Fe Class Rr-69 built in 1961.

These days most avocado consumed in the U.S. are imported from Mexico. Unfortunately, Mexican cartels in the growing regions collect a “tax” on this industry.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA
Bob Morningstar
 

In the photo of Rr-69 in the lower left corner it says "Shove or Ride to Rest".   No idea what this means?

Thoughts?
Bob Morningstar
Eric Hansmann
 

I suspect it’s a directive to not kick it down a track on its own. Shove into place and uncouple or have a brakeman ride it to apply brakes to a stop. 

Just guessing. 


Eric Hansmann
Media, PA

On Jan 1, 2023, at 5:19 PM, Bob Morningstar via groups.io <bobmorningstar@...> wrote:

In the photo of Rr-69 in the lower left corner it says "Shove or Ride to Rest".   No idea what this means?

Thoughts?
Bob Morningstar

Ted Larson
 

So has California avocado production dropped off???
Or did Mexico production increase?   
I would love to buy California production, for multiple reasons.  




--
Ted Larson
trainweb.org/mhrr/        --------        NASG.org        --------        https://www.nasg.org/Clubs/RegionsMinnesota.php
GN in 1965
Dennis Storzek
 

I suspect it’s a directive to not kick it down a track on its own. Shove into place and uncouple or have a brakeman ride it to apply brakes to a stop.
Bingo. It also means not to hump the car. Pfaudler box tank cars were also so marked.

Dennis Storzek
Andy Carlson
 

Ted Larson wrote:


So has California avocado production dropped off???
Or did Mexico production increase?   
I would love to buy California production, for multiple reasons.  



Hi-
Some years back California passed legislation which allowed the import of Mexican Haas avocados which had previously been banned from CA. This only applies to the "lost" months of California avocado harvesting (we are in one now-will be a couple months before the CA Haas crop comes back in). When at the market I can detect a Mexican Haas simply by the color of the fruit. Though California's production remains very high, the huge serge in guacamole use nationwide has surpassed the ability of CA to supply the nation's need, so Mexico has expanded avocado production in seriously high proportions. As mentioned earlier, the Mexican Mafia controls so much that regional lands are having farmers run off the land to allow the huge growth of avocado groves involving killings and other bad things. Earlier this year the US blocked imports of Mexican avocados due to the risks of threatened US inspectors. The ban was short lived but from my understandings things have not improved.
-Andy Carlson
Ojai CA;  a rather large producer of avocados
spsalso
 

Jay Styron
 

Interesting photos. Living in Fallbrook, I’m trying to fit the photo of the Fallbrook plant into the town map. Was this plant torn down at some point?  The current Del Rey Avocado plant is in an end of town that was never rail served, as far as I know.  The end of town that was rail served is now an industrial park, with no buildings resembling the one in the photo, so maybe it was removed.
I am always interested to get scraps of Fallbrook history, as most people here don’t know that the railroad ever came to Fallbrook, and photos are scarce.  When I find photos, I send them to the Fallbrook Historical Society. If I can confirm that the above photo is indeed Fallbrook, I will make sure this gets to them,
Thanks,
Jay Styron
Fallbrook, CA
cliffprather
 

I am not sure where the Ca-Brook Avocado Company was in Flallbrook, but the other photo that was captioned as the Calavo’s Fallbrook plant appears to look like the Calavo facility in Escondido. The building still exists, although modified for other use along the Sprinter line (exATSF).

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