Union Pacific ARMN Cars

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This page was last updated on April 10, 2026.

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ARMN (ex UPFE, ex SPFE)

(Sources include a wide variety of internet searches, including current and abandoned websites at Archive.org. The focus of this page is to establish a timeline using sources not previously readily available.)

(These are incomplete research notes. Comment or correction is most welcome.)

The ARMN refrigerator car fleet is a relatively new designation on Union Pacific after 2000. The "AR" part comes from Missouri Pacific's shared ownership of the American Refrigerator Transit (ART) company. Research suggests that the ARMN reporting mark was first applied to ART's mechanical refrigerator cars as they were relettered from RMDX. The change from a private company reporting mark, RMDX with the "X" suffix, to railroad-owned ARMN reporting mark has been reported as being due to a change in per diem and mileage rates.

The ARMN reporting mark was resurrected by UP when they started rebuilding the "Chilled Express" refrigerator cars, and was given to the other series of rebuilt and new mechanical reefers as they were delivered. The ARMN reporting mark has no significance other than UP owns the reporting mark as a holdover from MP, and after 2000, UP began applying the reporting mark to its mechanical reefers.

(There are a wide variety of stories explaining the ARMN reporting mark, but none have been documented other than by rumor and hearsay and speculation by interested observers.)

(Records obtained from Union Pacific show that the ARMH cars, although classed as RPL, were insulated cars without refrigeration units. This includes a listing dated August 1, 1986 that shows only 300 cars which UP classed as BI-70-64. The list does not show any ARMN cars.)

Woody Sutton, vice president-manifest products, and Sam Hughes, senior business director refrigerated products Union Pacific Railroad, wrote in their letter to the editor of Trains magazine, February 2002.

UP is in the midst of a $44 million program to install state-of-the-art refrigeration technology in 660 rail cars. The upgrades will give shippers:

* More reliable refrigeration: New units, tracked with GPS technology, will allow better temperature-monitoring capabilities.

* Tighter temperature variance: Instead of plus or minus 5 degrees, the new reefer units will keep items within 2 degrees of the desired temperature.

* Fresh air exchange: Rather than only recirculating air inside the car, the new reefers will pull in outside air. This is significant for shippers where a closed atmosphere can speed deterioration of their products.

(The letter included a before photo of a well-used UPFE car in UP yellow, and an after photo of newly refurbished ARMN white car with "Chilled Express" logo.)

The ARMN reporting mark was first applied to the rebuilt Plate C former Fruit Growers Express mechanical reefers which are now the ARMN 900000-993999 series. These are the "Chilled Express" cars. It later spread to rebuilt Plate C UPFE and Golden West Service (VCY) cars (now in the ARMN 700000s), and has been applied to new Trinity-built Plate F equipment in the ARMN 110000-111499 series.

The rebuilding of UPFE and SPFE cars included new trailer-style refrigeration units, with GPS monitoring, and was completed at the former PFE facility in Pocatello, Idaho, and at the former ART facility in DeSoto, Missouri. The rebuilding included the removal of the old Detroit Diesel refrigeration units and the addition of the much newer Carrier refrigerator units, along with a new paint scheme.

During March 2005, interested observers noted that UP was rebuilding former UPFE refrigerator cars. Carl Shaver wrote, "The most obvious work is replacement of the mechanical units. They remove the old enclosed compartment (except for the car end) and have a much more efficient refrigeration unit installed, as well as GPS monitoring devices. The new units allow shippers and railroads to remotely regulate the temperature on the rebuilt cars. Some of the work is being done at DeSoto, Missouri."

The PFE Heavy Rebuild Shop was located in the old Pocatello Steel Car Shop in Pocatello, Idaho. Many of the UPFE-to-ARMN rebuilds were done there in Pocatello. There was no change in the amount of interior space (cubic feet). Come observers have noted that the rebuild included "the removal of the old Detroit Diesel cooling units and the 20-30 years worth of soot and sludge around them and the addition of the Carrier refrigeration units, and a new paint job."

In 2008, the California Air Resources Board air quality standards took effect, requiring Tier 4 compliance for truck and non-truck Diesel engine applications that included rail cars and stationary power backup gensets. The requirements were first passed in 2004, and companies affected were given four years to comply. The older cars with refrigeration units installed in rail refrigerator cars built in the 1960s and 1970s did not meet the 2008 air quality compilance, and needed to be upgraded. But many of the cars were reaching their 40-year mandated deadlines for their frames and bodies, making any upgrades not cost effective.

This resulted in hundreds of UPFE and SPFE cars not getting their upgrades

During 2017, a few ARMN cars were seen in fresh paint. The ARMN markings on the newer or repaired cars were higher up, probably to keep graffiti from interfering with the markings. The ends of the cars are yellow.

ARMN Number Series

Former ART cars with the RMDX reporting mark:

Former Cryo-Trans cars:

ARMN 110000 through 111499 (500 cars) were built by Trinity from 2003-2005.

(ARMN 110859 is UP class R-110-2)

ARMN cars in the 1xxxxx series have an open platform on the refrigeration unit end.

Trinity-design Refrigerator Cars

ARMN 110000-111499 (1500 cars), built in 2003-2005 by Trinity, are R660 RP refrigerator cars with 6990 cu. ft. and 64'-2" IL, and are very similar (if not identical) to the Greenbrier-Gunderson cars built for CRYX and LINX.

ARMN 112000-112499 (500 cars), built in 2019 by Trinity, are R660 RP refrigerator cars with 6990 cu. ft. and 64'-2" IL, and are very similar (if not identical) to the Greenbrier-Gunderson cars built for CRYX and LINX.

Greenbrier-Gunderson-design Refrigerator Cars

ARMN 170000-170874 (875 cars), built in 2012-2016 by Greenbrier-Gunderson, are R660 RPL refrigerator cars with 7557 cu. ft. and 72'-2" IL, and appear to be identical to the cars built for CRYX and LINX.

ARMN 170000 through 170874 (875 cars) were built by Greenbrier from 2013-2016. (ARMN 170325-170674, 350 cars, new in April 2015)

The ARMN cars in the 7xxxxx series have UP's "Building America" scheme and are former UPFE and SPFE cars, matching the 4xxxxx series as ex PFE cars. The former SPFE cars were also former Golden West (VCY) cars.

ARMN 725000 series are former VCY and UPFE 25000-series cars.

(ARMN 725000-725029 were UP class R-70-24, built as PFE, then SPFE, then Golden West, then UPFE)

ARMN 760000 series are rebuilt from former UPFE cars, and carry the same final five digits as their last UPFE number, with a '7' first digit instead of a '4'. Some of the UPFE cars were previously SPFE cars. The rebuilding of the UPFE cars included having their Detroit Diesel refrigeration units replaced replaced with Carrier highway trailer-style refrigeration units.

"ARMN series 761801-761937; from UPFE series 461801-461937; from UPFE series 460101-460700 built by Pacific Car & Foundry, 1971. UPFE class R-70-25." (Rob Sarberenyi)

"ARMN series 762001-762383; from UPFE series 462001-462383; from UPFE series 460101-460700 built by Pacific Car & Foundry, 1971. UPFE class R-70-25. Rebuilt 1/92." (Rob Sarberenyi)

ARMN 900000 series are rebuilt from FGE, WC, and BNSF cars. ARMN cars in the 9xxxxx series have the "Chilled Express" blue logo.

The ARMN 9xxxxx-series cars are the ex FGMR (FGE) cars built by FGE and after being sold to UP, they were assigned new UPFE reporting marks, but kept their FGMR numbers. They were UP classes R-100-1 through -4 and perhaps higher. The ARMN 7xxxxx-series are built by PCF cars but kept their previous classes.

The ARMN 900000-993999 series were rebuilt former Fruit Growers Express mechanical reefers (now "Chilled Express" cars in the ARMN 900000-993999 series).

ARMN 933xxx series were rebuilt former Fruit Growers Express cars, and class R-100-2.

The 697 cars rebuilt, repainted and re-identified in December 2001 to February 2003.

ARMN 992076 was Chilled Express car. A photo taken in 2004 shows that it had been rebuilt by removing the original refrigeration equipment and replacing it with a modern trailer-style refrigeration unit.

ARMN 993997 was Chilled Express car. A photo shows that it had been rebuilt by removing the original refrigeration equipment and replacing it with a modern trailer-style refrigeration unit.

ARMN Reporting Mark

Research has not yet found the most accurate version of where the ARMN reporting mark came from. The most knowledgeable sources agree that by the time UP began using it in 1999 or 2000, it was simply a four-letter UP-owned reporting mark, and had no other meaning.

"UP resurrected the ARMN reporting marks for its own fleet of mechanical refrigerator cars equipped with GPS/monitoring and outside-mounted new-generation refrigeration units. These reporting marks were first applied to the 900000-series cars rebuilt from Fruit Growers Express reefers (the "Chilled Express" cars); secondly to the 700000 series rebuilt from existing UPFE (and SPFE and VCY) reefers, and finally to the new Trinity-built cars in the 110000-111499 series." (Carl Shaver, Trainorders.com, May 6, 2007)

The ARMN reporting mark was first used in about 1973 when Missouri Pacific (71 percent) and N&W (29 percent) broke up their joint ownership of American Refrigerator Transit (ART) company, which used the RMDX reporting mark for the mechanical refrigeration cars, as well as other RM_X reporting marks on other types of cars. After the merger, UP stopped using the ARMN reporting mark as the mechanical refrigeration cars were changed to UPFE cars.

"ARMN is the reporting mark MP assigned to the mechanical reefers formerly lettered RMDX, when assets of that company were split between N&W and MP. When UP took over, all of the ARMN reefers remaining were relettered into the UPFE 461000 series." (Carl Shaver, Trainorders.com, May 6, 2007)

(American Refrigerator Transit was originally a joint company by MP and Wabash, changed to N&W in 1964 when N&W merged with Wabash.)

(A search of online newspapers, including the New York Times, found no reference the breakup of American Refrigerator Transit company. But the breakup of PFE in 1978 was covered nationwide by numerous newspapers.)

One undocumented railfan version of the story is that AR=American Refrigeration, M=Missouri, and N=Norfolk & Western. This version was a speculation found in the October 2007 issue of Trains magazine, and makes no sense because it was the breakup of the ART company in 1973 that originated the ARMN mark, hence no need to show the two companies as being separate.

Research by others has found that the ARMN reporting mark was added to the November 1973 Official Railway Equipment Register under Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. (Darrell Sawyer) 

A more plausible version is that A is American, R is Refrigerator and MN is MechaNical. But again, this is mostly speculation, without any documentation.

Or something as simple as: A is American, R is Refrigerator, M is Mechanical, and N is New. Like the above, this is mostly speculation, without any documentation.

Another version has ARMN as meaning American Refrigerator Management, but this is also simply an undocumented speculation.

Ian Cranstone shows the following as history of the ARMH and ARMN reporting marks, which is based on entries in various issues of the Official Railway Equipment Register.

ARMH Missouri Pacific R.R. Co. added 1/1975; eliminated 7/1975
ARMH Texas-New Mexico Ry. Co. added 7/1975; eliminated 1/1976
ARMH Doniphan, Kensett & Searcy Ry. added 1/1976; 1/1980
ARMH Missouri Pacific System 1/1994; eliminated 4/1997
ARMH Union Pacific R.R. Co. added 4/1997; 7/2000-7/2005
ARMN Missouri Pacific R.R. Co. added 11/1973; 1/1975-1/1980
ARMN Missouri Pacific System 1/1994; eliminated 4/1997
ARMN Union Pacific R.R. Co. 7/2000-7/2005

(Visit Ian Cranstone's Reporting Mark Listing)

ARMN In Service

Express Lane (2000)

Launched in April 2000.

ARMN cars were a part of the Express Lane business in 2001. By February 2002, the Express Lane service was a $100 million business for Union Pacific.

(Trains magazine, November 2001, "Got Carrots?")

2002
"ARMN 991001 at Council Bluffs, February 4, 2002. The ARMN series RPL (ex "Solid Cold" reefers used by CSXT, then to UP as ARMN, are being rebuilt at UP's DeSoto, Missouri, shops and includes replacing refrigerator equipment with modern Carrier equipment. Note how the smaller unit mounts and frees up considerable space. Some cars have the area completely cut away, some retain portions of the old sides. Some retain the grille work, but no walls. The cars are classed by UP as R-100-1 . Cars are all white with block lettering with a new "Chilled Express" slogan done in various shades of blue. UP in recent months has renewed a commitment to aggressively pursue the perishable business." (UPHS The Streamliner, Volume 16, Number 2, Spring 2002, page 5)

2002
From Mainline Modeler, July 2002.

[Photo] Freshly painted ARMN 921999 heads west on Its maiden run. The modern graphics are in two shades of blue depicting snow flakes; all other markings are black. The basic car is white. Road classed R-100-1, there are 1,000 cars in this group numbered 921000-921999. There are two additional groups: ARMN 901xxx and 991xxx. which have 10' wide doors, rather than the 10'6" doors in this series. Shown at Council Bluffs, Iowa on February 8. 2002.

Augmenting Union Pacific's aging UPFE mechanical refrigerator fleet, a group of reconditioned cars is being flowed on line from the railroad's car shops in De Soto, Missouri. In addition to removing the original diesel driven cooling system, the modern graphic presentation is a wide departure from the standard reefer yellow used for many years.

These cars were built during the late 1960s through the middle 1970s at the Fruit Growers Shop in Alexandria, Virginia. They were produced in large numbers bearing FGMR reporting marks. In later years, the Alexandria Shops refurbished them before release with new FGEX reporting marks, and a buff color with black reporting marks plus a stylized graphics in blue proclaiming "Solid Cold." Some of these cars received blue livery with VCY reporting marks numbered in their 25000 series.

In the late 1990s, these cars again exchanged reporting marks to ARMN and came under control of the Union Pacific Fruit Express. Hastily marked, these mechanical refrigerator cars were pressed into moving produce to the various marketplaces.

A capital program was launched to rehabilitate these cars by installing modern cooling equipment and general overhauling in a life extension project. They have been assigned road class R-100 with five distinct sub-series.

[Photo] The B-end side has minimal markings showing a load limit of 173,500 pounds. The car length is 64'1" and is 15'6" high with a width of 10'8", yielding 4,498 cubic feet of space. Its AAR classed as RPL.

[Photo] The A-end side has the consolidated stencil showing a builders date of July 1972 and the interior dimensional data: length 51'10", width 9'1", and height 9'6". The newly installed Carrier "Optima 53" is installed on the car wall in the old diesel compartment, quite a compact refrigeration unit.

Railex (2006)

Launched in October 2006, operated by Railex, Inc.

August 2005
From Progressive Railroading, August 2005.

UP, CSXT to offer dedicated cross-country perishables service. -- Union Pacific Railroad and CSX Transportation are teaming up to provide a dedicated produce unit-train service between Washington state and New York. To launch in first-quarter 2006, the service will offer a 124-hour transit time with 55-car trains moving intact from origin to destination.

The unit trains will feature 64-foot refrigerated box cars, each designed to move perishables — including apples, pears, onions and potatoes — equal to four truckloads. The cars are equipped with enhanced insulation, energy-efficient cooling systems and Global Positioning System monitoring to control temperature.

Unit trains will originate in Wallula, Wash., and terminate in Albany, N.Y. UP and CSXT will interchange in Chicago. Railex L.L.C. will own and operate new loading and unloading centers, and manage product handling and distribution.

Railex specialized in temperature-controlled, rail-based logistics, offering palletized, door-to-door service for fresh foods, reducing trucking and carbon footprints.

June 2006
"Basically we are a 55 car unit train for produce of all kinds form the NW. We are starting with one train every 10 days and moving to 2 shortly after. (Prob 1st quarter 2007). The most amazing thing about the program is that our facilities will be inside and be able to offload/load 14-19 64ft super reefer cars at once. The train holds 200 truckloads as you know and will save an est 86000 gal of fuel per trip. It is a cutting edge design, concept and facility. Our Wallula WA facility is actually situated on a 17,550 ft loop track for faster loading. Look for hybrid locos after Jan 2007, for switching duties at both plants. We are excited to get started, both buildings are nearing completion and first train is set to roll soon!" (anonymous Railex source)

ARMN cars became the basis of the three-way Railex business of UP, CSX and Railex in October 2006.

(see also: Trains magazine, February 2010, "A Fresh Approach")

By 2013, Railex was providing nine-day service, from loading into a refrigerator trailer at the customer's facility, to unloading at the destination in the East. The rail portion of the trip took five days, from the Railex consolidation point in either Wallula, Washington, or Delano, California, where the shipment was transloaded from highway trailer to rail car, to the Railex facility in Rotterdam, New York, where the shipment was transloaded from rail cars to highway trailers. In the 1970s and 1980s, PFE was providing in six days what Railex provided in nine days.

The Railex service did not work for shipments of lettuce, melons, lettuce, and fruit such as oranges, apples, lemons, and grapefruit. It was best suited for root produce such as potatoes, onions and carrots. It also worked for wine, in most instances. Railex could never compete with the 1,000 long-haul highway refrigerator trucks that leave California every weeknight all summer long. Another disadvantage was that most produce was loaded directly into trucks in the fields, and the additional expense of transloading to rail cars was seen as an unneeded expense.

In January 2017, Union Pacific bought Railex's refrigerated logistics and distribution centers in Delano, California, Wallula, Washington, and Rotterdam, New York to boost its food transportation services for temperature-sensitive cargo like produce.

Union Pacific's acquisition of Railex in 2017 did not include Railex Wine Services, which became Northwest Wine Services.

In May 2020, Union Pacific unexpectedly shut down the Railex-based Cold Connect service, eliminating jobs and moving away from that specific business model. After taking over Railex in 2017, Union Pacific tried to integrate the Railex service to build its cold logistics chain but ultimately decided to discontinue that specific operation, making Railex a part of UP's history in food logistics rather than its current strategy.

"This was doomed from the moment UP took over. Even before they took over, they had long since started treating these trains like everything else: Stop running solid reefer trains; hold the loads until there are "enough" cars to run a train; hold cuts of loads to add to heavy tonnage, slow, monster freights, cut back the marketing efforts; reduce shifts at both end points so it takes longer to load and unload cars; start serving the origin points every other day, then every third or fourth day instead of daily; run empties back piecemeal instead of in blocks; keep raising the rates, etc. Short-sighted cost-cutting and service failures are the rule, as field forces see the extra care these things need as a burden rather than opportunity. Too many Operating people and bean-counters see things like this as square pegs that don't fit their self-imposed round holes." (anonymous on internet)

May 11, 2020
"UP's Cold Connect operations (former Railex) out of Wallula, WA ("Super Fruit") train and Delano, CA ("Salad Shooter") trains combined at Green River, WY for eventual delivery to their Rotterdam, NY distribution facility (via CSX). A train and facility in Jacksonville, FL was short lived. The UP PSR investor virus just killed it, which was the expected eventual result of UP's takeover of Railex. An intermodal facility as part of Wallula was abruptly cancelled mid-construction about 18 months ago." (Railway Age, May 11, 2020)

Former FGE Cars

Carl Shaver wrote in 2002.

It is true that these cars were built by Fruit Growers Express in the 60s and 70s, more specifically from 1969 to 1973. But their original reporting marks were FGCX. FGMR was the reporting mark applied when the cars were rehabbed and repainted into the "Solid Cold" paint scheme.

These are not the cars that went to the VCY 25000 series. Those cars have ribbed sides, and were previously in a couple of SPFE classifications.

Nor are these the cars that were relettered ARMH! The ARMH cars were obtained from the same sources at the same time (2001), but those were the cars that were able to be placed in service without a lot of immediate work. The ARMN cars, on the other hand, were placed in storage when acquired (without being relettered), and are now being put through the "Chilled Express" program.

UP's publicity indicated that 660 cars would be rehabilitated (not the 1000 indicated in the first caption), with completion expected by August. And the numbering? One could wish it were as simple as one block or two. But there are no fewer than five classes of these cars, and each one is broken down into four number series! Here are the details (build dates from Eric Neubauer; series based on car records that appear on UP's public trace site):

ARMN 921000-921009, 921990-921999, 922000-922050, and 922990-922999
R-100-1 (nee-FGCX/FGMR 12575-12774, built 6-8/72; via SFLC 2592-2761, BNFE 12591-12764, UPFE 12575-12774, and WC 10178-10199)

ARMN 931000-931009, 931990-931999, 932000-932009, and 932990-932999
R-100-2 (nee-FGCX/FGMR 12775-12924, built 7/73; via UPFE 12775-12924)

ARMN 991000-991009, 991991-991999, 992000-992077, and 992980-992999
R-100-3 (nee-FGCX/FGMR 11700-11974, built 6-8/69; via BNFE 11703-11974 and WC 10100-10122)

ARMN 901000-901009, 901990-901999, 902000-902068, and 902990-902999
R-100-4 (nee-FGCX/FGMR 11975-12274, built 9-11/70; via SFLC 1976-2274 and BNFE 11977-12259)

ARMN 911000-911009, 911990-911999, 912000-912078, and 912980-912999
R-100-5 (nee-FGCX/FGMR 12275-12574, built 3-5, 9/71; via SFLC 2276-2574 and WC 10123-10177)

Notice that the first two classes contain the newest cars. This is because those groups were classified when the UPFE 12000-series cars were acquired from FGE in 1994 (at the same time that the others were going to SFLC, BNFE, and WC). The ARMH refrigerator cars were acquired in 2001, and come from the same SFLC and BNFE series (not WC or UPFE) as the ARMN cars.

The cars that are being rebuilt into the new ARMN series aren't from the FGE 13000 series, but rather came from series 11700-12924. Those had been relettered SFLC, BNFE, WC, and UPFE (some SFLC and BNFE were later relettered ARMH).

1989
"FRUIT GROWERS EXPRESS is rebuilding and repainting a number of their mechanical refrigerator cars. The recent ones have been done at their Jacksonville, FL shops (the Alexandria, VA shops appear to be closed down)." (Freight Cars Journal #30, 1989, page 9)

Former FGE Beer Cars

Some of the former Fruit Growers Express cars retained their unique roof hatches from their days in FGE service, designated for beer service for Strohs brewery. These cars also have a roof hatch on their 'B' ends. These cars were also in UPFE service before becoming ARMN cars.

(View a photo of a Stroh's beer car at RRPictureArchives.net)

Doug Stark wrote about these former "beer" cars in 2009.

Note the roof hatch. Earlier in life this car was one of 50 fitted with 20,000 gallon stainless steel tanks for transporting Stroh's beer from Detroit to Los Angeles and wore FGE "The Chiller" markings. These cars ended up scattered in the ARMN 933900 series of cars rebuilt with truck-style reefer units.

I think FGE pulled the tanks, not UP,and operated the cars as conventional reefers before the FGMR fleet was wound down and dispersed. Photos of cars in "The Chiller" paint scheme I've seen showed them to be yellow with black lettering. The beige paint on UPFE 12850 would suggest that FGE repainted it in the "Solid Cold" scheme, probably at the time the cars were de-converted. I've found references to the tanks being installed in 1983, and the paint in my photo wasn't particularly fresh so they definitely lasted less than a decade.

The engineer in me just had to figure out that the reported 20,000 gallon capacity of the tank(s) would consume 59% of the internal volume of the car, neglecting any insulation on the tank, and that 20,000 gallons of beer weigh 160,000 lbs. Load limit on these cars without tanks appears to be in the 165-168,000lb range, and the tank weight would come off that. As expected for a liquid load the weight limit is reached before the car cubes out, and it appears FGE did a good job optimizing the capacity of the conversions.

The April 1985 Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER) lists exactly 50 FGMR (FGE) cars with AAR mechanical designation "RPC" and car type R480. The RPC translates to "similar in design to an "RP" but equipped with permanently affixed containers". The cars are FGMR 12784, 12785, 12792, 12795-12796, 12798-12799, 12801-12802, 12805, 12807, 12809-12811, 12813, 12815, 12822, 12825, 12828, 12831, 12833, 12835, 12837, 12839-12843,12847, 12850, 12852, 12855, 12859-12860, 12862-12863, 12867, 12870, 12876, 12878, 12882-12883, 12885-12886, 12894, 12898, 12916, 12919-12921.

The ORER for April 1991, shows zero RPC cars and the above numbers had become interspersed among RPL cars.

UPFE numbers would be the same, but I don't think there is any obvious reference list from FGMR number, to UPFE number, to ARMN number. Carl Shaver did figure out the second digit of the ARMN number is the last digit of the build year, which checks out.

ART Overview

American Refrigerator Transit was among America's operators of refrigerator cars, including over 9,000 ice-cooled cars. The company was founded by Jay Gould in 1881 to serve all his railroads of that day, including the Wabash, Missouri Kansas and Texas, and particularly Missouri Pacific and subsidiaries. After 1925, Denver & Rio Grande Western was added. Primary business in the early years was meat transportation, but this gradually shifted to perishables, particularly from Texas and Colorado.

ART was jointly owned by Missouri Pacific (71 percent) and Wabash (29 percent).

Change came in 1964 when Norfolk & Western took over Wabash. In 1969, D&RGW moved its perishable business from ART to Fruit Growers Express. In 1973, Norfolk & Western pulled out of ART, and with the acquisition of Missouri Pacific by Union Pacific in 1983, all remaining ART properties were taken over by Union Pacific. Today's ARMN is UP's version of the old ART company.

Like the split of PFE between UP and SP that created the UPFE and SPFE reporting marks, when ART was split, MP and N&W took each road's percentage of ownership in the form of property and refrigerator cars. The former RMDX cars received ARMN reporting mark as a subsidiary of Missouri Pacific. The N&W-owned cars received new car numbers within N&W's own numbering system.

Carl Shaver wrote in 2009:

The ARMN reporting marks were not brought into use until 1973, after the split-up of the equipment had taken place. As you mentioned, the RMDX cars were the only ones that were relettered ARMN. Some older cars (including RMAX and RMBX) often got MP numbers or were retired.

ARMN was never a reporting mark of American Refrigerator Transit Company, having originated in 1973 (the newest RMDX reefers were built in about 1969 or 1970). The cars were relettered ARMN without repainting and without renumbering. Some of them made it to UPFE reporting marks with their original reddish-orange color. I first saw ex-ART cars relettered as TPL, MOD, etc. in May 1971.

That TP RBL was relettered and renumbered in two “phases”. It was originally in a MODX or TPLX series. It was then relettered MOD or TPL, without being renumbered, soon after the split. Other ART reporting marks went either all or partially to the N&W (All WADX cars were given NW numbers, and the ABLX cars were split up. Most went to NW, but a few were relettered ABM). The 781000-series renumbering and TP reporting marks came later, but before everything began to be relettered MP.

The ARMN-lettered mechanical reefers were given UPFE numbers in the low 461000 series soon after the UP controlled MP, and a rebuilding. The ARMN reporting marks were not in use from the mid-1980s until about 2000, when the rebuilt FGE cars (900000 series) began to appear.

American Refrigerator Transit, St. Louis, Missouri

(1900) 1,500
(1910) ????
(1920) 3,000 (estimated)
(1930) 12,500 (estimated)
(1940) 13,000 (estimated)
(1950) 11,457
(1960) 9,670
(1970) 6,158

Fruit Growers Express Co., Washington, D.C.; Organized in March 1920.

(1920) 4,280
(1930) 8,025
(1940) 14,114
(1950) 12,063
(1960) 12,446
(1970) 8,384

ART-ARMN Timeline

1969
American Refrigerator Transit closed its facility in Pueblo, Colorado. (Pueblo Chieftain, March 13, 1969)

1971
The American Refrigerator Transit company was being dissolved as a jointly owned company, first by Missouri Pacific and Wabash, and later by Missouri Pacific and Norfolk & Western after that road took control of the Wabash in 1964. In 1973, the partnership was dissolved with N&W surrendering its ownership, at which time ART became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Missouri Pacific.

It has been reported that all of ART's refrigerator cars (at least those that had private-company reporting marks) were given fresh reporting marks that didn't end in "X". In the case of the mechanical refrigerator cars, which had been lettered RMDX, they were relettered ARMN. That was the first use of the reporting mark. It ended in the 1980s when the remaining ARMN cars were relettered into a UPFE series.

1976
American Refrigerator Transit Co. closed its facility in Harlington, Texas, with refrigerated trucks taking most of the business from the railroads. (Harlington, Texas, Valley Morning Star, August 9, 2020)

1978, 1981
As reported in Fort Worth newspapers of April 1978 and December 1981, American Refrigerator Transit was still in existence as late as 1981 when it won a law suit for buildings and property in Fort Worth, to recover money owed when ART sold the former Texas & Pacific building, and the former Merchants Terminal Warehouse in 1978. The T&P building had 12 stories and served as the headquarters of the Texas & Pacific railroad, and as the passenger terminal in Fort Worth.

January 1, 1983
UP control of Missouri Pacific Railroad took effect.

January 1, 1997
Missouri Pacific Railroad was formally merged into Union Pacific Railroad.

2000-2001
The inactive ARMN reporting mark was reactivated as the former UPFE and SPFE mechanical refrigerator cars were rebuilt with much more efficient Carrier Transicold refrigeration units, replacing the as-built diesel generator refrigeration units. Upon completion of the rebuilding, the cars were changed from their previous UPFE or SPFE ownership, to the new ARMN ownership.

Glossary

(Read about the AAR Mechanical Designations and Equipment Type codes for railroad cars; RBL, RC, RPL, A616, R660, etc.)

Photos

Photos of ARMN cars at RRPictureArchives.net

Photos of ARMN cars at RailcarPhotos.com

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