Mechanical Refrigeration

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This page was last updated on May 13, 2026.

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AT&SF

(The focus of this page is to document the history of mechanical refrigeration used by AT&SF, using sources not previously readily available. Sources include a wide variety of internet searches, online newspapers, and current websites and abandoned websites and magazines at Archive.org.)

The reporting mark for Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch cars remained as SFRD until 1953 when new fourth letter suffixes were changed to be more descriptive: SFRC was used for Mechanical Refrigerator cars equipped with load dividers; SFRM was used for Mechanical Refrigerator cars equipped with meat rails, and SFRP was used for Mechanical Refrigerator cars without load dividers (these SFRP cars were relettered from SFRD cars in 1963).

"The Santa Fe and Fruit Growers Express were both pioneers in the development of the mechanical refrigerator car. The Santa Fe shops at West Wichita built one of the first operating mechanical cars in May 1949 from an old 1926 vintage Pullman built wood ice car. A Trane Mechanical Refrigeration unit was installed in this experimental car numbered No. 12000. [Railway Age, September 7, 1953, p. 93-96] The car was supplied passenger car trucks and carried steam lines for passenger train service. The testing of this car led to the building of 30 mechanical cars at the Santa Fe’s West Wichita shops in 1953. The cars carried roller-bearing trucks, and all future mechanical cars would be so equipped." (The Great Yellow Fleet, A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars, by John H. White, Golden West Books, 1986)

"The new fleet of mechanical cars were equipped with roller-bearing trucks, side wall racks, sliding doors, metal floor racks and strap anchors, and became the most modern means of transporting frozen and perishable products. By March of 1970 the Santa Fe had 3,614 mechanical and 5,124 ice refrigerator cars on its roster. The count of ice cars on the roster was down to 190 units by late 1972." (The Great Yellow Fleet, A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars, by John H. White, Golden West Books, 1986)

(Read the Wikipedia article about SFRD)

(Read Richard Hendrickson's article about SFRD)

From the Spokane Chronicle, January 19, 1948.

New Freight Car Cooling Systems Will Be Tested. - San Francisco, Jan. 19. (AP) - President Fred G. Gurley of the Santa Fe railroad said today a controlled temperature freight car, substituting a mechanical unit for the ice used in conventional refrigerator cars, will be tested early next summer.

He spoke at the opening session of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association's 44th annual convention, attended by about 4000 delegates from all parts of the nation.

The controlled temperature car was developed, Gurley said, after Santa Fe in 1946 began studying "means of handling perishable products that held forth promise of being superior to the present use of ice."

"It was finally concluded that a Diesel-driven, compression refrigerating unit offered the best possibility," he said. "Such a machine has now been designed and is being built by the Trane company of La Crosse, Wis.

"Incorporating ample capacity to precool a load of fresh produce, to maintain a load of frozen products at a subzero condition and to provide heating protection in winter, it is expected to be capable of performing any service demanded in the perishable transport field."

The mechanical equipment will not encroach upon the present dimensions of the loading space, he added.

From the The Wichita Eagle, November 21, 1951.

Santa Fe Builds New Cooler Car. - 30 Refrigerator Units Will Be Constructed. - The Santa Fe Railway announced Wednesday that it will build 30 mechanical refrigerator cars in its shops.

The Eagle learned on good authority that the cars will be built here because the Santa Fe normally makes its refrigerator cars in Wichita.

Each car will be equipped with diesel powered refrigeration systems which will be provided by the Trane company of La Crosse, Wis.; Frigidaire division of General Motors corporation, Dayton, O., and Carrier corporation of Syracuse, N. Y.

This development climaxes a test program inaugurated by Santa Fe in 1947, and may become one of the most important developments in railroading since the diesel-electric locomotive.

What the Santa Fe is trying to do, one spokesman said, is get away from delay in re-icing cars. At one time the railroad tried to get power to cool refrigerator cars by running a belt off the axle. This was not practical, because when the car stopped there was no power to keep up refrigeration.

AT&SF Mechanical Refrigerator Cars, 1949 to 1972

Source: The Great Yellow Fleet, A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars, by John H. White, Golden West Books, 1986.
Source: Mechanical Refrigerator Cars of the Santa Fe Railway, 1949-1988, 2007

Date	AT&SF Number	Quantity	Builder	AT&SF Class	IL	Engine	Refrigeration	Note
1949	SFRD 12000/1200	1	SF Wichita	Rr-46	33'-1"	Shepard	Trane	1
1953	SFRD 3150-3179	30	SF Topeka	Rr-54	44'	Hercules/ Detroit Diesel/ International Harvester	Trane/ Frigidaire/ Carrier	2
1955	SFRD 1000-1004	5	SF Wichita (conversion)	Rr-31	42'-1"	Waukesha	Waukesha	3
1955	SFRD 2000-2188	189	SF Wichita	Rr-56	44'	Detroit Diesel	Trane
1955	SFRD 2271-2281	11	SF Wichita	Rr-56	45'-3"	Detroit Diesel	Trane
1955	SFRD 2500-2510	11	SF Wichita	Rr-56	44'	Continental	Thermo King
1958	SFRD 2189-2238	50	SF Wichita	Rr-60	44'	Detroit Diesel	Trane
1960	SFRD 2239-2263	25	SF Wichita	Rr-61	44'	Detroit Diesel	Trane
1960	SFRC 1100-1100	100	SF Wichita	Rr-65	44'-6"	Detroit Diesel	Trane
1960	SFRC 1000-1099	100	General American	Rr-66	45'-3"	Fairbanks-Morse	Trane
1961	SFRC 1200-1699	500	General American	Rr-69	45'-3"	Detroit Diesel (450 cars)/ Faibanks Morse (50 cars)	Trane (450 cars)/ Carrier (50 cars)	4
1962	SFRC 1700-1899	175	SF Topeka	Rr-71	45'-7"	Stewart-Stevenson	Trane
1962	SFRC 1875-1899	25	SF Topeka	Rr-72	45'-7"	Stewart-Stevenson	Trane
1963	SFRC 2300-2499	200	SF Topeka	Rr-77	48'	Stewart-Stevenson	Trane (100 cars)/ Carrier (100 cars)
1963	SFRC 2500-2799	300	SF Topeka	Rr-83	48'	Stewart-Stevenson	Trane (150 cars)/ Carrier (150 cars)
1964	SFRC 50000-50299	300	SF Topeka	Rr-86	48'	Western	Trane	5
1965	SFRC 50300-50694	395	SF Topeka	Rr-87	48'	Western	Trane	5
1965	SFRF 49995-49999/ SFRP 2282-2285	5	SF Topeka	Rr-88	45'-3"	Detroit Diesel 3-71 (after 1972)	Trane (after 1972)	6
1966	SFRC 50700-51399	700	SF Topeka	Rr-89	47'-3"	Detroit Diesel 3-53	Trane
1968	SFRC 55200-55399	200	SF Topeka	Rr-90	50'-10"	Detroit Diesel 3-53	Trane
1969	SFRC 55400-55699	300	Pacific Car & Foundry	Rr-91	50'-10"	Detroit Diesel 3-53	Trane
1969	SFRC 57000-57099	100	Pacific Car & Foundry	Rr-92	50'-10"	Detroit Diesel 3-53	Trane
1970-1971	SFRC 55700-55899	200	SF Topeka	Rr-94	50'-10"	Detroit Diesel 3-53	Trane (150 cars/ Carrier (50 cars)
1971	SFRC 55900-56299	400	SF Topeka	Rr-95	50'-10"	Detroit Diesel 3-53	Trane (350 cars/ Carrier (50 cars)
1972	SFRC 56300-56699	400	SF Topeka	Rr-96	50'-10"	Western 3-53	Trane (350 cars/ Carrier (50 cars)	5
Total		4,722

Notes:

SFRD 12000 was a conversion from 1926-built SFRD 23357; renumbered to SFRC 1200 in 1950; converted back to ice-cooled SFRD10869 in 1953.
SFRD 3150-3179 used a combination of engine and refrigeration unit interchangable among 10-car groups.
SFRD 1000-1004 were conversions from 1940-built cars.
SFRC 1200-1699 the combination of Detroit Diesel and Fairbanks Morse engines, with Trane and Carrie refrigeration units were on different 50-car groups.
The Western Engine Company was a distributor of OEM Detroit Diesel engines, which assembled their own branded ready-to-run package consisting of a base engine (like the 3-53) integrated with a radiator and control panel.
SFRF 49995-49999 were built as liquid nitrogen; rebuilt 1972 as RP cars and renumbered as SFRP 2282-2285.

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