Mechanical Refrigeration

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This page was last updated on May 10, 2026.

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Fruit Growers Express

(The focus of this page is to document the history of mechanical refrigeration used by Fruit Growers Express, 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.)

Because this page is focused on the mechanical era, the three companies are treated separately. The three companies (Fruit Growers Express, Western Fruit Express, Burlington Refirgerator Express) were managed as one after 1926, with headquarters in Washington D.C. But with the merger era that started in th mid 1960s, there began to be rifts in the management and accounting as the separate railroads went their separate ways. Also, the declining share of perishable traffic moving by rail brought with it less revenue, with a associated disagreements in division of revenue and costs.

Milestones for Fruit Growers Express before the mechanical era.

The Very Early Years

Fruit Growers Express was formed by Armour and Company by March 5, 1895, when Los Angeles Herald described how meatpacking magnate Phil Armour (criticized as a "Chicago and Kansas City octopus") entered the California fruit-shipping business. Under the name "Fruit Growers' Express Company," Armour provided refrigerated cars exclusively for the Southern Pacific Railroad. A surge in California fruit and vegetable shipments, exceeding previous records by 50 to 100 percent, had created a severe car shortage, threatening the orange crop. Eastern reserve cars meant for Florida were eventually sent, but owners delayed because they did not want to move them empty. As demand grew, empty cars finally began arriving daily. Armour's timely move, with his "seductive" company name, stepped in to relieve the Southern Pacific’s shortage. (Los Angeles Herald, March 5, 1895)

On April 3, 1895, in Sacramento, California, Armour & Co. (Chicago meat packers) launched a new refrigerated rail service called the "Fruit Growers' Express." They announced price reductions of $35 to $90 per car for shipments from California to eastern destinations, which represented a 30 to 50 percent cut compared to existing companies. The service began with 400 new cars, with Armour pledging additional cars as needed. (Atchison Kansas Missouri Valley Farmer, April 4, 1895)

(The news story was carried by over 100 newspapers across the nation, most with the dateline of April 3, 1895, and publication dates of April 4th through April 7th.)

The Early Years

(Many researchers refer to the FGE under Armour ownership as the "old FGE," and the newly organized in 1920 FGE as the "new" FGE. When organized, the new FGE purchased 5,000 refrigerator cars form Armour.)

1920
Western Fruit Express was organized in 1920 by Henry Benning Spencer, and he was the company's first president.

Mr. Spencer organized the Fruit Growers' Express Co. to provide refrigerator cars and protective services for the principal Eastern and Southeastern railroads in the transportation by rail of fruits and vegetables and other perishable freight. Several years later he became president, also, of the Western Fruit Express Co. and the Burlington Refrigerator Express Co. The companies had combined offices in Washington D.C.

After graduating from Harvard in 1895, the same year he became a clerk in the superintendent's office of a railroad in Joliet, Ill. Two years later he was made superintendent of the Alabama Great Southern Road at Birmingham. In 1898, Mr. Spencer was superintendent of the Southern Railway in Louisville, Ky., and in 1901 he went to St. Louis as assistant general manager of the St. Louis-Louisville Lines. A month later he was made general manager. His father, the late Samuel Spencer, was first president of Southern Railway.

Henry B. Spencer rose to vice president of Southern until 1917. During World War I he became associated with the U. S. Railroad Administration. Mr. Spencer had served in government service as USRA's director of the division of purchases during World War I, and upon USRA being disbanded in March 1, 1920, had organized Fruit Growers Express within but a few days, on March 18, 1920. He was also chairman of the Central Coal Committee during Federal control of railroads.

Henry Benning Spencer, 83, a nationally known railroad executive and businessman, died last night (July 4th) of a heart attack at his summer home in Narragansett, R. I. Mr. Spencer had retired from Fruit Growers Express in 1948. (Washington D.C. Evening Star, July 5, 1956)

May 1, 1920
"The Fruit Growers Express Company, incorporated under the laws of Delaware, has been organized by the principal railroads east of the Mississippi river to acquire and operate, after May 1, the Fruit Growers Express, heretofore operated by Armour & Company. It is to perform the refrigerator and other protective service for the movement of perishable freight on the railroads heretofore handled by Armour & Company. H. B. Spencer, who has been director of the Division of Purchases of the Railroad Administration, and was formerly vice-president, in charge of purchases, of the Southern Railway, is president of the company. The other officers include W. G. Brantley, during federal control president and general counsel of the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic, who will be vice-president and counsel; E. J. Roth, during federal control manager of the Stores Section of the Railroad Administration, who will be general manager; D. R. MacLeod, secretary; H. F. Pierce, treasurer, and C. P. Cooper, controller. The headquarters of the company will be at Washington, D. C." (Railway Age, April 2, 1920, page 1116)

"The Fruit Growers Express, Washington D.C., is inquiring for from 1,000 to 2,000, 30-ton refrigerator cars." (Railway Age, April 30, 1920, page 1323)

April 29, 1922
"The Pennsylvania Railroad has discontinued the operation of its separate refrigerator car lines, and is to merge all of its refrigerator cars, numbering 5,927, with those of the Fruit Growers Express. This will more than double the number of refrigerator cars operated by the Fruit Growers Express. These now number 5,209. The Fruit Growers Express is a co-operative organization owned and managed by the leading railroads of the South and East. It was organized two years ago and has made a particularly successful record in handling Southern products. The Pennsylvania established the first refrigerator lines through the South more than 30 years ago." (Railway Age, April 29, 1922, page 1035)

Fruit Growers Express (FGE) was owned by a shifting consortium of eastern and southeastern railroads. Rather than specific railroads "ending" their ownership at various times, most maintained their stakes until they were eventually consolidated into CSX Corporation or Norfolk Southern.

The following railroads were key stockholders or held significant interests in the FGE consortium:

Eighteen years of research, starting in 1931, brought the advantage of low cost rail transportation to the producers and consumers of frozen foods. The first mechanical refrigerator car was placed in general service by Fruit Growers Express on February 25, 1949. Today [1956] Fruit Growers Express and associated companies - Western Fruit Express Company and Burlington Refrigerator Express Company - have 865 mechanical refrigerator cars in service and 415 under construction, a total of 1,280 mechanical refrigerator cars for the safe and sure transportation of frozen foods and perishables.

Fruit Growers Express Co. (15 companies)
- Atlantic Coast Line R.R. Co.
- Baltimore & Ohio R.R. Co.
- Central of Georgia Ry. Co.
- Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co.
- Chicago & Eastern Illinois R.R. Co.
- Florida East Coast Ry. Co.
- Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co.
- Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. Co.
- New York, New Haven & Hartford R.R. Co.
- Norfolk & Western Ry. Co.
- Norfolk Southern Ry. Co.
- Pennsylvania R.R. Co.
- Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co.
- Seaboard Air Line R.R. Co.
- Southern Railway System

Western Fruit Express Co.
- Great Northern Railway Co.

Burlington Refrigerator Express Co.
- Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R.R. Co.

(Fruit Growers Express ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer, June 4, 1956)

Individual ownership didn't typically "end" by choice but rather through merger or consolidation into the two modern eastern giants:

Before The Mechanical Era

Bill Welsh wrote in December 2012.

While PFE and SFRD where busy trying to get their cars returned, FGE was working equally hard NOT returning them after World War II and the end of government control of refrigerator cars.

A theme for most of FGE's existence was that FGE was "under capitalized" with the result they had to operate in a very frugal fashion. The main reason for this, from the perspective of some of the owner railroad executives at least, was the Southern Railway's chronic unwillingness to invest financially at a level commensurate with their utilization of FGE as calculated by their car loadings and mileage. In other words they did not carry their weight in terms of how much stock they owned compared to the other owners.

This [problem] is in correspondence as late as 1957 and went back to 1919 and 1920. At one point the PRR suggested dissolving the FGE and forming a new company leaving the Southern out, so difficult were they finding SRR President Fairfax Harrison to work with. I am fairly certain the reason the Southern became the owner of so many second hand cars was because they lacked to capital to build enough new cars.

As discussions among the railroads and negotiations with Armour proceeded to form a new company, the Southern seemed to drag their feet about participating, much to the chagrin of at least two Southern VPs who pleaded with Harrison that catastrophe would be the result if they did not participate as the Southern had zero capacity. The SR was literally the last company to pay for their stock.

By 1948 FGE's fleet in particular was in sad shape. Further financial stress came from trucks that even before the war were making inroads into FGE loadings in the southeast but after the was began making deeper impact on loadings.

In 1948 FGE and WFE began to rebuild their wood sheathed cars with steel body frames and along with BRE began building steel cars to replace the many obsolete cars on their respective rosters. To help them get through their car shortage periods, FGE abused their goodwill with the western companies.

Bill Welch and FGE

Additional information about the ice era on Fruit Growers Express can be found in Bill Welch's excellent special combined issue of the The B&O Modeler - Keystone Modeler - The Seaboard Coast Line Modeler, published in 2008. (PDF; 81 pages; 14.9MB)

(Text only; historical notes only; no modeling information)

Mr. Welch himself noted that he had no interest in continuing his coverage of FGE beyond the end of the ice era for the company. Bill Welch passed away on November 15, 2020, without being able to update this foundational work about Fruit Growers Express.

The Mechanical Era (1950)

April 30, 1950
"U. S. Thermo Control Co. has begun commercial installation of its new temperature control systems in railroad freight cars. The firm, largest manufacturer of mechanical refrigerating units for trucks, says the system may revolutionize railroad refrigeration. The new cooling-heating machines, powered by gasoline, replaced block ice in the refrigerator cars. Re-icing stops are eliminated and any temperature can be maintained, from sub-zero for frozen foods to warm temperatures for cargo that might be damaged by winter weather. The company has spent two years running 60,000 miles of operating tests. The units now are being installed in the first car at Third avenue N. and Seventh street. The Fruit Growers Express Company placed the first order for 10 new refrigerator cars." (Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 30, 1950)

In June 1954 the Fruit Growers Express Co. began assembly-line production of 150 mechanically refrigerated freight cars at its Alexandria shops, with three cars produced per working day. The $3.25 million order was to be completed by August 15, bringing the company's fleet of mechanical refrigerator cars to 455, with another 100 planned later. The company pioneered such cars since 1948 to meet the frozen food industry's need for zero-degree temperatures. By filling current orders, Alexandria shops would have built 557 of the 813 mechanical reefers in the U.S. (68 percent). Unlike standard ice-and-salt cars (costing $10,500–$12,500), mechanical cars cost $21,500 each and use a Diesel-electric system to maintain any temperature from 0-degrees F to 70-degrees F. The company builds these cars only for its own use but hopes other railroads adopt them for universal operation. It is also producing 20 special refrigerator cars for leasing to Mathieson Chemical Corp. to transport dry ice. The cars are all steel with roller bearings; mechanical cars have thicker insulation than standard models. Fruit Growers Express is owned by 19 eastern and southeastern railroads and operates with two associated companies, totaling 21,000 refrigerator cars under contract with 71 Class I carriers. (Summary of a lengthy article in The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., June 23, 1954)

"Fruit Growers Express was headquartered in Washington, DC, with major railcar shops in Alexandria, Virginia, Jacksonville, Florida and Indiana Harbor, Indiana. The Alexandria FGE facility was originally located at the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad's busy Potomac Yards. In 1925 they relocated to the nearby Cameron Yards, the Southern Railway's switching yard in Alexandria. The Alexandria railcar facility had stopped building freight cars and cabooses by 1981, and the maintenance facility was closed down in 1994." (Wikipedia)

Through to the 1970s and the early years of the BN merger, BRE, FGE, and WFE were under common management. Their cars, including early mechanical reefers, were used interchangeably across the nation to meet seasonal produce demands, particularly between Florida (FGE) and the Pacific Northwest (WFE/BRE).

Burlington Refrigerator Express and Western Fruit Express were merged into BN in June 1970, but operations continued under FGE management until 1976.

From John H. White's "Great Yellow Fleet."

    1960
Total
Cars		 1970
Total
Cars
Fruit Growers Express Co.; Washington, D.C. Organized in March 1920 12,446 8,384
Burlington Refrigerator Express Co.; Washington, D.C. Established in 1926. Associated with Fruit Growers Express and Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 1,581 1,987
Western Fruit Express - Washington, D.C. Established in 1923. Associated with Fruit Growers Express 5,702 5,883

FGEX 1955 ORER:

Total of 408 cars; listed as RP Mechanical Refrigerator designation.

FGEX 1958 ORER:

Total of 908 cars; listed as RP Mechanical Refrigerator designation.

FGEX 1965 ORER:

Total of 1,311 cars; listed as RP Mechanical Refrigerator designation.

During 1952, FGEX 100-109 were equipped with Thermo-King gasoline engines, with the attendant warnings issued about the danger of exhaust fumes, noting that the cars must be at least five cars ahead of the caboose. By 1955, the refrigeration units had been removed and the 10 cars had been converted to insulated boxcars.

John H. White reported that FGEX received 150 new mechanical refrigerator cars in 1973, and that along with 100 cars for the Milwaukee Road, were that last mechanical refrigerator cars built in the U.S.

Later Years

During the 1960s, the three companies (Fruit Growers Express, Western Fruit Express and Burlington Refrigerator Express) shared a common president and CEO. The three companies together owned 23,500 cars.

Western Pacific's contract with PFE terminated on June 30, 1967. At the same time, WP purchased a stock ownership in Fruit Growers Express in exchange for an adequate guarantee of FGEX car supply. After 1967 WP perishable traffic was handled almost exclusively in FGEX steel cars. There were enough FGEX cars to handle the remaining tree fruit off the Tidewater Southern and the Marysville melons. There was a small amount of perishable out of San Jose that was handled as FGEX loads.

After the 1970 BN merger, Burlington Northern's refrigerator car division was Western Fruit Express (WFE), inherited from Great Northern in the 1970 BN merger. BN also inherited Burlington Refrigerator Express (BRE) from CB&Q, which was consolidated with WFE after the merger. WFE and BRE were previously partners with Fruit Growers Express (FGE) and jointly managed their shops, car fleets, and accounting.

On January 1, 1976, Burlington Northern moved the headquarters of Western Fruit Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Burlington Northern, Inc., from Washington, D.C., to St. Paul, Minnesota. Moving the headquarters to St. Paul terminated a joint management that has been in effect since 1923 between Western Fruit and Fruit Growers Express. The consolidation of management in St. Paul reflected the changed conditions in the refrigerator car line business and enabled Burlington Northern to provide more direct control of the refrigerator car fleet and provide better service to shippers of perishable freight. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 5, 1975)

FGE used "Solid Cold" lettering for its mechanical refrigerator cars, and "Solid Gold" for its insulated boxcars.

The "Solid Cold" refrigerator cars were sold to Union Pacific and were rebuilt at the format Missouri Pacific shops in DeSoto, Missouri, by removing the original refrigeration equipment and replacing it with a trailer-type refrigeration unit. When the FGE cars first arrived on UP they were relettered UPFE, but kept their FGMR 12000-series numbers. The UPFE reporting mark was very soon changed to the UP-controlled ARMH reporting mark, and after being rebuilt they were given ARMN reporting marks.

Fruit Growers Express was a subsidiary of the Chessie System. When the merger with Seaboard Cost Line took place on November 1, 1980, FGE became a subsidiary of the new CSX. According to John H. White, at the time of the merger, FGE still owned over 3,000 refrigerator cars.

The Western Pacific was part of the FGE pool. During the season, FGE refrigerators cars were very common on the WP. At other times, BN pooled their BNFE reefers with FGE, so FGE refrigerators cars could be seen regularly in Oregon and Washington on the BN.

In 1995, after merging with BN to form BNSF, ATSF gave up their contract with FGE. The FGE mechanical reefers re-initialed with BNFE or BNSF reporting marks were purchased by BNSF from FGE after the merger to supplement WFE reefers and maintain adequate car supply for the system.

Western Fruit Express

Western Fruit Express (WFEX)

During the period 1923 to 1976, the refrigerator cars of Western Fruit Express, although owned as a subsidiary of Great Northern, were managed by Fruit Grower Express, a consortium of eastern railroads. The mechanical refrigerator cars of Western Fruit Express were built FGE in their shops in Virginia, Florida and Indiana.

Changes came after the 1970 merger of GN, NP, CB&Q and SP&S that created Burlington Northern.

(Read more about Western Fruit Express, as part of the later Burlington Northern)

Burlington Refrigerator Express

Burlington Refrigerator Express (BREX)

During the period 1923 to 1976, the refrigerator cars of Burlington Refrigerator Express, although owned as a subsidiary of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, were managed by Fruit Grower Express, a consortium of eastern railroads. The mechanical refrigerator cars of Western Fruit Express were built FGE in their shops in Virginia, Florida and Indiana.

Changes came after the 1970 merger of GN, NP, CB&Q and SP&S that created Burlington Northern.

(Read more about Burlington Refrigerator Express, as part of the later Burlington Northern)

More Information

(Read the Wikipedia article about Fruit Growers Express)

(Visit Jerry Britton's web page about FGE)

 

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