Union Pacific Fruit Express Cars, UPFE

The higher-numbered UPFE refrigerator cars are not ex FGE. The FGMR cars obtained in the late 1990s were just relettered UPFE without being renumbered (they're in the 12000 series).

More ex FGMR cars were obtained in 2001, and were relettered ARMH. Four-digit numbers are ex SFLC (same numbers), five-digit numbers are ex BNFE (same numbers). These numbers are derived from their FGMR numbers, same as the BNFE numbers; SFLC dropped the first digit.

Still more ex FGMR cars came to UP in late 2001, from BNFE, SFLC, and WC. Those cars have kept their original reporting marks until they are rebuilt into the new "Chilled Express" cars (ARMN 991000 series).

Now, as for the original UPFEs and the higher-numbered reefers:

Anything numbered 461000 and above is either secondhand or "rehabilitated" from previous series.

Secondhand cars came from both ARMN (American Refrigerator Transit) and BAR, and are in the 461000 series, for the most part. Cars in the 462000s through 469000s are rehabilitated from older UPFE cars; the best way to determine the series is to compare the R-70-nn classifications (which didn't change). Some of the highest-numbered series here are rebuilt from ex SPFE cars, obtained in the merger with SP.

Beginning in mid-1989, mechanical refrigerator cars of the Union Pacific Railroad Company were given program repairs, and were repainted and renumbered into various series ranging from UPFE 461401 through 469425. Equipment Registers accurately represent the introduction of these series, which were often filled over succeeding months. Origins of individual series are shown below.

Union Pacific has acquired a number of mechanical refrigerator cars from the Bangor & Aroostok, reportedly in exchange for four locomotives:
UPFE 461201-461273 (class R70-28): from BAR 150-249
UPFE 461301-461344 (class R70-29): from BAR 250-299
UPFE 461351-461391 (class R70-30): from BAR 11000-11049

The "UPRX" reporting mark (Union Pacific Fruit Express Co.) was temporary to distinguish former PFE cars. Some of UP's cars, acquired before the split and marked "UPFE", also received the temporary UPRX reporting mark. This reporting mark lasted less than two years as by 1980 none were listed in the Equipment Register, however, in was officially eliminated in July 1984, according to Ian Cranstone. Ian has a website that tracks these details.

Beginning with the R-70-13 class mechanical reefers in 1963, Pacific Fruit Express (PFE) no longer bought their own cars - except the R-70-19 class. The cars were purchased by SP and UP and leased to PFE for operation. In 1971, the government changed the rules on reporting marks, such that the reporting marks needed to reflect the actual owner of the car. At that time, SP and UP created the SPFE and UPFE reporting marks, and they were first used on new R-70-24 and R-70-25 reefers in 1971. As older SP and UP owned cars were repainted or patched, they also received the SPFE or UPFE reporting marks to indicate who actually owned the cars.

PFE as a jointly owned company (by SP and UP) was dissolved in 1978, and the assets were split between SP and UP. SP chose to keep PFE alive as a company, subsidiary to SP. So cars lettered for PFE that went to SP kept their PFE reporting marks. UP created Union Pacific Fruit Express Company (UPFE) as a private company with reporting marks UPRX for their newly acquired cars.

I have scans of all of the ORER pages for PFE, SPFE, UPFE and UPRX from October 1977 (before UPRX started) through October 1984 (no more UPRX). There are some sizable changes in numbers of cars in the beginning of UPRX, both up and down. May have something to do with how fast cars received the UPRX mark. May be just accounting errors as clerks tried to get the records straight - or cars were to be scrapped and then not scrapped.

So, UPRX existed from 1978 to 1984. I suspect that by 1984 all of the ice reefers and older mechanical reefers were retired, but I have not verified that. And, I suspect that far more ice reefers received UPRX marks than mechanical reefers, but again not verified. I would doubt that any cars had their reporting marks changed from UPFE to UPRX, but don't know for sure.

End of an era. On September 1st the Union Pacific abolished the "Union Pacific Fruit Express" company. The last unit in operations of UPFE was a 14 man crew in the North Platte yard. The history began with the "Pacific Fruit Express" that was formed on December 7, 1906, as a joint UP/SP company to operate refrigerator cars. The company grew into the largest reefer operations in the country. In 1976 the PFE company split into two divisions, the UPFE (owned by the UP) and SPFE (owned by the SP) companies. The two divisions operated its own service stations on its own lines.

With the 1982 merger with the Missouri Pacific the UP acquired its reefer company the ARMN; and via the SP merger on September 11, 1996, the SPFE. By 2002 the railroad combined all reefer operations into the ARMN with the traditional orange UPFE reefers being replaced with the bright white with the removable cooling units within a few years. Due to the large Bailey Yard operations and the center of freight movements, the UPFE North Platte crew serviced those cars (mainly to top the fuel tanks with some minor maintance) as they traveled through. For the rest of the system the ARMN reefers were serviced by contractors with one of the "hubs" being the former Fox Park in Council Bluffs.

The UPFE employees in North Platte are now employees of the Union Pacific and assigned to the North Platte Car Department. These men will continue to do service work on ARMN reefers as needed but will now mainly to be doing the general service work on all other types of equipment by the Car Shops (RIP) and service unit in Baily Yard. On a side note, the railroad display in North Platte's Cody Park has UPFE reefer #458266. It is reported that this car was the last shipment of UPFE equipment (shipment from Pocatello, Idaho) before all shipments were handled by ARMN equipment."