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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by nscale49er I'm modelling the period from '38 to '53 and am including a smalling icing plant in my mid point yard. I'm generally familiar with the layout and standard operating process but have come to the realization that i know nothing about the supply of salt to brine reefers. How was the rock salt delivered (I assume bags)? How was it distributed to the cars (hand trucks, dollies, carried bag by bag, some other way)? How was the salt delivered to the platform (elevator inside the icehouse, outside crane, conveyor)? Anybody who can give me information on this is appreciated. Thanks [/quote] By 1938 most ice faclities used ice manufactured on site. I have seen movies of ice loading where scoop shovels of salt were broadcast over the ice in the car bunkers just before the hatch was closed. How it was delivered to and stored at the plant is a good question. Use of salt was probably appropriate for moving frozen products. Regular movements of produce probably did not need the salt. That is a question for a produce manager. In the early days of refrigerator cars, natural ice was a major commoditiy harvested from lakes at high elevation and moved from there in refer cars or box cars packed in sawdust. Many lumbering operations turned to ice harvest when the phisical plant was no longer needed for lumber production. The sawdust stock piles and any covered structure could be turned into an asset to store natural ice. The ice house located on a siding could be another source of revenue for your railroad. In the early days of West Coast cities, sailing vessels were used to haul ice from as far away as Kodiak Island in Alaska. Southbound ships from Sitka, Alaska often backhauled Ice to Sanfranciso. Early railroads provided a continuation of this trade from locations such as lake Tahoe.
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