In the 70s Tyco brought out 62 ft mech reefers in a number of fantasy paint jobs. Was there an actual prototype of those cars?
Are these the Tyco Mech Reefers you are referring to? Then I'm gonna say no...Ignoring the paint schemes, those models have roofwalks (meaning built pre-1966), and double plug doors - more like RBLs (insulated boxcars) than Mech Reefers (and yes, I see the grills molded into the side wall that would mark the location of the refrigerator unit).Looks like they sort of reused the 62ft boxcar/62ft hi-cube boxcar molds in the 62ft reefer, although the side walls do differ some...
Oh, I don't know. The photo in the following link kind of looks similar. Has the grills and a roofwalk. Only thing missing is the double plug door, and if I imagine hard I could think that there was a double plug door replaced by a large single: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3739939
I think I'll go along with Maxman's reply. Whether, there is,was, or will be. That Tyco, Chiquita Banana reefer, would not look too bad, next to this warehouse that Walthers had out some time ago, no longer made though.
https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3080
Frank
zstripeWhether, there is,was, or will be. That Tyco, Chiquita Banana reefer, would not look too bad, next to this warehouse that Walthers had out some time ago
Still, nobody could ever claim the designers of Tyco did NOT have good imagination, and could produce fantasy liveries with the best of them. The Campbell's soup one, for example, was pretty neat...
Chutton01,
I'll agree on the double plug door. It does seem rather strange, on a reefer.
I also like the Campbell soup car.
maxman Oh, I don't know. The photo in the following link kind of looks similar. Has the grills and a roofwalk. Only thing missing is the double plug door, and if I imagine hard I could think that there was a double plug door replaced by a large single: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3739939
dknelsonAccording to the January 1967 Equipment Register, GARX 51000 was a 53' outside length car with 7'7" door width, classed as RBL. GARX would be the refrigerator express wing of General American
chutton01Is it possible that the image Maxman linked to is mislabeled. Even zooming in on the image, the reporting marks are really hard to discern (although the number does seem to be 51000 - well, the 1 is a bit hard to make out, but it does seem to be 51000).One reason I ask - why would a RBL have grills (and a fuel tank) for the refrigeration equipment?
Quite possibly it is mislabled. The only reason I posted that picture was that it appeared to be similar to the TYCO car, except for the lack of the double doors.
Concerning the lengths you mentioned in another post, I don't know where the 57 foot designation comes from. For example, http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2694325 is a photo that looks a lot like one of the Athearn bluebox 57' reefers. Looking up the dimensions of that series of cars in the April 1986 OER, the inside length is 50' 9" and the outside length is 63' 9". Maybe they just used the average length, which happens to be 57' 3", and called that 57'.
Maxman,
Thanks to You, I just spent a half hour learning all about the Valdora Produce Company, the name on the side of the building that was in the link you posted.
Did You know Albert Valdora was known as the Tangerine King and also applied for patents 1957 to have a trade mark to be known as ''Mr, Tangerine''?
I was also wondering how that crease dent, got on the right top side of that really orange PFE reefer.
Having a Great Time! Wish You were here, What???
chutton01 dknelson According to the January 1967 Equipment Register, GARX 51000 was a 53' outside length car with 7'7" door width, classed as RBL. GARX would be the refrigerator express wing of General American Is it possible that the image Maxman linked to is mislabeled. Even zooming in on the image, the reporting marks are really hard to discern (although the number does seem to be 51000 - well, the 1 is a bit hard to make out, but it does seem to be 51000).One reason I ask - why would a RBL have grills (and a fuel tank) for the refrigeration equipment?
dknelson According to the January 1967 Equipment Register, GARX 51000 was a 53' outside length car with 7'7" door width, classed as RBL. GARX would be the refrigerator express wing of General American
Is it possible that the image Maxman linked to is mislabeled. Even zooming in on the image, the reporting marks are really hard to discern (although the number does seem to be 51000 - well, the 1 is a bit hard to make out, but it does seem to be 51000).One reason I ask - why would a RBL have grills (and a fuel tank) for the refrigeration equipment?
I checked the official roster of the St Louis Museum of Transport and they verify that the car is GARX 51000. They describe it this way
G.A.R.X. #51000Refrigerator Car1954Builder: General American Transportation Co.Cooled, heated by diesel-powered refrigeration system.
That would not be RBL or RB but RP, RPL, or RPM. Those are the mechanical designations for mechanical reefers.
The RBL is defined as bunkerless, with or without ventilating devices, and with or without devices to attach to portable heaters.
One hunch is that the car was built as a mechanical reefer in 1954 but was RBL by 1967. The louvers are not inconsistent with there being venting devices and heating devices which RBLs can have.
Fuel tank might have been sealed and left alone. Just speculation.
I suppose the ORER might be in error but it not only calls that series RBL but says the AAR car type is R206, which is an RBL which is 48'8" or longer. So they in essence call it an RBL twice in the ORER.
Dave Nelson
A similar car GARX 53004
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rspicture.aspx?id=173870
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
zstripeThanks to You, I just spent a half hour learning all about the Valdora Produce Company, the name on the side of the building that was in the link you posted.
If you spent a half hour on Valdora, it's a good thing that I didn't provide a link to the car I saw outside the Warren-Pease Publishing Company.
I wonder if the OP, azrail, will revisit this thread - perhaps he has decided it isn't worth it.Also, for the heck of it, I measured the outside length of a Athearn R-70-20 Mechanical Reefer (I know, I know, but as I understand it the dimensions are accurate, although the roof details may not be). The (averaged) outside length measurement was 56'-9", which I could understand being rounded to 57 foot. Perhaps the extra 6ft from the OER listing comes from measuring coupler face to coupler face (which really is the total length of the car)?
I have already spent a considerable amount of time, reviewing that Publishing Co.