Santa Fe's White Reefers era:1950-1974
Both pictures by Frank Ellington were scanned from slides
provided to Neville Madden from Frank's collection. Thanks to both gentlemen for making them available to us! They show the more common orange reefers coupled with the white ones,
so we know that they are not just photographic abberations. I have
tried to lift as much detail as possible from these old slides by adjusting
the color intensity, contrast and brightness; I wish I could have done
better, but at least this is proof that the Santa Fe had some albino reefers
in the roster back in those days.
This side view of SFRD 11334 was taken in Argentine, KS, on Jun 24,
1973. The car was built 24 Jun 1950 according to the data on the slide.
The SFMO/SFRHS Listing of Freight Cars by Larry Ochiello, states
that RR-48 was a group of 562 steel reefers rebuilt in 1950 from the RR-Y
and RR-2 wood sheathed classes, and numbered from 10870 through 11431.
While 271 remained on the roster in 1970, the last of the class was retired
in 1974.
This view
clearly shows the car end with reporting marks. The shot having been taken
in July, 1973, it shows the car as it looked in the last year of its existence.
This view
clearly shows the car end with reporting marks. The shot having been taken
in July, 1973, it shows the car as it looked in the last year of its existence.
