View source for Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch

{{Short description|Refrigerator car line}}
[[Image:Reefer-shorty-ATSF-1900 Pullman builders photo.jpg|thumb|350px|right|An ice-cooled reefer of the Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch "Bulk Fruit Express" c. 1894. There is disagreement among historians as to the color of these cars: white, ivory, light gray, or canary yellow.]]
The '''Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch''' {{reporting mark|SFRD}} was a [[railroad]] [[refrigerator car]] line established as a subsidiary of the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] in 1884 to carry perishable commodities. Though the line started out with a mere 25 [[Ventilation (architecture)|ventilated]] fruit cars and 8 ice-cooled refrigerator cars, by 1910 its roster had swollen to 6,055 total units (compared to the 8,100 units its largest competitor, the [[Pacific Fruit Express]], operated).

As of 1929 the line was carrying some 43 percent of California's citrus crop, most of which travelled aboard its "Green Fruit Express" refrigerator car special. Some 100,000 produce loads were shipped from the fields of Arizona and California to East Coast markets each growing season.

'''Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch Roster, 1890&ndash;1970:'''
{| class="toccolours"
|-
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1890'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1900'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1910'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1920'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1930'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1940'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1950'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1960'''
|align=center | &nbsp; '''1970''' &nbsp;
|-
|align=center | &nbsp; 496
|align=center | &nbsp; 1,032
|align=center | &nbsp; 6,055
|align=center | &nbsp; 9,899
|align=center | &nbsp; 18,291
|align=center | &nbsp; 14,514
|align=center | &nbsp; 14,514
|align=center | &nbsp; 13,512
|align=center | &nbsp; 10,288 &nbsp;
|}

<small>Source: ''The Great Yellow Fleet'', p.&nbsp;17.</small>

==References==
* {{cite book|author=Bryant, Keith L. Jr.|year=1974|title=History of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|publisher=Trans-Anglo Books, Glendale, CA|isbn=0-8032-6066-0}}
* {{cite book|author=Duke, Donald|year=1997|title=Santa Fe: The Railroad Gateway to the American West, Volume Two|publisher=[[Golden West Books]], [[San Marino, CA]]|isbn=0-87095-110-6}}
* White, John H.  (1986).  ''The Great Yellow Fleet''.  Golden West Books, San Marino, CA.  {{ISBN|0-87095-091-6}}.
* {{White - American railroad freight car}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051103150031/http://sdrm.org/roster/freight/ref21335/index.html Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway #21335] &mdash; photo and short history of a steel-sheathed "billboard" car.
* [http://www.sdrm.org/stories/reefer/ "Coast to Coast"] article by Richard Hendrickson at the [http://www.sdrm.org/ Pacific Southwest Railway Museum] official website.

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Santa Fe 33055 Route of the Chief.jpg|thumb|350px|left|SFRD #33055 bears an advertisement for the railroad's ''[[Chief (passenger train)|Chief]]'' passenger train. "Billboard" advertising such as this was placed on the company's refrigerator cars (and [[boxcars]]) from January [[1940]] to April, [[1947]]. Note that the ice hatches are in the "ventilator" position.]] -->
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Santa Fe 4206 Santa Fe All the Way.jpg|thumb|350px|right|SFRD #4206 bear's the railroad's slogan "'''''SHIP AND TRAVEL Santa Fe...all the way'''''." The white chalk marks are not graffiti, but have been placed by railroad personnel to indicate the car's status.]] -->

{{Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States}}

[[Category:1894 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Refrigerator car lines of the United States]]