| Illinois Central's experimental aluminum referigerator car 51000 was photographed outside its birth place a month after its 35th birthday. The railroad's shops at McComb, Mississippi completed the car in September 1946. Designed in collaboration with Alcoa and the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, it was intended as a possible prototype for post-WWII reefers. It weighed about 26 tons, several tons less than a comparable steel car, and gave good service; but it was not duplicated... probably because of its high initial cost. Some time after this photo was taken, the car was placed in a McComb park, where it joined an IC 4-8-2; and these are now on display next to the city's Amtrak depot.In 1946 and 1947 Pacific Fruit Express built a pair of aluminum reefers, the first with material supplied by Reynolds Metals and the second by Alcoa. PFE concluded that the weight benefits of the cars were more than offset by their high cost, and built no more aluminum reefers. |