Hello!

For your consideration:

https://www.booster.com/thegtw206447reeferproject

Save the Reefer! Help Move History! By buying a shirt, you will be helping to preserve and move Grand Trunk Western 206447, an ice brine reefer box car from Holland, MI to the safety and preserving efforts of the Port Huron & Detroit Railroad Historical Society of Port Huron Township, MI. The move will involve a couple of semi-tractor trucks and their drivers for a distance of approximately 225 miles! All proceeds from this fundraiser will go to this effort, with any balance going to the following restoration of the reefer into a cosmetically correct climate controlled shop and secure storage area for use by the Port Huron & Detroit Railroad Historical Society.

Reefer GTW 206447 is truly a unique piece of equipment in a mostly complete state. It is likely the sole remaining example of 100 Canadian designed reefers of the efficient overhead ice brine design. These reefers were built for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company in July through August of 1955 by the Pacific Car & Foundry at Renton, WA. The efficient design allowed for actual climate control, both cold and warm temperatures with usage of either the aforementioned overhead ice brine tanks or the under-mounted charcoal heater. These reefers had an astounding 3500 mile range before requiring re-charge with the ice brine coolant system. Hauling everything from meat, produce, to auto parts, these reefer box cars allowed the Grand Trunk Western to offer a premium service that allowed for reliable shipment of commodities that required specific temperature requirements. After serving for the Grand Trunk Western, GTW 206447 was likely retired in 1972 or 1973, likely being one of the last of its type in revenue service. It was likely sold to a chicken slaughter house in Holland, MI, now a strip mall, and was spotted on the old Pere Marquette Ottawa Beach Branch next to the slaughter house where it was used as an overflow freezer. The reefer has been there ever since the slaughter house shut down, awaiting a sure fate of the scrapper’s torch until the Port Huron & Detroit Railroad Historical Society stepped in and literally saved the reefer from scrapping. This is where you come in. With your financial support of buying our fundraiser T-shirt, you too can take part in preserving this unique piece of Grand Trunk Western Railroad history, TODAY!

Act now, save the reefer, help move history!

Thank you for your consideration,

Chad Thompson
PH&DRRHS
Board Member

A 3500-mile range is pretty impressive.

Does anyone know the range of mechanical reefers from this same era? I imagine mechanical reefers needed their fuel tanks checked and refilled fairly often.

A quick search turns up a GTW reefer with a similar number:


http://transport.castlegraphics.com/dis ... hp?pid=376

I am not certain of mechanical reefer range, it more or less depends on when it runs out of fuel to run the climate control units.

However, the convention ice reefers used in the United States were of the end-cap design. They had a range of 150-300 miles before needed to be recharged with ice. They were also capable of heat control, but relied on essentially ovens to be placed into the endcaps compartments to provide heat, and were prone to being knocked over and causing fires.

While some US roads had overheads, it was found that the distances required in the domestic US were MUCH shorter than those in Canada, and the need of overhead ice reefers therefore really wasn't required. This is why PFE and other refrigerated or insulated services never adopted the overhead design. They did however all investigate it. Apparently, most feel that the extra time needed in mixing the ice brine was an unnecessary task that wasted precious time. They decided to keep it simple. Also, when the Canadians came up with this design in Canada in 1936, it was only about 20 years, if that to when the first robust, reliable mechanical reefers became available. Therefore, the lifetime would have been short.

As it was, GTW206447 was build in July-August of 1955 in Renton, WA at Pacific Car & Foundry and according to the Official Equipment Register was used until about 1972/1973. Sometime afterwards, this reefer was eventually sold to the now-strip mall, then chicken slaughter house, likely as an overflow area for chicken, and set out on the remains of the old Pere Marquette Ottawa Beach Branch.

Hope this helps,

Chad Thompson
Board Member
Port Huron & Detroit Railroad Historical Society

rock island lines -

I found a listing for these cars; they were numbered 206400-206499. GTW 206424 is obviously in the same series at 206447. One thing that's a bit hard though to determine from the photo is if the cars were painted gray, white or aluminum. It appears that the lettering was red except, of course, for the green in the "maple leaf" herald.

Les

Good for you and your group for going after this unique, rare car! This is what railway preservation is all about.

In 1957, at least a year and a half after GTW206447 was placed into service, this film was made on a 6400 class Grand Trunk Western Northern. Interesting to think that the reefer would have been right at home in this environment.

THIS IS HOW WE CONVEY HISTORY FOLKS!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sDg0_QhvB6s

Les,

Canadian National called it "Grey No. 11" I believe.

However, per Stafford Swain's "Railroad Model Craftsman" magazine article in the December 1995 through February 1996 issues, he indicates that sometime in the 1950s, they experimented with adding aluminum flakes to the paint. If you review the later Canadian National paint jobs, I believe they all adopted this Gray-Silver paint with the aluminum flakes to reflect the sunlight to stabilize temperature control. They also did eventually order and built Aluminum reefers later, though the Grand Trunk Western order was only one hundred and were of the older, all steel designs.

If anyone is interested in further reading about this unique reefer design, I highly recommend Mr. Swain's articles.

The Port Huron & Detroit Railroad Historical Society looks to have an exciting and busy year for 2017 with several moves of equipment planned and an ambitious paint program of not only this reefer, but also PH&D caboose No. 62/52.

Again, thank you for your consideration!

Chad Thompson
Board Member
Port Huron & Detroit Railroad Historical Society
https://www.facebook.com/phdrrhs/

***LAST CALL! LAST CALL! LAST CALL!***

Ladies and gentlemen, we have just THREE DAYS left of the campaign! Many thanks to all of those who have donated to date! We currently have over $1,150 in both shirt sales and donations on the Booster fundraiser alone. Our goal is $4,000. Based on our challenge donors, that means we currently have raised $2,200 for the move! Again, there is only three days left for "The GTW 206447 Reefer Project" fundraiser drive!

We need your help now more than ever to help us bring the reefer home. If you haven't bought a shirt or hoodie sweatshirt yet, or know of someone who might have interest, share the link below! Or, if the shirt or hoodie doesn't meet your fancy, DONATE a few bucks TODAY!

https://www.booster.com/thegtw206447reeferproject