01-13-2011, 10:28 PM
I think most of the old wood sheathed reefers were rebuilt with steel in the late 40's or early 50's. So much of the railroad equipment was so worn out after WW2 that most needed rebuilding or replacing. The meat companies (Rath, Hormel, Swift, etc) stuck with 36 foot long reefers into the 1970's when most of the old line meat packers closed down. Their warehouses and loading docks were designed for the door spacing of 36 foot cars and they didn't want to change their buildings. Santa Fe converted one ice bunker reefer to mechanical in 1948 to test the concept, but I don't think mechanical reefers replaced ice bunkers until well into the 1970's.