a shortage. They simply used older or worn-out cars for this
service. Floor racks were removed to make ice handling easier,
and usually the ice bunkers were removed and the hatch
openings blanked off. (The cargo, of course, refrigerated itself.)
By about World War II, such cars were usually stenciled “ICE
SERVICE,” and Microscale set 87-501 has this lettering.
I modeled such a car for my ice transfer (ITP) type of facility at
Shumala, using a Red Caboose model of Class R-30-9, modify-
ing the lettering and blanking the hatch openings. To see the
model, refer to (30).
This not only affords a different car in my PFE fleet, but adds
another car destination as well.
Western Pacific cars.
As many modelers know, the PFE
roster included a block of cars owned by Western Pacific, but
under contract for PFE use. Originally there were 2775 of these
cars, and most of them were reconditioned in 1939-1940. But
they were badly deteriorated by 1950 and many were being
scrapped. Finally about 900 were reconditioned again in 1954
and returned to service.
This group is large enough for me to want one in my model
fleet. But as it happened, the rapid shrinkage of the WP car
group had resulted in an almost zero fleet size in 1953. Surviv-
ing old cars had been withdrawn from service, pending agree-
ment with WP about rebuilding, and the rebuilds did not start
to appear in any numbers until the fall of 1953. Strictly, for
much of 1953, the fleet is too small to include in Table 2. I sup-
pose I could say I have instituted a small time warp to have one
of the original WP number-series car, more probable in 1951
or 1952 than my model year of 1953. I show my single WP car
here in (31).
Getting Real Column - 12
Car modeling summary.
These example cars are intend-
ed to illustrate the variety of available models.
As mentioned, most of the classes can be modeled with vari-
ous approaches, largely because PFE used an essentially stan-
dard superstructure, whether for wood-sheathed or steel cars,
making many classes identical in major features, if different in
detail. Table 2 provides a basis for model choices if a modeler
wishes to proportion his or her PFE roster to the prototype.
31: My lone example of one of PFE’s Western Pacific
cars is this Red Caboose kit, shown here being
switched in front of the Shumala depot by big Baldwin
5212. This reefer is pretty much built stock from the
kit. I did equip the car with AB brakes, but little else
was changed besides addition of weathering and route
cards. (Construction of the depot was described in my
Model Railroad Hobbyist column for November 2012.)
31
MRH-Oct 2013
