Santa Fe Refrigerator Department Car #12661

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The First Transcontinental Railroad connected the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts by rail in 1869 making transportation of goods and people across the country faster and less expensive.

San Francisco and Los Angeles were connected by rail line when workers completed a section of railroad track spanning 149 miles from Sumner now know as East Bakersfield to San Fernando in 1876.

By the 1880s, transporting California grown produce to the East Coast was possible because of railroad refrigerator cars. Refrigerator cars used blocks of ice to keep perishable food and dairy products cold while traveling long distances by rail.

The American Car and Foundry Company built this Rr-U class ventilator and refrigerator car in 1917 for the Santa Fe Refrigerator Department, a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway. This car could carry 10,500 pounds of ice to keep food fresh while in transit.
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