Operating Era: 1909-1950. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch. Between 1909 and 1918 Santa Fe installed about 5,000 41'3" "standard length" truss rod
reefers. RR.Q and R were built before safety appliances and so lacked ladder grabs on the
ends and a grab and step on the left end of the side. RR.Q had 5 side grabs, RR.R
had 7. Both had Bohn ventilators. These classes were upgraded in the late 'teens or early
'twenties. RR.S was built in 1913 with safety appliances but retained the interior stiffeners
(as seen by corner bolts) of earlier cars. It was also the first class to use double truss
Andrews trucks and Santa Fe curved ventilators. RR.T was built in 1915 with exterior corner
braces. RR.U of 1917 and RR.V of 1918 were the first reefers with the herald switched to the
left end of the side. In 1920 the herald was reduced to 36" and in 1926 the reduced ARA
lettering was introduced. In 1930, car color changed to orange sides and ends with black roof
and underbody. This changed again in 1939 to black ends. All of these lettering and color
changes are covered in the appropriate kits. Over the years cars needing repairs had their
ventilators replaced with standard hatches. Our modernized kits cover these versions. In
1936 20 cars were switched to brick service. Dirty cars were simply stenciled Bx-25 in white
paint. Numerous cars both with and without vent were transferred to ice service where they
ran for many years.
PLEASE SEE OUR REFRIGERATOR SECTION FOR OTHER #10800 SERIES KITS.
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