AHM - 4454D - Reefer, 50 Foot, Mechanical - Kansas Okahoma & Gulf - 10011

Model Information: Produced by Roco and imported by AHM, this 50 Foot Mechanical Reefer was released in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Prototype History: The purpose of a mechanical reefer is to keep perishable items cold. Early reefers were of all wood construction and used ice for cooling. By the 1940s, new reefers were being built entirely of steel. Insulating techniques improved to the point where economical refrigeration could be accomplished using steel side plates in place of wood sheathing. Fifty foot mechanical reefers date back to at least the late 50s / early 60s.

The mechanical reefers could keep a more regular temperature, and often times colder than what the ice bunker cars were capable of. Initially mechanical reefers were used primarily in frozen food service. This would soon change as mechanical refrigeration began to replace ice-based systems. Soon after, mechanical refrigeration units replaced the “armies” of personnel required to re-ice the cars.

The first record of a 50' mechanical refrigerator car with a 6' plug door appears in the October 1954 Official Railway Equipment as with reporting marks FGEX 1000 - 1100. The January 1958 Official Railway Equipment Register lists over 600 of these cars. They appear with road numbers between 1000 and 1600. The build dates will fall between these two dates.

They were first acquired for orange juice service out of Florida. Similar cars were owned by WFEX and BREX. All were used in pool service with one another, depending upon the season. You can find a remaining prototype preserved in the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC.

Road Name History: The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (reporting mark KOG) (KO&G) was formed on July 31, 1919 from the assets of the bankrupt Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. The KO&G largely consisted of a single line from Baxter Springs, Kansas, to Denison, Texas, prior to its purchase by Missouri Pacific's Texas and Pacific Railway in 1964 and merger in 1970.

The KO&G owed much of its latter existence to its status as a bridge line between the Missouri Pacific at Okay, Oklahoma and the Missouri Pacific-controlled Texas and Pacific Railway at Denison, Texas. This traffic was the main source of revenue for the KO&G and was the primary reason that the MP acquired it. The KO&G came under common control of the Muskogee Company (often referred to as the "Muskogee Roads" or the "Muskogee Lines") in 1925, sharing common management with the Midland Valley Railroad and the Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway from 1930 to 1964. In 1967 KO&G operated 209 miles of railroad and reported 457 million ton-miles of revenue freight.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information:

AHM is the initials for Associated Hobby Manufacturers, Inc. The company was founded in 1959 as a reseller of other companies' model railroad components. Initially an HO company, they entered into N Scale in the early 1970's as an importer of products made by Roco in Austria. For N Scale products, AHM apparently contracted to use the exact same molds as were used by Roco to produce early Atlas models. They also contracted with Rivarossi to make locomotives.

When AHM went out of business IHC picked up some of their line. Also, at least one body style was taken over by Eastern Seaboard models.