InterMountain - 60503-07 - Reefer, 40 Foot, Steel, Santa Fe - American Refrigerator Transit - 23636

Model Information: This model was first produced in the 1990s by InterMountain and was originally only available as a kit. More recent releases are only available as RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. It is a very nicely detailed and even after 20 years in production, it remains one of the best N Scale reefer models available. This is likely due to the fact that it was originally available only as a kit that it has so many fine detail parts such as the intricate handrails. My guess is that InterMountain simply didn't worry about the cost of the assembly as they were shipping them assembled. Hence they have far more detail than similar models from Atlas or Micro-Trains.

In addition the the numerous paint schemes, InterMountain has produced a large number of special runs, with some particularly attractive examples produced for YesterYear. Over the years, the couplers supplied with this model have varied a lot. The original release featured dummy knuckle couplers, but I have also seen examples with Micro-Trains couplers, Accumate couplers and Micro-Trains knockoffs.

Prototype History: The Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch (reporting mark SFRD) was a railroad refrigerator car line established as a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (often shorten in Santa Fe) in 1884 to carry perishable commodities. At its peak in the '50s, the fleet of SFRD reefer was in excess of 14,000 cars, making it the second largest reefer fleet serving the west after PFE (Pacific Fruit Express, a subsidiarity of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific).

The curved-line and straight-line maps began to be used in 1940, depending on which shop did the repaint. Sometime around 1943 the straight-line maps became the norm and were predominate through 1947. The billboard slogans at that time included: Grand Canyon Line, Scout, El Capitan, Super Chief, and Chief.
Cars repainted before 1944 had periods in the S.F.R.D. reporting marks; after that the periods were dropped and the reporting marks were S F R D.
In 1947, the maps were no long painted and Ship and Travel Santa Fe All the Way took its place. The Scout name was dropped in 1947. By 1952, the surviving map/slogan cars would have been pretty dirty and well weathered; cleaner SFRD reefers had the later slogan scheme.
In 1958, the slogans went away and the large billboard Herald became the standard. Cars ran with this scheme until the mid 70s when ice reefers became obsolete.

Rebuilt reefers:
Between 1937 and the early '40s , Santa Fe rebuilt over 4100 of its 40' wood reefers as steel sheathed reefers, all to virtually the same design. These former USRA cars kept their fishbelly center sill underframes. Given that they have been rebuilt in several batches, they are all similar but with small variations on doors and platforms around ice hatches. They are classified as Rr-19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29 and 32.

- Rr-19 SFRD 31254 - 31655 rebuilt 1937
- Rr-21 SFRD 34000 - 34499 rebuilt 1937
- Rr-23 SFRD 31656 - 33155 rebuilt 1938
- Rr-25 SFRD 33156 - 33455 rebuilt 1939
- Rr-25 SFRD 33556 - 33655 rebuilt 1939
- Rr-27 SFRD 34500 - 34950 rebuilt 1939
- Rr-28 SFRD 35000 - 35499 rebuilt 1940 (platform inboard of the ice hatches)
- Rr-29 SFRD 36000 - 36300 rebuilt 1940
- Rr-32 SFRD 35500 - 35999 rebuilt 1941 (platform inboard of the ice hatches)

More details on this site.

Road Name History: The American Refrigerator Transit Company (ART) was a St. Louis, Missouri-based private refrigerator car line established in 1881 by the Missouri Pacific and Wabash railroads. It is now a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation.

Brand/Importer Information: InterMountain was founded in 1985 by Fred Brummet. They got started in the model railroad business by producing O-Scale model kits. They got started in the N Scale business almost a decade later when in 1994 they introduced the 40-23 reefer car in kit form. Later, in 1998, they started producing RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. By the early 2000s, InterMountain phased out kit production in favor of the RTR models.

The InterMountain Railway company is located at 1224 Boston Ave in Longmont, CO. They are a manufacturer of HO, N and Z scale model trains. They have produced kits as well as RTR (Ready-To-Run) models. Their N Scale products include locomotives as well as rolling stock. Their rolling stock lineup includes Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, Reefers, Gondolas, Stock Cars and Flatcars.

Their locomotive releases have primarily been diesel units, with the one major exception being their series of AC-12 Cab Forward steam locos. Their diesel lineup includes F3's, F7's, F9's, SD40's, SD45's and FT units. They are known for quality and detail. They also release their rolling stock in larger varieties of road numbers than most of the other manufacturers.