Tales of Modern PFE Reefers - Part 1

One of the most ubiquitous thing in railroading aside from that 50ft Illinois Central boxcar that pop up on so many historical pictures, is Pacific Fruit Express reefers. It shouldn't come as a surprise because PFE used to be the largest refrigerator car operator in the world. Started in 1906 as an Harriman business venture shared by Southern Pacific and Union Pacific, it would become so iconic that you would be hard pressed to have no need for one of these cars on your layout if you model 20th century in North America.

Like any modeller, I've acquired my share of kits and assembled models of PFE but something I never tried was to model the more modern stuff when the paint scheme was simplified in the 1960s and the large PFE name was spelled in bold sans serif black font. I always loved that scheme with it's bright orange and that "In Your Face" style of advertising to typical of the 1960s when subtility was no longer the norm.

However, that project of mine would involve tinkering with orphan models I had no use for. The goal was to follow a discussion with Chris Mears about how much details you have to change on a cheap train to make it look good. Our theory has evolved around the idea that a few elements must coalesces before prototypically accurate details start mattering. In short order, I would say the following must be respected to make sure the suspension of disbelief holds. After all, it's about tricking the mind.

1. Accurate colors (here, I mean not only having the right shade but also a realistic approach to weathering): this is the first thing our eye recognize.
2. Crisp color application and sharp decals: no fuzzy lines, no blurry lettering, no small defects that break the illusion.
3. Decent proportions: overall, nothing seems out of place.
4. Credible silhouette: this is were fine details matter. It doesn't mean the details are accurate, but that they are believeable and fine enough to not scream enough: protuding details will matter more because they detach themselves from the background: brake wheels, runningboard, roof grabirons, stirrups.

If you get these four things down, it's half the battle won... 

The first car I used was an old Athearn 40ft ice reefer. A classic car among the classics, it is based on a PFE R40-23. Sure, it's not perfect and that annoying way to fix the roof to the body is always bothering me, but the proportions are right, the car ends are correct and the rivet patterns are acceptable. The original pad printed PFE scheme by Athearn was fuzzy and crooked, so it had to go. This car will be fully repainted.

To improve the silhouette, I replaced the molded grabirons and stirrups with metal ones. A-Line for the ends, Accurail reefer stirrups for the ones under the door. The brake wheel was replaced with a neat Kadee one (they are the best in my opinion), the platform was made larger and supported with new brackets. Another big change was to replace the clunky stock running board with a nice Morton-style Kadee one. I gently cut the roofwalk end platforms since they aren't required on a reefer. Once again, Kadee parts prove their incredible usefulness. For the price, they look fantastic and require almost no painful work to install.

Kadee roofwalk really improves the overall look

Paint had to be accurate and I decided to use Tru-Color SP Daylight Orange TCP-107. I added a few drops of Yellow Reefer into it to fade it a little bit since I'll weather the car in the future.

As for the lettering, I used Microscale 87-1341 sheet for modern PFE reefer. In hindsight, it was a mistake and I should have used their 87-1340 set which is designed for ice reefers. I say that because the Pacific Fruit Express lettering as a different spacing on non-ribbed cars than ribbed cars. I had to fudge a little bit with the lettering and it isn't 100% prototypical though it's not noticeable without really looking into it. It was a matter of using what I had and what I could source from local shops.

The finished car is indeed a blue box car, but most of the sins have been corrected. While I took pictures of it on the diorama, I felt the underframe looked empty, thus breaking my rule about a credible silhouette. I will probably glue an Accurail brake rigging in place to address that issue. Also, while not a big issue, I think that next time I work on an Athearn ice reefer, I will rebuild or modify the bothersome line of rivets over the doors. The shadow between the separate parts breaks the illusion. Otherwise, I think these simple modifications are good enough for building a fleet on the cheap. A lesson is that it is always easier to find the real prototype behind an older car and try to improve.

At the end of the day, the modification cost make only sense if you get the car for cheap and derive a lot of fun doing the modification work. The average cost is about $4 for the metal wheels, a few cents for the stirrups and grabirons, about $0.50 for the brake wheel, $5 for the running board, $3 for the decals and about $1 for the paint, so about $15. The total cost including the car is thus $25. On the positive note, this kitbash helped me to learn more about R40-23 reefers, PFE paint scheme evolution and about the fleet history. Buying a RTR car or a prepainted kit wouldn't have provided any additional knowledge or appreciation for what PFE used to be and why it is so important and ubiquitous.