Mechanical Reefer


railfan

railfan

junk collector
When I first heard the term mechanical reefer it wasn't long before I imagined it meant they connected some kind of gears or driveshaft to the reefer cars rolling wheels to drive a generator to power a refridgeration unit. I googled and found references that confirmed this. So far I haven't found alot of details but I would guess the most modern ones have better systems for maintaining cool temps longer when the train isn't moving.

I really don't need this on my N scale reefer cars since I don't have any frozen or perishable food items that small anyway. :confused::eek:
 
Or perhaps the drive mechanism was directly connected to a compressor for the refridgeration cycling process......without the need for a generator?

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railfan said:
When I first heard the term mechanical reefer it wasn't long before I imagined it meant they connected some kind of gears or driveshaft to the reefer cars rolling wheels to drive a generator to power a refridgeration unit. I googled and found references that confirmed this.
Click to expand...

Those references are completely wrong, or your interpretation of them is faulty. The rolling wheels have nothing to do with the refrigeration of the car. If they did, the contents would overheat and rot when the cars stopped in a yard.

Mechanical reefers typically have a separate diesel engine in the car to run the refrigeration units, whether the car is moving or not. That's why models are sold with sound units to replicate the noise of the diesel engine and mechanical refrigeration units.
 
It would seem some older ones were:

According to the Editorial Section (back material) in the January 1958 ORER, there were 4 types of mechanical refrigerators:


1.Type RP, a mechanical refrigerator with an apparatus operated by power generated inside car (not through car axle);
2.Type RPA, a mechanical refrigerator with an apparatus operated by direct mechanical drive from car axle;
3.Type RPB, a mechanical refrigerator with an apparatus operated by electro-mechanical drive from car axle; and
4.Type RPM, similar to type RP but equipped with beef rails.
In actually tabulating the cars listed in the January 1958 ORER, only types RP and RPM can be found in interchange service.

This came from here:

http://cnwmodeling.blogspot.com/201...tml#!/2012/01/mechanical-reefers-in-1957.html
 
railfan said:
In actually tabulating the cars listed in the January 1958 ORER, only types RP and RPM can be found in interchange service.
Click to expand...

And that's the key -- if the other oddballs can't be interchanged, they aren't any use in regular rail service. The others were experimental or extremely limited in use -- or never actually built. There are a number of listings for many car types in the ORER that were never actually used.

For all practical purposes, 99.999999% (or more) of the mechanical reefers in use did not use the rolling wheels for power. It should be obvious why.
 
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