The Great Yellow Fleet: A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars by John H. White

Abstract

312 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE 1901—1985 is an intriguing and informative account of how a major western railroad faced a variety of economic developments in the present century. John F. Stover Dr. Stover is retired from the Department of History at Purdue University. He is the author of nine volumes on American railroad and transportation history, including American Railroads (1961), History of the Illinois Central Railroad (1975), Iron Road to the West: American Railroad in the 1850s (1978), and History of the Baltimore Ohio Railroad (1987). The Great Yellow Fleet: A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars. By John H. White. San Marino, Calif.: Golden West Books, 1986. Pp. 186; illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $44.95 + $1.50 handling. Earlier works by noted Smithsonian historian John White have in­ cluded American Locomotives and The American Railroad Passenger Car. His latest book is a history of refrigerated rail cars in America. After offering a general overview of the subject, White moves back to discuss development of the railroad refrigerator car during the second half of the 19th century. With few exceptions, early refrigerator cars were thinly insulated boxcars equipped with bunkers of ice for cooling. Initially, the relationship between railroads and refrigerator cars was an uneasy one. During the 1860s and 1870s, the railroads were un­ willing to haul refrigerated sides of beef from the midwestern slaugh­ terhouses. A shift away from livestock shipments threatened to lower tonnages and diminish revenues. Even as national meat-packers like Armour and Swift became firmly established and a transcontinental trade in California produce emerged, many railroads remained re­ luctant to invest in the rolling iceboxes. As a result, in 1900 most such cars were owned either by meat-packers or private freight car lines. White’s post-1900 focus is on outside pressures for technical improve­ ments and the conservatism of freight car companies and the rail­ roads. Simple changes such as heavier insulation and better internal air circulation took decades to implement. As late as 1940, wooden­ bodied refrigerator cars were the norm. The book concludes with case studies of the private car lines that hauled so much of the nation’s chilled freight. Although they are never explicitly stated, the book contains two underlying points. First, White argues the importance of continuity in this technology, pointing out that the car’s basic design changed little between the 1850s and the 1930s. For nearly a century, refrig­ erator cars underwent only small incremental improvements. This is a nice observation and well documented, but it cannot carry the story. TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 313 However, it does lead to the second theme. White suggests that the slow rate of technological innovation was compounded by the con­ servatism of the railroads and freight car companies. The unstated question is how long-haul truckers wrested control of the refrigerated transport business. The implication is that more aggressive behavior and a sharper eye toward innovation could have staved off the truck­ ers. Human behavior, not technical limitations, spelled the demise of this technology. How accurate is this view? Although the human factor is important, I remain unconvinced that earlier adoption of betterinsulated cars and mechanical refrigeration would have done much to change the story. With development of the interstate highway sys­ tem, the speed and flexibility of refrigerated trucks became the critical consideration in shipping many perishable fruits and vegetables. The scores of photographs and diagrams, as well as descriptions of exterior paint colors, reveal that this is a book intended for railroad enthusiasts. Historians may find points of interest, but they will have to do some sifting. For example, a study of White’s blueprints will provide a good sense of how the cars operated. In another case, there is a remarkable series of photographs which document the mass icing of refrigerator cars and communicate more about refrigerated trans­ port than any ten pages of text. While these features can be a pleasure, their volume can easily prove frustrating. In general, the book would have benefited from a sharper sense of purpose and a stronger story line. Moreover, many important issues remain below the surface. There is little to suggest the ways in...