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Model, Refrigerator Car
Catalog #: 2000.0032.01,
Accession #: 2000.0032
Currently on display
From the Smithsonian Collection
This model was made by employees of the car-building and car-repair shops of the Merchant Despatch Transportation Corporation (MDT), which operated express freight cars carrying meat and perishable foods for approximately 128 years between the Northeast, Chicago, and other western states including California. |
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Physical Description |
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Model. Model of a common early 1900s railway refrigerator car. Size: 39” L x 10” W x 14 1/2” H (w/o base). Scale: 1/2 inch to 1 foot. Material: wood, metal, stone. Painted: white and brown. The roof can be removed to show ice bunkers and interior arrangement.
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Details |
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Locations: |
East North Central, Mountain, New England, Pacific, West North Central
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Note: | Places indicates were MDT operated. |
Credit: | Gift of Merchants Despatch Transportation Corporation |
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History |
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The use of refrigerator cars with blocks of ice to preserve food began in the 1860s. From the late 1880s fast rail distribution of perishable food radically changed the American diet by allowing fresh produce to be delivered nationwide at any time of the year.
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Related People, Places, and Events |
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Manufacturer
Merchant Despatch Transportation Co., car shops
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