I have a stack of Great Northern Railway train consist sheets that have Fruit Growers Express reefers listed and I also have Athearn HO FGE reefers that I plan to use for my operations of a GN branchline.I'm interested in the FGE 11000 series reefers at this time. The model I have is a ribbed mechanical reefer with number 11432.Is this car accurate for this series and how many cars were there?I have bought "The Great Yellow Fleet",but it has no references to rosters of the subject companies.

Bill

-- Bill Burge (bill_b_52402@yahoo.com), October 28, 2000

Answers

Bill, I have a photo of FGCX 11689 and this car has no ribs.

-- Gary Riccio (g.riccio@worldnet.att.net), October 29, 2000.

I'm modeling the Great Northern's Kalispell,Mont. branch 1969.According to the train sheets I have,WFE and FGE along with BRE reefers were intermixed quite evenly,mostly loads of apples,pears and cherries.I'll be modeling several types of reefers as there are many listed on the train sheets.So far I have found FGCX cars ranging from 11193 to 11925,FGEX 162,166,and 371,FGEX 1056,1380,and 10053(all listed as GST code R3,a 50ft mechanical).Many 38000,39000,56000-59000 series R2 40ft reefers,FHIX 911,913,40000 series,and 41000 series R2 40ft reefers.Also found FGE reefer trailers 232551 and 512003. I also have an Athearn set of 40ft trailers decorated for FGE,number FT 291892. The primary industry that I'm using this equipment for(along with WFE,and BRE reefers,and GN reefer trailers)is the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers warehouse which was at Kalispell,Mont.Cherries were shipped in July in reefers(5 to 10 loads a day)and trailers(several loads a day on TOFC).I have been researching the branch and hope to begin work on a sectional layout(using David Barrows dominos) soon,starting with Kalispell yard,which the cherry warehouse will be the centerpiece.Thank you for your help in this project.

Bill

-- Bill Burge (bill_b_52402@yahoo.com), October 28, 2000.

Bill, give us a few more details on your operation and we'll be able to help you out. What modeling era are you looking at? What kind of cars are you planning to run (mechanical, composite or wood)? Yes, GN/WFE and FGE cars often ran in different parts of the country so it's okay to run FGE cars in a western setting and vica versa. We can check the accuracy of the car when you tell us the era, etc. JG

-- John Golden (Golden1014@yahoo.com), October 28, 2000.