Western Fruit Express

Western Fruit Express (WFE) was a railroad refrigerator car leasing company formed by the Fruit Growers Express and the Great Northern Railway on July 18, 1923 in order to compete with the Pacific Fruit Express and Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch in the Western United States. The arrangement added 3,000 cars to the FGE's existing equipment pool. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF)[1], the Great Northern's successor until 2005, when it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Belt System, after BNSF's share was bought out.[2]

WFE car detail, taken in 2009.

The success of the WFE led to the creation of the Burlington Refrigerator Express (BREX) in May 1926.

Western Fruit Express Roster, 1930–1970:

  1930   1940   1950   1960   1970  
  7,177   7,036   5,265   5,702   5,893  

Source: The Great Yellow Fleet, p. 17.

Notes
  1. BNSF Railway, Class I Railroad Annual Report To The Surface Transportation Board For the Year Ending December 31, 2007
  2. Pacific Belt System
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References
  • White, John H. (1986). The Great Yellow Fleet. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. ISBN 0-87095-091-6.
  • White, John H. Jr. (1993). The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-4404-5. OCLC 26130632.


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