Iced A/C passenger cars

[NW Mailing List]

The Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest operator of ice activated air conditioning systems.  In the January 1953 issue of The Official Register of Passenger Train Equipment I found over 200 PRR heavyweight sleeping cars with ice ac, as well as 17 dining cars.  Large numbers of P70 coaches had ice ac.  I think the coaches which lasted in service up to the 1970's were converted to electro-mechanical ac.  No lightweight cars ever had ice ac.

When the nationwide airline strike happened summer of 1966, the railroads were faced with a sudden increase of passengers.  Not knowing what to expect the first day of the strike, B&O added some spare sleeping cars in Washington's coach yard to the Capitol Limited.  One was PRR "Octagon House" a 13 bedroom heavyweight.  When the train reached Cumberland, MD 125 miles west of Washington, the carmen there could not figure out how to ice the car. 

--Rick Morrison
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2017 9:32 AM
  Subject: Re: Iced A/C passenger cars


  According to John White's "The American Railroad Passenger Car" an ice system used 500 lbs. of ice/hour per car. 4,500 lbs. of ice were needed every 360 miles or 9 hours. The loading the 300 lb blocks of ice were labor intensive and a costly storage expense. While an ice system cost far less than a mechanical one, the day to day operation was 5 times greater than mechanical systems. By 1945 very few cars were entering service with ice systems, and existing ice cooled cares were being rapidly converted to mechanical systems.

      WJPowers




  On 5/24/2017 1:05 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

    Were there provisions/processes for servicing cars from other railroads that might travel N&W rails?  (I know that the Southern had some ice and brine A/C cars, for example)  I don't know how long an ice 'charge' would generally last in cars with such systems. 

    Thanks again,
    Brent 
    ________________________________
    Dr. J. Brent Greer

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    From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> on behalf of NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
    Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2017 10:44:35 AM
    To: NW Mailing List
    Subject: Re: Iced A/C passenger cars 

    N&W did not use the ice system for any of its own cars.


    Jim Nichols



    On Wednesday, May 24, 2017 7:08 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:




    How late did N&W have ice and/or brine A/C type passenger cars in operation?  What kind/class of cars and how many?  How long did the ice supply in such cars last before needing to be refilled?  How and where were these re-icings done?

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge, 
    Brent

    ________________________________
    Dr. J. Brent Greer

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