Exterior end view of Fruit Growers Express refrigerator car 35832, on display at the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento. Refrigerator cars made California fruits and vegetables available from coast to coast, transforming the state's economy. Thousands of iced refrigerator cars were built until the 1950s when mechanically cooled cars gradually replaced them. A typical steel-frame, wood-sheathed car of the 1920s and 1930s, No. 35832 (outshopped in 1924) carried perishable cargo throughout the country for nearly 40 years.
