Refrigerator Train

a train designed to ship perishable food products. A refrigerator train includes 18 or 20 freight cars, with a capacity of 42 tons apiece, a car housing the cooling equipment, a car housing a diesel-electric power plant, and a car for the workers accompanying the train. Sections and self-contained cars, usually part of freight trains, are also used. From the car with the cooling equipment, brine, cooled in the evaporators of the refrigeration plants, is pumped at high pressure along the main pipeline to the batteries of the freight cars. The desired temperature is maintained in the freight cars by control instruments. The cars are thermally insulated. The equipment of a refrigerator train makes it possible to maintain a designated temperature between – 10° and + 14°C when the outside temperature is between +40° and – 45°C. Vegetables and fruits are cooled and shipped at a temperature of 4°-6°C, chilled cargoes are shipped at 0°-6°C, frozen perishables, such as meat, fish, and butter, are shipped at temperatures between – 6° and – 12°C, quick-frozen products are shipped at temperatures not higher than – 12°C, and bananas are shipped at 11°-13°C. To ensure a constant temperature under specific conditions, loads are shipped with heating or cooling systems or (in the transitional period) with alternate operation of heating and cooling systems.