Rapido, HO Scale, Mechanical Reefer, ATSF

In 1955 the Santa Fe Railroad introduced the RR-56 class of mechanical reefers. Based on the previous RR-54 class of Refrigerated Boxcars, the RR-56 Class incorporated lessons learned from the RR-54 cars to build and operate its first large fleet of mechanical reefers.

The RR-56 were classed as “All Purpose” MTC (Mechanical Temperature Control) cars by the Santa Fe Railroad. The fleet numbered 200 cars in total: numbers 2000 – 2188; and 2500 – 2510. Delivered with SFRD reporting marks, these were changed in 1963 to SFRP but retained their same car numbers.

In 1958, Santa Fe built the RR-60 & RR-61 Class of Reefers. These were additional cars built to the same basic standards and dimensions as the RR-56 class but carried different insulation and were identified as Super Insulated All Purpose Mechanical Temperature Controlled cars.