Railroad icing equipment 1952

After all of the vintage icing equipment information, here is something a little more current.  Below is a photo of a top icing equipment machine for top icing refrigerator cars.  It takes in blocks of ice, crushes them, then directs a high velocity jet of crushed ice into the car until a thick blanket encloses the tiers of crates or boxes in the car.

This was a quick procedure.

Below is a larger dock-type car icer.  These were self-propelled machines that traveled on rails on a high type icing dock to service lines of reefer cars on either side of the dock.  It was designed to do both bunker-icing and bunker-salting in one operation.  It could also be equipped with a crusher slinger to do to- icing independently of bunker-icing.

Movements of the machine and starting and stopping of the dock conveyor were under the control of one operator stationed on the machine.

Side view diagram

End view diagram.

I finished the SS Ltd truck kit.  As usual the kit had lousy instructions drafted in 1975.  As stated by company owner John Coots, he provided an isometric diagram rather than "wordy instructions" i.e. - no instructions.  These kits were always a challenge but they have great white metal castings.  This kit was also missing some parts, and ironically had a few extra duplicate parts.

As usual, I built it as a weathered and deteriorated truck.

I have decided what I will build next - a tire re-tread business to go next to my Bettern-air company on the layout.  I am in the progress of doing a design sketch.