AMMONIA REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS

Whether or not this particular teamster was a member of The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union which was formed in 1903, there is no way to know. However there is one thing for certain - hauling and delivering freight by horse-drawn wagon was grueling work.

It is interesting to speculate what might have been in the wooden crates on the wagon. One clue to the contents might be the boxcar in the background, which is an early refrigerated car.

The boxcar bears the letters "A.R.T. Co." on its doors and is emblazoned with a red-and-white striped shield with a garland of stars across a blue field at the top. (You can't tell the colors in this old black-and-white photo, nor can you see the stars, but trust me. Those are the colors, and the stars are there). "A.R.T. Co." stands for The American Refrigerator Transit Company.

From 1900–1970, the American Refrigerator Transit Company was a St. Louis, Missouri-based private refrigerator car line first established in 1881 by the Missouri Pacific and Wabash railroads. It is now a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation.

So perhaps there are perishable items in the crates. Then again, the driver might have just pulled up in front of a random car, and the photographer snapped his picture.

Paint me, please, paint me!!! Believe that this was the prototype for the MDC HO guage 36 ft Coors Refrigerator Car, when I got rid of most of my HO stuff, couldn't part with the MDC one, it sits next to my Olde Frothingslosh Refrigerator Car(The pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom) Was the slogan!