The Fruit Growers News - September 2001


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Choo-choo: Apple Express

Washington Fruit Express to
move apples via Amtrak

By Karen Gentry Associate Editor

Apples by rail are making a comeback. The new Washington Fruit Express is currently moving Washington apples and pears from Wenatchee to the East Coast via refrigerated rail cars connected to an Amtrak passenger train. By the 2002 shipping season the Washington State Department of Transportation Rail Service will lease 50 refrigerated rail cars designed specifically for moving fruit that will hold the equivalent of three trucks. The cars will be leased to ExpressTrak, a Detroit-based company with an exclusive contract with Amtrak for moving perishables, according to Stephen Anderson, rail services manager for the Washington State Department of Rail Service. The high-speed cars will be 78 ft. long with a 72 ft. interior and standard trucking refrigeration unit, Anderson said. The state legislature approved $500,000 for the Washington Fruit Express a year ago. After a successful test run in 2000, the state transportation department is currently using some of ExpressTrak’s 57 ft. cars to move apples from Wenatchee to Washington D.C. and Boston and other stops in the Northeast. The first run took place the week of Aug. 27. ExpressTrak found a way to move fruit by marrying the economics of rail with the scheduled dependability of a passenger train. The company has already been moving citrus out of California to the Midwest and East Coast via Amtrak trains. The rail cars are four times more fuel efficient than trucks.