The Oak Park Society of Model Engineers H.O Scale Model Railroad Club.Oak Park Illinois USA. May 2011.

The Oak Park Society of Model Engineers H.O Scale Model Railroad Club. Oak Park Illinois USA. May 2011., a photo by Eddie from Chicago on Flickr.

I took this photo last year, at the Oak Park Society of Model Engineers,H.O Scale Model Railroad Club.

The former Illinois Central Railroad, was one of My favorite Chicago railroads that I had grown up with in the Windy City during the 1960's, 70's and 80's eras.

The Illinois Central like most North American railroads in the steam era. transported perishable food items like meat and fresh produce in these ice block cooled refrigerator cars. Mechanical refrigeration did not make it's debut on American railroads until at least the late 1950's or early to mid 1960's era. These cars were the industry standard for many decades, and were very labor intensive to load and maintain in daily operation. Large heavy blocks of ice, were loaded in to the top hatch compartments by hard working men using large ice tongs. This was a very dangerous job in the days before the Occupational Safety and Health Act  (O.S.H.A)  was signed in to law by U.S President Richard M. Nixon in 1970.

This model, is painted in the Illinois Central's yellow with green Roman style stencil lettering, and the I.C green diamond logo wich was used on these refrigerator cars duringthe 1940's and 50's era.