VALLEY CITRUS PACKERS
HO Structure Kit
933-2926
Thanks for purchasing this Cornerstone
Series®kit. Please take a few minutes to read
these instructions and study the drawings
before starting. All parts are styrene plastic,
so use compatible glue and paint to finish
your model.
Whether it’s a glass of orange juice and a
grapefruit half for breakfast or ice-cold
lemonade on a hot summer afternoon, citrus
fruits are among our favorite foods. Once
considered a rare treat, the growth of the cit-
rus industry was fueled by the development
of railroads.
Citrus fruits are believed to be native to
Asia’s subtropical and tropical regions, espe-
cially the Malay Archipelago. Ancient sailors
prized them for their ability to prevent
scurvy (a disease caused by lack of vitamin
C) on long voyages along the spice routes.
As a result, citrus fruits gradually spread into
China and across Europe. On his second trip
to the Americas in 1493, Christopher
Columbus brought citrus seeds to the first
settlements. Early Spanish explorers intro-
duced citrus to Florida around 1565.
California’s citrus came by way of the
Spanish padres who brought orange and
lemon seeds from Mexico as they moved
north establishing their mission system. The
first California orange grove was planted at
Mission San Gabriel about 1804. After
Spain’s cession of Florida to the United
States in 1821, a commercial citrus industry
began to grow there as well. The first com-
mercial grapefruit grove was planted near
Tampa in 1823. These small early groves
were situated along rivers, the only means of
shipping at the time.
California’s citrus industry took off during
the Gold Rush of 1849. Hunter and trapper
William Wolfskill planted California’s first
commercial grove in 1841 in what is now
downtown Los Angeles. During the lucrative
Gold Rush years he sold his oranges to min-
ers for $1.00 apiece.
In 1873 the U.S. Department of Agriculture
sent a pair of navel orange trees to a farmer
in Riverside as an experiment; ideal soil and
weather conditions produced excellent fruit.
As word of the success spread, California’s
second Gold Rush began with the develop-
ment of large-scale citrus ranches. In 1877,
when railroads reached the area, Wolfskill’s
son Joseph tried shipping a carload of
oranges to St. Louis via the Southern Pacific
and Union Pacific. The trip took a month
and required numerous stops for ice, but
more than half the fruit survived.
Within a few years, the successful develop-
ment of refrigerated cars and a network of
icing stations made it possible to ship perish-
ables long distances by train. However, since
citrus was only available in season, first-crop
fruits would fetch high prices in eastern mar-
kets. Time was literally money and to speed
the cargo on its way, solid trains of reefers
were rushed eastward, often with priority
over flagship passenger trains! This also
required an efficient way to get fruit from
groves to the railroads for loading, and the
packinghouse was born.
When a crop was ready for harvest, growing
regions became beehives of activity. The
work began in the groves where the fruit was
picked by hand and loaded in tough wooden
“orchard boxes.” Filled boxes were stacked
between the rows of trees where they could
easily be loaded aboard wagons (and later on
flatbed trucks) for the trip to town and the
local packinghouse.
On arrival, workers exchanged filled boxes
for empties, which were trucked back to the
groves to prevent delays. Loaded boxes were
dumped at the start of the production line
where the fruit was then washed, sorted by
size and graded. Fruit that didn’t meet cer-
tain standards was shipped off to make juice
or simply dumped. As the final step, the fruit
was packed in shipping crates featuring bril-
liantly colored paper labels (crates and labels
were used until World War II when they
were replaced by preprinted cardboard
boxes; today, original citrus labels are prized
collectibles) identifying the grower and the
grade of the fruit. A single packinghouse
would usually ship several grades of fruit,
each under a different brand name. Workers
loaded the shipping crates in reefers spotted
alongside the packinghouse.
Loaded cars were picked up quickly by local
trains and moved to the nearest yard. If
needed, the ice would be topped off, and the
cars moved out on the next available train.
While cars moved in solid trains of reefers,
many were handled as blocks of cars on fast
freights, where they were coupled right
behind the engine to make them easy to
switch out upon arrival at the next division
point or icing station.
The years following World War II brought
significant changes in the citrus industry.
Post-war housing developments began to
encroach on orchards forcing growers and
packinghouses out of business. At the same
time, the development of frozen concentrat-
ed citrus juices led to more demand.
Growers responded by planting new groves
in rural areas and marketing the new frozen
and hot pack juices, which required different
processing operations.
Today, a handful of early packinghouses are
still standing, but some are still processing
citrus fruit.
ON YOUR LAYOUT
This “wooden” structure is patterned after a
prototype built in Santa Anna, California,
around 1900, which was probably destroyed
in the 1960s. Like the prototype, the model
features a mission-style facade common to
structures built in citrus growing states —
since the work was nearly identical, your fin-
ished model can handle other fruits or veg-
etables in almost any growing area.
As built, these small facilities often had two
or more parallel spur tracks. Cars on the far
track were loaded using a metal bridge plate
placed in the open doorways between the
first and second string. During the picking
season, colorful wood and later steel reefers
would be spotted here for loading. First-crop
fruits might also be loaded aboard express
reefers such as Walthers R50b (#932-5880
series), GACX 50’ wood cars (#932-5470 or
5478 series), or REA 50’ Riveted Steel cars
(#932-6240 series) for priority shipment on
fast passenger trains. And since certain fruits
mature in summer and others in winter, your
citrus packinghouse could keep crews busy
year ’round.
A typical town would have several packing-
houses, each serving a different co-op or
processing company. Other trackside busi-
nesses might include an Icehouse and
Platform (#933-3049) to re-ice loaded or
empty cars. A local oil dealer like Interstate
Fuel & Oil #933-3006) would be busy han-
dling tank car loads of gasoline to keep the
trucks rolling, along with smudge oil, burned
by growers in smudge pots to keep citrus
trees from freezing during frosts. Many
towns also had a box factory that received
carloads of lumber by rail, and made both
orchard boxes and shipping crates.
To complete your scene, add Stake Flatbed
Trucks (433-1618), stacks of wooden
orchard boxes, groves of Orange Trees
(#433-1909) and dockworkers. For addition-
al figures, vehicles and other accessories, see
your dealer, check out the latest Walthers
HO Scale Model Railroad Reference Book
or visit waltherscornerstone.com for
more ideas.
© 2012 Wm. K. Walthers, Inc., Milwaukee, WI 53218 waltherscornerstone.com I-933-2926
