View source for Juice Train

{{Short description|Tropicana unit trains}}
{{Infobox rail line
| box_width        = 
| name             = Tropicana Juice Train
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| image            = Tropicana juice cars 2009.jpg
| image_width      = 250px
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| caption          = Tropicana box-cars<br/>[[Reporting mark#List of North American reporting marks|TPIX]] is under the [[logo]] of the nearest car.
| open             = 1970
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| owner            = [[CSX Corporation|CSX]]
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"'''Juice Trains'''" (or "Orange Juice Trains") are the [[unit train]]s of [[Tropicana Products|Tropicana]] fresh [[orange juice]] operated by [[Rail transport|railroads]] in the [[United States]].

==History==
[[File:CSX Juice Train.jpg|right|thumb|CSX pulling the Tropicana Juice Train across [[Manatee River]] near [[Bradenton Riverwalk]] in 2018]]
[[Tropicana Products]] was founded in 1947 in [[Bradenton, Florida]] by [[Anthony T. Rossi]], an Italian immigrant, growing from 50 employees to over 3,000 in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |accessdate=April 20, 2021 |url=https://www.tropicana.com/our-story |title=Our Story |website=Tropicana |archive-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030205858/https://www.tropicana.com/our-story |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Michael |last1=Braga |accessdate=September 4, 2024 |title=As many as 500 Tropicana jobs may be affected |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2003/12/17/as-many-as-500-tropicana-jobs-may-be-affected/28779687007/ |website=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |date=December 17, 2003}}</ref> Early distribution of fresh orange juice was by way of hand-delivered juice jars to nearby homes, but demand grew, especially in the northeastern United States. By 1957, the ship, S.S. ''Tropicana'', was used and delivered up to {{convert|1.5|e6USgal|L}} of juice to New York for its weekly delivery.<ref>{{cite web |accessdate=April 20, 2021 |title=PIECES OF THE PAST: Juice Trains Roll On |url=http://citrusindustry.net/2018/10/23/pieces-of-the-past-juice-trains-roll-on/ |date=October 23, 2018 |website=Citrus Industry Magazine |first1=Brenda Eubanks |last1=Burnette}}</ref> The ship's last voyage was in 1961 when transportation shifted to truck and rail transport.

In 1970, Tropicana orange juice was shipped in bulk via [[Thermal insulation|insulated]] [[boxcar]]s in one weekly round-trip from Florida to [[Kearny, New Jersey]].<ref name="VRE">{{cite web |title=The Juice Train |url=https://www.vre.org/blog-the-juice-train/ |website=Virginia Railway Express |access-date=October 29, 2025}}</ref> By the following year, the company was operating two 60-car [[unit train]]s a week, each carrying around {{convert|1|e6USgal|L}} of juice. On June 7, 1971, the "Great White Juice Train," the first unit train in the food industry, commenced service over the {{convert|1250|mile|km|abbr=on}} route. The unit train consisted of 150 {{convert|100|ST|LT MT|lk=on|adj=on}} [[Thermal insulation|insulated]] [[boxcar]]s, fabricated in the [[Alexandria, Virginia]] shops of [[Fruit Growers Express]]. An additional 100 cars were incorporated into the fleet, and small mechanical refrigeration units were installed to keep temperatures consistent. Tropicana saved $40 million in fuel costs during the first ten years of its operation.<ref name="VRE"/>

==Route and operations==
[[Image:TPIX_250.JPG|thumb|right|Former Tropicana [[refrigerator car|refrigerated box car]], donated to the [[Florida Railroad Museum|Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum]] in [[Parrish, Florida]].]]
Starting out on [[Seaboard Coast Line Railroad]] (SCL) south of [[Tampa, Florida]], the original used former [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad]] (SAL) and [[Atlantic Coast Line Railroad]] (ACL) tracks. It crossed over to the [[Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac]] (RF&P) in [[Richmond, Virginia]] at pier 5 of the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]] Bridge. At [[Potomac Yard]], in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], [[Penn Central|Penn Central Transportation]] (PC) took over and operated under the [[Railway electrification system|overhead wire]] with electric [[locomotives]] most of the way to [[Kearny, New Jersey]].  

There have been more than a few changes over the years. Tropicana became the world's leading producer of branded fruit juices. In 1976, [[Conrail]] (CR) took over from Penn Central, with electrification discontinued in 1981. SCL became part of [[CSX Corporation]] (CSX) in 1980 and merged into [[Seaboard System Railroad]] (SBD) and then [[CSX Transportation]], which also included RF&P by 1991. In 1997, a second Juice Train began serving [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]]. When CSX acquired part of Conrail in 1999, an all-CSX train began traveling to a new larger facility in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]] on the [[National Docks Secondary]].

[[Rolling stock]] also changed, including orange, white, and blue cars, some with innovative [[refrigeration]]. Designated "TPIX" they are custom-built to Tropicana's specification.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vTUsAQAAIAAJ&q=tpix |title=Proceedings of Conference on Track/Train Dynamics Interaction: December 15 & 16, 1971 |place=Chicago Palmer House |volume=1 |year=1972 |publisher=Association of American Railroads}}</ref> The [[Florida East Coast Railway]] (FEC) carries Tropicana cars from a second processing facility in [[Fort Pierce, Florida]]. A reliable and economically viable transport mode, the Juice Trains are also a powerful mode of advertising, running ten trips each week to Jersey City and Cincinnati. Additional shipments with specially-equipped refrigerated cars currently travel {{convert|3000|mi|km}} by rail to [[California]]. Tropicana had its own [[GE 70-ton switcher]] locomotive, No. 98, to switch cars at the New Jersey destination.<ref>{{cite web |accessdate=April 7, 2021 |title=Williams #23503 GE 70-Ton Switcher w/True Blast Plus Tropicana #98 |url=https://www.trainworld.com/manufacturers/williams/williams-diesel-engines/70-ton-ge/williams-23503-ge-70-ton-switcher-w-true-blast-plus-tropicana-98/ |website=Trainworld}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |accessdate=April 7, 2021 |title=Pictures of TROPICANA 98 |url=http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/Locopicture.aspx?id=51967 |website=RR Pictures Archives}}</ref>

In 2017, CSX abolished separate Juice Trains between Philadelphia and Florida. Tropicana products are carried on other CSX trains to and from Florida. A separate train for Tropicana operates over the short distance north of Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,4265226 |title=NB Tropicana train combined with inter-modal |date=April 5, 2017 |website=Trainorders.com |access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref>{{Better source|date=May 2018}}

===Routes list===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Route list<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transact3pl.com/Tropicana.pdf |title=Tropicana Backhaul Rail Network |publisher=Tropicana Backhaul Services |website=Transact Intermediaries, Inc |access-date=August 8, 2024}}</ref>
!Route number 
!To
!From
|-
|<nowiki>#</nowiki>1
|[[Jersey City, New Jersey]]
|rowspan="3"|[[Bradenton, Florida]]
|-
|<nowiki>#</nowiki>2
|[[Cincinnati, Ohio]]
|-
|<nowiki>#</nowiki>3
|[[City of Industry, California]]
|}

== See also ==
* [[Agriculture in Florida]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{cite book |author=White, John W. |year=1986 |title=The Great Yellow Fleet: A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars |publisher=Golden West Books |location=San Marino, California |isbn=0-87095-091-6}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tropicana.com/ Tropicana's Official Web Site]
*[http://www.csx.com CSX Corporation Official Web Site]
*[http://www.fecrwy.com Florida East Coast Railway Official Web Site]

{{Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States}}

[[Category:Refrigerator car lines of the United States]]
[[Category:Railway services introduced in 1947]]
[[Category:CSX Transportation]]
[[Category:Tropicana Brands Group]]
[[Category:Orange production]]
[[Category:Citrus industry in Florida]]