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.[1][2] Early distribution of fresh orange juice was by way of hand-delivered juice jars to nearby homes, but demand grew, especially in New York City. By 1957, the ship, S.S. Tropicana, was used and could hold up to 1.5 million US gallons (1.2×10^6 imp gal; 5,700 m3) of juice to New York for its weekly delivery.[3] 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 insulatedboxcars in one weekly round-trip from Florida to Kearny, New Jersey. By the following year, the company was operating two 60-car unit trains a week, each carrying around 1 million US gallons (0.83×10^6 imp gal; 3,800 m3) of juice. On June 7, 1971, the "Great White Juice Train," the first unit train in the food industry, commenced service over the 1,250 miles (2,010 km) route. The unit train consisted of 150 100-short-ton (89-long-ton; 91 t) insulatedboxcars, 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.[citation needed]
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, 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.[4] 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 3,000 miles (4,800 km) by rail to California. Tropicana had its own GE 70-ton switcher locomotive, No. 98, to switch cars at the New Jersey destination.[5][6]
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.[7][better source needed]
White, John W. (1986). The Great Yellow Fleet: A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars. San Marino, California: Golden West Books. ISBN0-87095-091-6.
