Rural Steam-era Produce Loading Depot?

I guess the ubiquitous team-track, where the yard trackage spacing was wider to accomodate horse-drawn wagons (the "team") and some well-placed straw to catch any loose fruit would be a simple set-up. Pic link:  http://valleypbs.org/valleysgo...3/09/pop_box_car.jpg

If you can find a copy of Pacific Fruit Express, a tome by Anthony W. Thompson, Robert J. Church, and Bruce H. Jones.  In particular, the last third of the book has gobs of photos of produce houses, loading docks and yards, etc. and drawings and diagrams, from the pre-WWI era on.  Most are specific to Union Pacific and PFE, but I think produce depots were produce depots regardless of railroad.  

The Ontario, California area was in the midst of citrus groves at one time.  Ontario and Upland had blocks long processing and shipping facilities. mostly looking like huge two and three story freight transfer warehouses with cooling equipment all over the outside.

Google for hundreds of pictures and the story behind it all.

Also moved a lot of grapes and olives out of the area, but not much of that still stands.

Thanks for the info, guys.

I found this article online about Pacific Fruit Express icing operations:

http://modelingthesp.com/Pacif.../PFE_Operations.html

It seems that the most likely scenario would be that there would be a local siding with a loading platform.  A few pre-iced reefers would be ordered and once they arrived, local farmers could bring their crated produce to be loaded. Once loaded, the reefers would be picked up by a local freight and taken to market.

S

Team tracks often had freight platforms made of timber:

I scratchbuilt this one out of balsa, modeling it after a picture in Dennis Brennan's great scenery book, although (unbeknownst to me at the time) he sells it as a craftsman's kit as well. Check out his website.

 Moved from Ontario after 37 1/2 years back in August last year.  Arizona is a lot better.

Also found this image.

<small>Early 1950s view looking north through Highgrove toward Colton amd San Bernardino. The Santa Fe depot is on the left and the track to the right of the depot is the San Jacinto branch. The double-tracked Third District main line curves to the left behind the depot. The street crossing the tracks is Center St. Just beyond Center St. on the right is an unnamed fruit packing house.
(John Signor collection)</small>

If you can locate the How To article by Frank Ellison in Toy Trains magazine from the early 50s "Hap Hazard Packing Company." This is exactly what you're looking for.

There have been more than one kit offered for fruit and veggie packing houses and produce shippers, from Maine potatos to partially open but covered docks.  These

appear sporadically in internet auctions.  I did an internet search looking for such

in Colorado, and found a prototype on the west slope of the Rockies, and where I

don't think of produce as grown in marketable quantities.  Northern California:  I would

have thought had many.  I think that HO kit maker from out of the past that made

metal structures that needed soldering did one, which could be copied.  Yuo might

surf HO structures on the Bay for ideas.

Check out in HO structures on the Bay, currently offered, in quantity, Campbell kit

#435, "Produce Warehouse", which to me doesn't meet my imagination's image, but

also #379, which does meet my image of an open loading facility, a kit for a

"Produce Shed".  I would include this last in my list of references if I was building one.

Unfortunately, the tiny box photos shown are not clear but maybe can be enlarged.

Thanks AZRoads-

Your scratchbuild comes very close to this other shot I found of Oak Glen in the 30s:

Where can I find this "memory"?

Can't find any in the resource list.