A major shipper in Wisconsin Rapids, and the source of some billboard
lettering on Western Refrigerator Lines cars.
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Sampson Canning HO reefer Sampson Canning HO reefer -
Accurail
has produced a special run of WRX 11490 reefers lettered for
Sampson Canning Company. One source for these cars is Mullet River
& Southern Railway, 414 E. Mill St. Dept B Plymouth, WI 53073,
920-893-9552, kcalvin@wi.rr.com
Industry List - This list of
industries located on the Green Bay Route comes from the 1943 and 1953
editions of the Official Directory of Industries published by
the railroad. |
With the coming of prohibition in 1920, the Grand Rapids Brewing Company had
to close and the company went into bankruptcy. In 1922 Henry Sampson Sr. bought
the building at 1251 First Street North (the corner of First and Oliver Streets)
on the east side of Wisconsin Rapids He operated a canning company with his son Henry Sampson
Jr. in the building. Originally named the Grand Rapids Canning Company, it was later changed to
the Sampson Canning Company. The canning company was served by a spur off the Green Bay
& Western RR, just west of the roundhouse.
In 1929 GB&W subsidiary Western Refrigerator Lines added a fleet of wood
sided refrigerator cars to their roster. Fifty of the WRX 11000-11999 reefers
carried "Sampson Canning Company" billboard lettering.
The billboard era ended in July 1934 when the Interstate Commerce Commission
ruled that cars could no longer be painted with the lessee's name any larger
than 12 inches. After January 1937 billboard reefers would no longer be accepted
for interchange between railroads. Apparently some of the WRX "Sampson
Canning Company" cars kept their billboard lettering beyond that date, in
violation of the ICC ruling.
The building still
stands in Wisconsin Rapids. I am unsure of when the company went out
of business.
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