Refrigerated Railroad Cars

Gustavus Swift, a native of Massachusetts, moved to Chicago, where he bought and sold cattle. After assessing refrigerated railroad cars and the new ice-making technology, Swift concluded that it should be possible to transport dressed beef anywhere by combining the two, and that such an enterprise could be quite lucrative. Swift began sending dressed meat to Boston via refrigerated railroad cars. In 1878 Gustavus Swift ordered ten refrigerated railroad cars and established an integrated system for operating and re-icing them. This made the long-distance shipping of dressed meat practical, efficient, and profitable. As soon as Swift’s meat deliveries began to generate big profits, other meatpackers jumped on board—both literally and figuratively.