Norfolk Fruit Growers and E. P. Muntz

Many state-of-the-art cold storage facilities were constructed on railway sidings in Ontario during the 1930s. At Simcoe, Ontario, the Norfolk Fruit Growers Association built such a 94 x 150 foot reinforced concrete cold storage and pre-cooling plant in 1930. Various sections of the plant were used for grading, packing, pre-cooling and storage. There was a covered loading platform along a new railway siding. A doubling of capacity and a cider-making addition soon followed. Apples were shipped to Northern Ontario, Quebec, the Prairie Provinces and Great Britain. You can read in detail about fruit packing and railway switching operations at Simcoe circa 1954 in Steam Echoes of Hamilton.

Among other features, something about the Simcoe plant intrigues me: it was built by E. P. Muntz. This gentleman was a pioneer in the field of prestressed concrete design and construction. In addition to the Queen Elizabeth Way bridge in Hamilton, the Dominion Coal silos in Toronto and many other noteworthy structures, he was responsible for the modern locomotive coaling plants on the Canadian National Railways' (CNR) Northern Ontario District. Many of these structures still stand, albeit in derelict condition, including a 150-ton example at Washago.