On June 24, 1886, the first ever “fast fruit” train departed Sacramento, California bound for the east coast of the United States. The chartered fruit-shipping companies of W.R. Strong & Company and Edwin T. Earl, both members of the California Fruit-Growers Association, arranged a Southern Pacific locomotive to carry fruit east using 15 cars at a rate of $300 per car, a new low rate granted to special fruit trains. The 15 cars contained a total of 300,000 pounds of freight, and except for 30,000 pounds of potatoes, it was entirely green fruit. The fruit consisted mainly of apples, pears, peaches, plums, and apricots. This fast fruit train was an effort to create a taste and demand for California fruit in the east, especially in New York. A total of 29 fruit trains ran that season. Unfortunately, the special fruit train system proved a failure. It was a large undertaking to secure 150 tons of fruit and not have some fruit spoil in preparation or by the time it reached markets on the e...