The train, loaded with the equivalent of 200 truck loads of onions

The train, loaded with the equivalent of 200 truck loads of onions, apples and broccoli packed into cars set with ideal temperatures for each type of food, takes off from Walulla. The train only has to stop to change crews and fuel up--there is no sitting around in railyards waiting for a right train, no jostling of the produce as cars are hitched and unhitched.

Five days later, it pulls into a similar refrigerated warehouse in Rotterdam, where it is then sent by trucks that bring produce north into New England and eastern Canada, and south as far as North Carolina. Railex has signed some big customers early, like grocers Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ), the nation's biggest retailer, and Ahold (nyse: AHO - news - people ), plus distributors like Sysco (nyse: SSY - news - people ).

And the biggest benefit, according to Pollak: Having West Coast produce sitting in a refrigerated warehouse on the East Coast will allow grocery stores on the East Coast to shorten their order times, increase their inventory turns and reduce inventory costs. Instead of ordering Washington apples for delivery in a week from Washington, customers will be able to order them from Rotterdam, N.Y., for delivery the next day.

"For an East Coast customer to be able to have whatever he wants from the West Coast in 24 hours--you can't beat it," Pollak says. "We're changing the industry here."