Rescar Companies (Rescar) has appointed railcar repair industry veteran J. Andrew (Andy) Schaffer as President-Plant Division. Schaffer will oversee operations for Rescar’s six full-service plants at Channelview, Longview and Orange, Tex.; Savanna, Ill.; Dubois, Pa.; and Gordon, Ga.
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. has entered the growing freight rail market in Turkey with a majority stake in railcar manufacturer Rayvag Vagon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Rayvag). Greenbrier believes there are growing opportunities for private operators to access freight rail in Turkey, as the country “offers a key rail transportation connection between Asia and Europe,” and “transcontinental rail shipments through Turkey create a need for European rail standards, favoring Greenbrier’s leadership in design and manufacturing.”
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have each passed versions of a U.S. Department of Transportation 2019 appropriations bill that would impose a one-year ban on new procurements of transit railcars or buses from companies owned or subsidized by the Chinese government (namely, CRRC, China Railway Rolling Stock Corp.), if the procurement uses any Federal Transit Administration formula or bus funding, according to an Aug. 1 Eno Center for Transportation report written by Jeff Davis, Senior Fellow and Editor of Eno Transportation Weekly.
Mostly solid quarterly financial results and a spate of new orders for freight car builders show a market that’s stable and growing.
The Andersons Inc. on Aug. 1 signed a $2.2 million agreement to purchase FreightCar America Inc.’s Danville Railcar Facility, Danville, Ill. The company intends to turn the now-shuttered freight car manufacturing plant into a full-service freight and tank railcar repair shop.
Carboline Company, a St. Louis-based coatings manufacturer, has acquired Strathmore Products, including Strathmore’s American Coatings product line.
Freight car deliveries will reach nearly 60,000 units by 2022, driven by strength in boxcars, covered hoppers, mill gondolas, intermodal equipment, and tank cars, according to the most recent forecast issued by Economic Planning Associates.
If you drive a Nissan or Infiniti, whether it’s a Versa sub-compact, Sentra econobox, midsize Altima, upscale Maxima, massive Armada, luxury QX60, or any one of dozens of other models, including an iconic sports car like the 370Z or the $100K GT-R supercar, chances are most of its journey to the dealership occurred in a Union Pacific motor vehicle train.
Avon, Ohio-based Advanced Polymer Coatings, Inc. (APC), a manufacturer of high-performance linings for industrial applications, has entered into an exclusive North American distribution agreement with Houston, Tex.-based Strathmore Products for APC-engineered linings for the rail industry. The new agreement, termed “Partners in Performance,” is “a significant opportunity to combine the strengths of two companies to bring new custom linings solutions to the rail industry,” APC and Strathmore said.
A move by a major western Class I railroad to restrict certain tank cars could pinch available capacity as shippers ramp up crude oil volumes.
