Vertex sees tank, aggregate hopper car orders

Written by Railway Age Staff
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Vertex Railcar Corp. said it has received an order for more than 130 2,480-cubic-foot open-top aggregate hoppers with automatic bottom gates and 60-degree side slopes.

The Wilmington, N..C-based manufacturer said the sample car had its successful introduction and inspection by the end user and lessor customer representatives June 12.

Vertex did not identify the lessor but said it is one of the largest railcar leasing groups in the U.S., and is working on several other cars types with Vertex for likely delivery later this year.

“The end user of the cars is a large aggregate producer with extensive facilities located in the Southeastern part of the U.S.,” Vertex said in an announcement. “The cars represent a small portion of their railcar fleet and they anticipate working with both their lessor partner and VRC on more cars in the near future.”

“This order represents our further expansion into other segments of the rail market in North America and we continue to broaden our portfolio of car types to support a customer opportunity, no matter what kind of rail car they may need,” said Vertex CEO Donald Croteau.

Also, Vertex said it received an order, and follow-on letter of intent, for as many as 350 coiled and insulated DOT117 tank cars, of various sizes, with linings for use in the crude oil/chemical markets.

The customer is U.S.-based lessor Trinity Chemical.

The initial quantity of 50 cars will be delivered from the plant in Wilmington by the end of January 2018 and the remaining quantity will be delivered within two years from that date.

Croteau said the Trinity order is the second for tanks for the builder in the past two months. The first order, for 100 DOT117 ethanol cars, will be built and delivered in November and December.

Financial details of the orders were not disclosed.

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