S&K Steel Products Sold to Irwin Car and Equipment (UPDATED 1/30)

Irwin Car and Equipment is boosting its portfolio with the acquisition of S&K Steel Products, a Madison Heights, Mich.-based manufacturer of rail accessories and hardware.

Established in 1992, S&K Steel Products offers Splice Bars, Crane Rail Bars, Crane Stops, Rail Clips, Clamps and Fillers, Tight Fit Bars, Transition Rails, and Freight Car Stops product lines. It will remain in Madison Heights, according to RR Mergers & Acquisitions, which advised S&K Steel Products on the Jan. 1, 2024, sale.

“S&K Steel Products is a natural addition to Irwin’s core business of engineering and manufacturing heavy-duty material handling solutions for a wide range of markets and industries,” Irwin, Pa.-based Irwin Car and Equipment reported Jan. 30.

The company is now operating as a part of Irwin Car and Equipment’s Industrial Technologies Group, which includes Irwin Car, Atlas Car Products and Phillips Group. This group designs and manufactures heavy-duty rail-based material handling equipment, including transfer cars, automated transfer cars (ATCs), gantry crane bogie assemblies, overhead crane wheels and wheel assemblies, sheave wheels, drive and idler truck assemblies for Class Ill railroads, and turntables, as well as having an in-house traction motor repair shop. Phillips Group also provides non-rail-based equipment such as AGV’s, steerable transporters and trailers, and scrap buckets. 

Tami Ochoa will continue her role as S&K Steel Products General Manager; David Fitzpatrick, Senior Vice President of Irwin Car and Equipment, will support the sales and marketing efforts for S&K Steel Products, as well as sales to the industrial markets served by Irwin Car and Equipment; Bill Springer, Director of Railroad Products for Irwin Car and Equipment, will handle the Class Ill railroads and captive service mill applications; and Frank Weisbecker of Irwin Car and Equipment’s UKM Transit Group will handle sales to the transit market.

Among the other companies Irwin Car and Equipment operates are:

• Gray Manufacturing Industries (Hornell, N.Y.), which provides technical consulting, sourcing, and reverse engineering of components that are obsolete or no longer supported by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and delivers new and overhauled components to transit authorities and OEMs. Irwin Car and Equipment acquired the company in early 2023.
• UKM Transit Products (Harleysville, Pa.), which manufactures highly engineered passenger railcar components.
• VECOM USA (Tampa, Fla.), which supplies train to wayside one-way and two-way communications systems, as well as audible warning systems.
• Traction Motor Services (Irwin, Pa.), which specializes in the electro-mechanical repairing, rebuilding, rewinding, and remanufacturing of motors, combos, and generators for the railroad, transit, industrial, and mining industries.

In a related development, RR Mergers & Acquisitions on Dec. 9 reported that passenger railcar repair and inspection provider RailPlan International sold its Maintenance Services Group to Milman Industries, Inc.