Eagle Railcar Services, a provider of railcar repair services, has announced the purchase of the former Watco railcar repair shop in Junction City. With the addition of Junction City, Eagle Railcar Services is now comprised of eleven repair shops in Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Kansas. They employ more than 1,000 people.
In Junction City the EDC Director Mickey Fornaro-Dean noted that Watco sold their facility on Hoover Road on the north side of the city to the Texas based Eagle Railcar Services. "It's good for this community. Watco's a very good company, great relationship, but this was not the highest priority for their firm. Eagle Railcar, this is the highest priority for their firm. " Fornaro-Dean said that this a specialty for the company. "This is what they do and they are in a growth mode so they will be hiring and they're very excited to be here."
Built in 1974, the Junction City shop originally fabricated new railcars. Located on 66 acres and with over three miles of track serviced by the Union Pacific Railroad, and 109,000 square feet of covered buildings, the facility boasts several amenities, including blast and paint booths, 18 mechanical repair spots, and a cleaning rack that can clean up to 4 cars simultaneously. It is a full-service freight car repair shop, M-1003, B25, and B26 certified.
Junction City offers a full suite of Freight Car maintenance and repair services, including the maintenance, removal and reapplication of freight car exterior and interior coatings, cleaning of hazardous and non-hazardous material, removal and disposal of excess commodity, and Rule 88 B.2 inspection and repairs associated with freight cars.
The Junction City shop will also offer a range of Tank Car services, including AAR Field Manual Running/Interchange repairs, cleaning of hazardous and non-hazardous material, removal and disposal of excess commodity, valve tear-down, rebuild, and replacement, and exterior coatings. Junction City currently has a capacity of 200 cars with short and long-term storage available. This shop also offers full service mobile repairs (MRUs) on freight cars and running repairs on tank cars.
Plant Manager Eric Franco-Velez began his career at the Junction City facility in 2015 as the NACE Level III certified Coatings Department Supervisor. He has held positions of increasing responsibility, including the Wash Rack/PD Supervisor and Shop Superintendent prior to becoming the Plant Manager.
Eagle Railcar Services will be making significant improvements to their Junction City facility. Near-term expansion plans include an M-1002 certification, full-service cleaning rack, additional storage track, and enhanced coatings capabilities.