Johnstown America Corp has changed its name to Freight Car America, or FCA for short. Here is a posting from a local to that area railfan who filled us in… http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown/message/530 Dave Williams
After reading the post, I did a search and came up with this link to some info on the matter… http://www.progressiverailroading.com/freightnews/article.asp?id=6023 Dave Williams
Here is a link to the Johnstown America site, to see the scope of its operations. http://www.johnstownamerica.com/index.html Dave Williams
Dave, that info was on the TRAINS news wire…I was surprised to see they did that.
That’s funny, the Johnstown America plant in Danville used to be Freight Car, I wonder if the company found that name more recognizable.
…Just looked over their web site and from reading of what they do and build now it seems they are rather successful. Hopefully that business will continue to build and regain some of the lost employment of former Steel operations in that valley.
Apparently so…I like the old name myself, being that I have an interest in that area and always had family around there…but I guess they figured that the Johnstown America Name did not have anything in the title that gave recognition to what it does…even though it has been building railcars for a Century, I guess it wanted even more recognition. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
I haven’t checked in on there in awhile… I have so many Railroad sites that I belong to, that it takes an hour or more a day once I log on to go through and get up to date. before I even start posting or responding to things I read on them…the railfan who posted the Johnstown America news to me lives in the same town as the plant and just came across the info today, it gets lost in the shuffle sometimes…Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
…Yes, I just happened to check the news-wire a day or so ago and bingo, there it was. I don’t check that regularly. I just lucked on to it.
…I must get to see many of the cars from {now FCA}, here in Muncie on the Frankfort line of the NS. I commented before they set out strings of mostly covered hopper cars on a siding in west Muncie evey few days…{??}, and then they are moved out…{to where ?}…But what I’m really saying, there are lots of the flat sided aluminum cars among them…which are ones I believe built by now, FCA.
They are in the process of building cars for Amtrak right now, express cars I believe, some have already been sighted by railfans in the Johnstown,Pa. Plant area. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
…I thought Amtrak was getting out of the business of hauling express cargo…? Or do you mean regular express cars that accomplany each train…
I believe they are the regular express cars that accompany each train…I am trying to do a web search now, to find out specifics…Dave Williams
I see that they finally have the boxcar page up. I seems like for a year it said “Coming Soon”. I looks like TTX must have an XJH52. Speaking of which, I guess TTX will probably keep the J designation for the company. Trinity industries is still R, even though Thrall no longer exists (bought out by Trinity). They probably keep the same designation to avoid confussion.
Okay…I got the info…my mind is tired… couldn’t remember the Amtrak info properly…too long in front of the screen today…they are building 80 aluminum autoracks for Amtrak for their Autotrain…15 have been built so far in Johnstown, and a batch have been shoved way up past Conemaugh out of plain view on the siding…Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
Dave, Do you Pictures of Amtrak New autoracks cars?[?]
Ran a quick check of FCA’s boxcar vs Greenbrier’s and Trinity’s. The FCA 50’ boxcar has 8 more cubic feet capacity than the next largest (Greenbrier), 500 more pounds of load limit than Trinity, and a door width of 12’ compared to 10’ for both Greenbrier and Trinity.
For posterity, the actual numbers:
Load Limit
FCA - 213,500 lbs
Trinity - 213,000
Greenbrier - 211,800
Cubic capacity
FCA - 6277 cu ft
Greenbrier - 6269
Trinity - 6235
Yea, Dave…I had read an article someplace that Amtrak did place an order to replace their aged auto carriers…and was surprised they put in an order for that many. Wondering how they afforded doing so with such tight budgets…Glad Johnstown got to build them.
I don’t have any…I haven’t been out to Johnstown in a month or two…Some local railfans have been trying to get some shots of them…cars right now are either buried in the plant,area or stored well up the main on a siding toward Staple Bend, where you’d have to hike in to get shots…Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
…Staple Bend…as in Tunnel Staple Bend…? Is there still track up in that direction or anyware near the tunnel…?