Nippon Sharyo to close US plant

https://www.railjournal.com/index.php/n ... hannel=000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This seems to be a drastic step after the Crush Test failure.

From the article

No production has taken place at Rochelle since October 2017, although staff has remained on the payroll. The 230,000m2 site had the capacity to assemble 120 double-deck coaches a year but has built just 220 vehicles during its six-year existence.

You can't stay in business if you can't qualify for the minimum buff test.

The South Shore and MARC single level cars have held up well and made it past 30 years, though. I could see CRRC buying Rochelle (as it has the capability for stainless steel fabrication). (ACF and Mr. Icahn, are you listening, this could be your chance to reenter the passenger equipment market with a full "made in USA" assembly plant?)

METRA not coming through with promised fleet purchases was probably the last nail in the coffin, as NS would have been the favorite for new gallery cars.

Well, that leaves the SMART/UPX DMUs pretty high-and-dry too

My money would be on CRRC, however I wouldn't be surprised to see this facility sold to another Japanese firm. They may not want to give CRRC an opening to take anymore than they already have. Keeping it Japanese also leaves open the possibility for "informal" means of consideration later on.

ACF doesn't have a working design or even a prototype.

I'm a little surprised that NS is giving up as opposed to holding out for new orders. Could be related to business conditions back home and the desire to cash out on this facility.

Looks like it's a simple business decision:

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201808080007.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Money dumped in, nothing coming back.

Anyone back in Japan reading between the lines will read, "Its test trains for the high-speed service failed to meet standards for strength in summer 2015.", and shake their heads.

This project failed due to bad engineering plain and simple. NS knows it and they were given plenty of time to rectify the problem. The rest of the article is just filler.

https://m.railjournal.com/index.php/nor ... plant.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NIPPON Sharyo announced on July 24 that its US subsidiary will close its rolling stock assembly plant in Rochelle, Illinois, at the end of this month due to a lack of orders...

No production has taken place at Rochelle since October 2017, although staff have remained on the payroll. The 230,000m2 site had capacity to assemble 120 double-deck coaches a year, but has built just 220 vehicles during its six-year existence.

More info on it's Manufacturer subforum here. Follow the thread

The trade wars can’t help, and I have a feeling N-S has some corporate/finance issues that led to them exiting the North American market too.

Also, Icahn would sooner sell out to CRRC than allow ACF to renter the passenger car business. Not saying it wouldn’t be cool as the first American carbuilder since Morrison Knudsen went out, just utterly unlikely.

One of the linked Japanese articles indicated the sub-contracted truck manufacturer had gone bankrupt. Who was that?

mtuandrew wrote:Also, Icahn would sooner sell out to CRRC than allow ACF to renter the passenger car business. Not saying it wouldn’t be cool as the first American carbuilder since Morrison Knudsen went out, just utterly unlikely.

MK wasn't a true American domestic carbuilder, assembled in Hornell with shells from Brazil (CTA 3200s and MNCR/ConnDOT M-6). MK did build the Viewliner sleepers (including shells) at the Pullman works in South Chicago (arguably the last Pullman stainless cars).

Does Siemens need more capacity? CRRC would only need it if the sanctions make their Chinese shells uneconomic.