Railroad Forums 

  • New Mass Rail Car Builder! (or not) - Vertex Rail Mfg

  • General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment
General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment

Moderator: John_Perkowski

 #1250496  by bostontrainguy
 
West Brookfield, Mass. based freight car lessor Boxcar Services LLC has 
merged with Vertex Rail Technologies LLC to form Vertex Rail
 Manufacturing. Beginning in second-quarter 2014, Vertex Rail will
 manufacture tank cars, boxcars, and covered hoppers at facilities located
 in Worcester, Mass., and Wilmington, N.C.


http://www.vertexrail.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1250517  by bostontrainguy
 
Komarovsky wrote:Good news for the manufacturing industry in Central Mass. Do you know where their Worcester plant is going to be located?
I can't find any info on their plant location.
 #1250521  by bostontrainguy
 
Just found this:

It is common knowledge that some of the most iconic streamlined cars (in addition to some subway cars and LRVs) were constructed at Pullman's Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, MA. For the foreseeable future, it seems railcar manufacturing is returning to Worcester in the form of a new company, Vertex Rail Technologies.
 #1250529  by Sir Ray
 
Interesting, but have the predecessor companies (Vertex Rail Technology) done large scale fabrication of tank cars (and other freight cars, but they are pushing tank cars) before? Their web site (link in a prior post) is rather lame - are the images of the CBTX (and one UTLX) tank cars in the page border some cars Vertex has manufactured or re-manufactured, or are they just some random tank car clip-art?
bostontrainguy wrote:It is common knowledge that some of the most iconic streamlined cars (in addition to some subway cars and LRVs) were constructed at Pullman's Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, MA. For the foreseeable future, it seems railcar manufacturing is returning to Worcester in the form of a new company, Vertex Rail Technologies.
An aside to an aside to an aside I found searching on the web for Vertex States that the former Pullman facilities will NOT be used (some other website posting claims that some, but not all, of the Pullman plant buildings still exist)
 #1250635  by frrc
 
Mr. Bigda, whose last idea was the "re-birth of the North Bookfield RR" I recall. Building a facility in Worcester for rail cars will take some serious investment in money, time, and materials. Not to mention a suitable/approved location near either the CSX or P&W yards for delivery, Etc. Worcester doesn't have much industrial land left, most of which has been leveled or turned into commercial/retail space.

JoeF


:P
 #1250636  by frrc
 
RE: Pullman Buildings

There was a major fire in that area a few years ago, and most of the buildings are gone, replaced with retail space (Supermarket) and other business's. The remaining buildings are being converted to a movie production studio:

http://www.telegram.com/article/2013080 ... 69953/1116" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JoeF
 #1250642  by bostontrainguy
 
frrc wrote:Mr. Bigda, whose last idea was the "re-birth of the North Bookfield RR" I recall. Building a facility in Worcester for rail cars will take some serious investment in money, time, and materials. Not to mention a suitable/approved location near either the CSX or P&W yards for delivery, Etc. Worcester doesn't have much industrial land left, most of which has been leveled or turned into commercial/retail space.

JoeF


:P
How about somewhere on the Grafton & Upton?
 #1250728  by KEN PATRICK
 
i'm sure many on this site are aware of the difficulties in establishing new railcar manufacturing. having attempted to do just that ( us rail in joliet and east in newcastle).i can attest to the complexities. i would view this announcement as a flawed attempt to generate some investment money. railcar manufacturing in worcester ( and elsewhere in new england) for a variety of reasons, will never happen. ken patrick
 #1250761  by CN9634
 
KEN PATRICK wrote:i'm sure many on this site are aware of the difficulties in establishing new railcar manufacturing. having attempted to do just that ( us rail in joliet and east in newcastle).i can attest to the complexities. i would view this announcement as a flawed attempt to generate some investment money. railcar manufacturing in worcester ( and elsewhere in new england) for a variety of reasons, will never happen. ken patrick
Perhaps we should shut down all the railroads as it seems to me all railroads are a money losing venture.
 #1250783  by bostontrainguy
 
KEN PATRICK wrote:i'm sure many on this site are aware of the difficulties in establishing new railcar manufacturing. having attempted to do just that ( us rail in joliet and east in newcastle).i can attest to the complexities. i would view this announcement as a flawed attempt to generate some investment money. railcar manufacturing in worcester ( and elsewhere in new england) for a variety of reasons, will never happen. ken patrick
The funny thing is Ken, if you told me someone was thinking of investing $8 million to build a movie studio in Worcester I'd say it will never happen ;)
 #1250785  by Cosmo
 
bostontrainguy wrote:
KEN PATRICK wrote:i'm sure many on this site are aware of the difficulties in establishing new railcar manufacturing. having attempted to do just that ( us rail in joliet and east in newcastle).i can attest to the complexities. i would view this announcement as a flawed attempt to generate some investment money. railcar manufacturing in worcester ( and elsewhere in new england) for a variety of reasons, will never happen. ken patrick
The funny thing is Ken, if you told me someone was thinking of investing $8 million to build a movie studio in Worcester I'd say it will never happen ;)
BINGO!!! :-D
 #1250859  by Sir Ray
 
KEN PATRICK wrote:railcar manufacturing in worcester ( and elsewhere in new england) for a variety of reasons, will never happen. ken patrick
Very Cool, now that Ken Patrick has pronounced that this rail car venture will never work, that means Vertex will meet their stated Spring 2014 target date for the start of manufacturing in New England of upgraded tank cars for the oil industry....

Still not sure why Vertex choose Worchester, do they have facilities near there already?
 #1250881  by BandA
 
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/mec ... channel=59
The Worcester facility has the 
capacity to produce up to 18 tank cars per week; the Wilmington plant is
 large enough to support production of up to 50 tank cars per week, plus,
 with new designs, Plate F 286K GRL boxcars, and covered hoppers of 3,300-
and 5,000-cubic-foot capacity.


I agree that the website is lacking, and add that Mr. Bigda needs some coaching in how to do PR sucessfully. The radio silence over reviving the North Brookfield Railroad has been defeaning. Which is a shame since it was a fascinating idea and an interesting history - [OT] 4.1 miles, built in 1875, leased from openning in 1876 by the Boston and Albany, to circa 1972 when Penn Central apparently abandoned the lease & ripped up the rails. Originally 90% town owned / 10% local businessfolks, ROW now owned 100% by the town. Quite sucessful, leased for 10 years, renewed for 50yrs, renewed again in 1936 for freight-only but annual renewable, 30-day cancelable.

Seems like still plenty of rundown rail adjacent industrial property in Worcester. Obviously Worcester MA would be the pilot plant, NC the "volume" facility. Why would anybody build a movie studio in Worcester? MA has generous tax breaks for movie industry, property in eastern MA is too expensive, and some industrial parcels in Worcester have sat unused since the 1970s (apparently).

Has anyone ever heard of this Vertex company that merged in?
 #1250948  by KEN PATRICK
 
remember the $10 million movie studio in plymouth? the promoters sucked in many believers who lost big money. does this not foretell a similar situation in worcester? i recognize that we have legislation that provides credits for movie making. i'm unsure about the nature of the 'credits' however. i am sure that the economics of sound stages in massachusetts do not work. again i caution the thinking members of this site to remember history. there is no shortage of promoters in our state. remember mass heavy industries? quincy shipyard re-birth? the fra documentation requirements to become a 'railcar' manufacturer' would take many months. no way anyone will be doing anything on railcars in 2014. i just hope that our development agency does not get 'sucked' in on this flight of fantasy. ken patrick
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 9