Eagle Railcar Services to purchase Junction City, KS repair shop
Eagle Railcar Services, the nation’s leading provider of railcar repair services, is proud to announce the purchase of the former Watco railcar repair shop in Junction City, Kansas. The purchase of the Junction City, KS facility further expands Eagle’s footprint in the U.S., meeting our customers’ continuing demands for a viable repair solution in the heart of the Midwest.
Founded in 2001, Eagle Railcar Services has focused on building a robust network of full-service rail car repair facilities, while continuing to deliver the boutique experience to our customers. With the addition of Junction City, Eagle Railcar Services is now comprised of eleven repair shops located in Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Kansas. What began as a single shop, and 17 employees, has successfully grown to employ over 1,000 people.
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 our new Junction City, KS facility. Near-term expansion plans include an M-1002 certification, full-service cleaning rack, additional storage track, and enhanced coatings capabilities.
Please visit eaglerailcar.com/careers to learn more about careers available in the Eagle network.