Rep. Goodlatte tours Progress Rail’s Roanoke facility

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Left to right, Rep. Goodlatte (second to the left) with Chad Phillips, Daniel Blocke and Cecil Ferguson at Progress Rail’s draft gear shop in Roanoke.

On February 5, U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA-06) joined National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association member company Progress Rail Services for a tour of its locomotive and rail car services facility in Roanoke, Va.

 

Plant Manager Cecil Ferguson gave an overview of the company and its current operations. Progress Rail Services, a Caterpillar company, is a builder of diesel-electric locomotives for all commercial railroad applications including freight, intercity passenger and commuter rail, switching, industrial and mining applications.

Production Supervisor Chad Phillips led a tour of the facility, which was originally operated by Norfolk Southern and closed in 2000. Progress Rail Services reopened the draft gear shop in Roanoke in 2002 to remanufacture rail parts and recondition old draft gears to “like-new” condition. The company is in the process of getting approval from the Association of American Railroads for their newly designed draft gear. Progress Rail Services employs 12 people on the Roanoke team.

“It was great to see Progress Rail’s Roanoke facility firsthand today and learn more about the work they are doing, especially their innovative efforts to design new draft gear,” said Rep. Goodlatte. “Progress Rail is an integral part of the global rail industry and I am pleased that Roanoke plays a part in that.”

 

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