Roanoke City officials are warmly welcoming the announcement of 200 new jobs at FreightCar America, but building freight cars can be a very cyclical business. Nonetheless, company officials believe the prospects for continued business appear strong in the next few years. The story from News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones.
Norfolk Southern is ordering another Roanoke-built 1,500 coal-carrying cars, this on top of the 1,500 already in production. N.S. President Wick Moorman says coal still provides one-quarter of the railroad’s revenue.
The long-term outlook for job security building rail cars can be bumpy at times. Freight Car America essentially shut down its Roanoke plant for almost two years in 2009 until business returned this spring. But company president Ed Whalen says things should look good for a while.
