Junction City Team Keeps America Rolling
Watco’s Junction City, Kansas, mechanical repair shop stands out for many reasons. They are experts at repairing pressure differential hopper cars and applying interior coatings for food-grade railcars, and they are currently the only shop in the Watco network that repairs the flatcars that carry intermodal containers. Intermodal containers are the large rectangle boxes you’ve probably seen stacked on top of each other as they pass through crossings. Those containers can carry anything from hay bales to electronics like computers and TVs. Since they’re designed to be moved via any mode of transportation, containers require special flatcars when moving by rail. The Junction City team saw the need to keep these railcars rolling and developed the capability to repair them.
6 The Dispatch | January 2021
Intermodal flatcars bring their own set of challenges. For one, they arrive in what are called five-packs because they have a different type of connection than other railcars. Five cars are connected and can’t be easily uncoupled from each other. If one has a defect that needs repaired, all five must travel to a shop. That creates issues with room in the shop and yard. “The ability to logistically handle these types of cars is something that differentiates our shop. There aren’t a lot of shops that have the room in their yards or inside their shops to switch these cars around. If a customer wants to do these repairs with Watco, we’re the team to do this work,” said Eric Franco-Velez, Plant Manager. Disconnecting these cars requires at least a team of three. The body of the flatcar is raised by a crane
