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.

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 on one end, simultaneously and in coordination with a forklift at the other. As it’s raised, another team member pulls the pin from the coupler.

“We have guys on the team, this is their specialty. We have one section of the shop set up specifically for them, and we can pull as many as we need, depending on the severity of the repairs,” Plant Superintendent Abram Silva said.

Some of the most common repairs are on the container guides and the connections on the floor to secure them. The male-female connections between the interior cars of the five-pack are some of the most demanding repairs. They’re secured by a pin and rarely separated. That results in a lot of wear, which can cause excess movement and problems.

The most challenging aspect of repairing these cars arises from doing them efficiently and safely. Even light repairs take extra time, because the team doesn’t just get to set up and focus on one car, like they would with a hopper or tank.

“There might be an hour’s worth of repair on each unit, but each time you move to the next one, you’ve got to pack up your welder, any tools, your torch, anything you need, and move them to the next unit, because there’s not room to move the five-pack around in the shop,” Silva said. “This has to be done efficiently while still not cutting any corners.”

During the COVID pandemic, most freight movement has been down, but intermodal has stayed relatively strong. Franco-Velez says they saw that as an opportunity. They set out to repair flatcars safely and quickly within the customers’ requested turn-time.

“I take a lot of pride in the role we play in supporting our country’s supply chain,” Silva said. “I feel that way about every car we get here, but intermodal freight is such a large part of this economy. It’s how this country moves. To be a part of that, that’s the tops. One of our partners, Union Pacific, uses ‘Building America’ as their motto. I like to think our motto is ‘Keeping America Rolling.’”