Why Watco – Chris Burns

Watco Mechanical Services’ Railcar Coordinator has seen a lot change during his time with the company. Chris Burns currently oversees the day-to-day for Watco’s Dallas, Texas, mobile repair team, but his path to that position started at another railcar repair company.

“I actually started with Greenbrier at the Cleburne, Texas, shop in 2012 and was here for the merger. We started the Martin Marietta Dallas location in 2017 and I applied for it,” Burns said. “I’m good with my hands, mechanically inclined. I was doing installs for satellites and communications on 18-wheelers and camera systems on school buses. That slowed down, so I took a warehouse position. I called my buddy up out of the blue one day. He said he was at work and they were having a job fair that day at Cleburne. I went out there, applied, got hired, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

The merger Burns is referring to is the joint venture between Watco and Greenbrier, which created the GBW network of mechanical repair shops across North America in 2014. That partnership was dissolved in 2018. He was hired as a welder/mechanic originally and has worked his way up from there. “The work is great. I like doing this stuff. I really think I’ve found my calling,” Burns said. Many Watco mobile mechanical teams are small, especially the dedicated teams, like Dallas. Burns works with two others to keep railcars rolling for aggregate producer Martin Marietta. The company operates a network of quarries, yards, and plants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and beyond, and the mobile team provides repair services at many of them.

“We hit several different locations around DFW. I just coordinate keeping the work going for our guys, making sure they’ve got work,” Burns said. “We actually do a lot. From simple stuff to changing wheels, to heavier repairs like changing doors, hinges, welding, cutting, and more. We do a lot of stuff the shops do, just without a big crane.” Burns’ journey to Watco was a learning experience and has been beneficial. Along the way, the people he met, including Executive Chairman Rick Webb, were a huge factor. “Watco is great. I met Rick Webb when we came out to the location. We had a talk in our breakroom, and we spoke up about what we needed. He ended up buying us a refrigerator because we had an old ‘70s model refrigerator in there. He said that wasn’t going to do,” Burns said. “From then on, I didn’t care what anybody else says about Watco; that’s a good guy. And when they did the split, I stuck with Watco. They take care of theirs.” When Burns and his team aren’t running around DFW fixing railcars, he has a very busy home life. When asked about his hobbies, Burns laughed and said, “I have seven hobbies. They range from two to 13 years old.” Burns and wife Monica have four girls and three boys, including 2-year-old twin girls. “We do a lot of riding, like dirt bikes and side-by-sides. We go mudding a lot. We spend a lot of time outdoors. We take the RV out and go camping and riding.”