Thrall Car Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of railroad
freight cars in
Chicago Heights,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
from 1917 to 2001. The company was sold to
Trinity Industries in 2001.
Company history
A.J. Thrall established the Union Wagon Company in 1916, selling used and reconditioned rail car components.
[The Duchossois Group, Elmhurst, IL]
"The History of the Duchossois Group."
Accessed 2013-11-10. This became the Thrall Car Manufacturing Company in 1917. By mid-century, under the leadership of
Richard L. Duchossois, the company focused on building specialized freight cars, such as high-cube boxcars for auto parts, all-door boxcars for building products, gondolas, rotary-dump gondolas for coal, bulkhead flatcars and centerbeam flatcars for lumber,
double-stack container cars,
covered hoppers,
autorack cars and single-level trailer cars.
In the 1980s, Thrall acquired five competing railcar manufacturers,
including autorack builders Whitehead & Kales and Portec, and became the largest such manufacturer of these cars in the United States. In 1984, Duchossois purchased the remaining shares of the company owned by the Thrall family, and the company then operated as part of Duchossois Industries.
[ In the 1990s, Thrall had a production capacity of over 16,000 freight cars per year, with more than 3,000 employees.]Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, in 2001. The company was subsequently renamed Trinity Rail Group, LLC.[Inside View, Inc. (2013)]
"Trinity Rail Group, LLC."
Accessed 2013-11-10.
Products
Thrall was mainly a freight car fabrication and assembly operation. Additional car types manufactured included boxcar
A boxcar is the North American (Association of American Railroads, AAR) and South Australian Railways term for a Railroad car#Freight cars, railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simpl ...
s and gondolas. Most cars were designed for standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
interchange service on AAR-approved railroads within North America. Many tri-level autoracks built by Thrall exist today, identifiable by the blue Thrall rectangle logo present on either the extreme right or left end of the car side. Cast or forged parts, such as grab irons, trucks, axles, and wheels, were purchased from suppliers from the Chicago area.
Manufacturing locations
*Chicago Heights Plant No. 1. Original plant at 26th street. Includes a plant office, main factory, and outdoor crane. This plant was served by the Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
.
*Chicago Heights Plant No. 2. 1964 plant at 26th and State Street. This was headquarters at the sale to Trinity. The site includes an office, assembly building, paint shop, fabricating building, and jig/fixtures facility, as well as outdoor cranes. The plant was served by Union Pacific and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.
Both of the Chicago Heights facilities have been redeveloped.
*Cartersville, Georgia
Cartersville is a city in and the county seat of Bartow County, Georgia, Bartow County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...
plant. Still owned by Trinity Industries.
* Clinton, Illinois plant.
* Harvey, Illinois, Parts Depot. Sometimes described as Phoenix, Illinois.
* Winder, Georgia plant. This plant operated with a peak employment of over 1,000 in 1998–1999, but a dramatic downturn in the economy led to the closing of the plant and layoffs of all employees. Although the layoffs were termed "temporary," the plant never reopened under Thrall's ownership. Following the purchase by Trinity Industries the plant reopened, operating at a much smaller level until 2020 where it was mothballed. This facility was sold in 2022 and purchased by Metal Benderz.
* Additional plants were located in the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.
See also
* List of rolling stock manufacturers
Throughout railroad history, many manufacturing companies have come and gone. This is a list of companies that manufactured railroad cars and other rolling stock. Most of these companies built both passenger and freight equipment and no distinct ...
References
External links
Overhead View of Plant 2 in Chicago Heights
{{coord, 41.4929, -87.6114, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title
Chicago Heights, Illinois
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Illinois
Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1917
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2001
1917 establishments in Illinois
2001 disestablishments in Illinois