Nordco
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Nordco, Inc. is an American manufacturer of railroad maintenance of way and inspection equipment, based in
Oak Creek, Wisconsin Oak Creek is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. It sits on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and is located immediately south of Milwaukee. The population was 36,497 at the 2020 census. In 2011, the city was one of the ...
. Founded in 1926, it has been a subsidiary of
Wabtec Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, commonly known as Wabtec, is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower in 1999. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wab ...
since 2021. The company is one of the top manufacturers of railroad maintenance equipment in North America.


History

Nordco was founded in 1926 as a division of
Nordberg Manufacturing Company Nordberg Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of steam engines, large diesel engines, pumps, hoists and compressors for the mining and quarry industries located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History The company was founded by Bruno V. Nordberg a ...
. Nordco was purchased by OMERS Private Equity in 2009. In 2021, Nordco was acquired by
Wabtec Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, commonly known as Wabtec, is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower in 1999. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wab ...
in a $400 million deal.


Acquisitions

Nordco purchased
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 ...
railroad maintenance machinery rebuilder J.E.R. Overhaul in 2006, followed by
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
based non-destructive testing company Dapco Industries in 2007. Both of the headquarters of these companies now serve as additional manufacturing facilities for Nordco. These were followed in 2008 by the purchase of Central Power Products, manufacturer of the Shuttlewagon series of railcar movers. In 2016, Nordco acquired
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
heavy lift truck manufacturer Royal Tractor.


Products

Nordco manufactures and rebuilds a wide variety of maintenance of way vehicles, including tie exchangers,
ballast regulator A ballast regulator (also known as a ballast spreader or ballast sweeper) is a piece of maintenance of way, railway maintenance equipment used to shape and distribute the gravel track ballast that supports the railroad tie, ties in rail tracks. Th ...
s,
spike driver A spike driver (also known as a spiker) is a piece of rail transport maintenance of way equipment. Its purpose is to drive rail spikes into the railroad tie, ties on a rail tracks, rail track to hold the rail in place. Many different sizes of spike ...
s, spike pullers, and
tie crane A tie crane or tie handler, is a piece of rail transport maintenance of way equipment used to move and handle the railroad ties (also known as sleepers) used in rail tracks using track relaying. The machines are used as an alternative to the manu ...
s. The company also manufactures equipment for non-destructive rail testing, used to inspect railroad tracks for defects. Products range from portable inspection systems to larger systems based on hirail vehicles. Through the company's Shuttlewagon division, Nordco also produces railcar movers and forklifts. In 2012, Nordco constructed a $438,000 ballast regulator/
snowplow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to ref ...
for the
Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...
. Due to an error in construction, the plow was built too wide and touched the
third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...
, requiring Nordco correct the error at no additional cost.


Subsidiaries

* Dapco Industries * J.E.R. Overhaul * Nordco Rail Services * Shuttlewagon - Railcar mover manufacturer Shuttlewagon is based in
Grandview, Missouri Grandview is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 26,209 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. History A post office called Grandview has been in operation since 1889. The city w ...
. Nordco purchased the company in 2008. In 2016, Shuttlewagon produced the world's first electric railcar mover, the NVX-E. Also in 2016, Shuttlewagon expanded its operations with a new nearly 500,000 square foot facility in
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
.


References

Companies based in Wisconsin Rolling stock manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1926 Wabtec 1926 establishments in Wisconsin Oak Industries