Midwest Railcar expands car fleet

Maryville, Ill.-based Midwest Railcar said Monday it is expanding its fleet by 2,400 cars, “combining both newly built and pre-owned railcars.”

Newly commissioned 3,250 cubic-foot covered hopper cars will increase the company’s railcar fleet by 1,800 cars during 2011 and 2012. So far in 2011, MidwestRailcar says, it has added 900 new small cube covered hoppers to its fleet while securing contracts for 900 additional new cars in 2012. Additionally, in the past six months it has acquired more than 600 pre-owned general purpose railcars.

This 2,400 car increase over two years marks the most significant acquisition in thecompany’s history, according to Jon Sparks, senior vice president of Operations. “The railcar market remains very tight on covered hopper capacity, driven mainly by demand for small cube cars carrying frac sand,” said Sparks. “We continue to lookforward to opportunities in the new car marketplace with deliveries beginning in 2012.”