Facilities: Vertex Rail to establish tank car plant in North Carolina; Linde Process Plants to expand Oklahoma operation

Vertex Rail Technologies L.L.C. officials yesterday joined North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and local leaders to announce plans for a tank car manufacturing facility in Wilmington, N.C.

The company will establish the plant at the former Terex Crane facility in Wilmington, said McCrory in a press release. A rail-car manufacturer focused on the energy transportation sector, Vertex Rail plans to spend $60 million to retrofit and equip the facility, which will employ about 1,300 people.

The plant will produce 31,800-gallon, general purpose tank cars for crude oil and 3,285-cubic-foot, covered "Sandhopper" cars.

"Both are used by drillers, refiners and logistics providers in the oil industry. These cars get us into the marketplace quickly,” said Vertex Rail Chief Executive Officer Don Croteau. "People are trying to pull oil out of the ground at record rates. With that capacity stress, we saw a real market opportunity."

The company will manufacture tank cars that are in high demand to transport crude oil from North Dakota, Texas and other energy-producing states, said McCrory.

Meanwhile, Linde Process Plants (LPP) has announced a $2.4 million expansion of its fabrication facility the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Catoosa, Okla.

To be completed in June 2015, the project calls for constructing a new office building and expanding a trial fitting area. Prior to shipping completed modules to customers, LPP conducts a trial fit to ensure the modules have been fabricated according to specifications.

"One of the principal reasons they located at the port is the availability of barge, rail and truck transportation services to move the large modular units they build," said Tulsa Port of Catoosa Director Bob Portiss in a press release. "They are the epitome of the type of industry within the Tulsa region that benefits from the port."

The port is served directly by BNSF Railway Co. and indirectly by Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific Railroad via the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad.