Progress Rail Services Corporation
Encyclopedia
Progress Rail Services Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...

 since 2006, is a supplier of railroad and transit system products and services headquartered in Albertville, Alabama
Albertville, Alabama
Albertville is a city in Marshall County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 21,160.- History :...

, United States. Founded as a recycling company in 1982, Progress Rail has increased the number of its product and service offerings over time to become one of the largest integrated and diversified suppliers of railroad and transit system products and services in North America. Progress Rail markets products and services worldwide and maintains 110 facilities in the United States, 34 in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, four in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and two in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Progress Rail is organized into two divisions: Engineering & Track Services (ETS) and Locomotive & Railcar Services (LRS).

History

Progress Rail Services Corporation traces its roots to a recycling company founded in Albertville, Alabama, United States in 1982.

Progress Rail became a division of Progress Energy
Progress Energy Inc
Progress Energy , headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve approximately 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and...

 in 2000 as a result of the merger of Florida Progress Corporation
Florida Progress Corporation
Florida Progress Corporation a.k.a. Florida Progress was a utility holding company based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The company was the parent company for Florida Power Corporation which distributed power over many parts of central and north Florida. The company merged with Carolina Power & Light...

 and Carolina Power & Light
Carolina Power & Light
Carolina Power & Light was an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution utility based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company was founded on July 13, 1908 as the result of the merger and buyout of numerous small, private, and financial distressed utilities across the state...

 Company.

In February 2005, Progress Energy announced it was selling Progress Rail to One Equity Partners
One Equity Partners
One Equity Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle-market companies across a range of industries....

 for $405 million. The sale closed on March 28, 2005, with Progress Rail becoming a separate private company.

On May 17, 2006, Caterpillar Inc. announced it would purchase Progress Rail from One Equity Partners for $1.0 billion in cash, stock and debt. The acquisition by Caterpillar was announced as part of its long-term strategy, Vision 2020.

In July 2011 the company announced it was to assemble EMD locomotives at a plant leased in the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, Brazil.

Acquisitions

On May 24, 2008 Caterpillar agreed to acquire all of the capital stock of MGE - Equipamentos e Serviços Ferroviários Ltda., a São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, Brazil-based locomotive component and transit car services company to become part of Caterpillar's Progress Rail Services Corporation. The acquisition of MGE marked Progress Rail's first entry into the South American market.

On June 1, 2010, Caterpillar announced Progress Rail Services Corporation would buy Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. from Berkshire Partners LLC and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC for US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

820 million. The purchase was completed on August 2, 2010, making Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Corporation.

During 2010, Progress Rail acquired two makers of signal equipment, Coast to Coast Signal Engineering and C&S Signaling, as well as a General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

 subsidiary involved in the signal industry.

Locomotives

Progress Rail currently offers four models of locomotives:
  • PR15B
  • PR22B
  • PR30C
    Progress Rail PR30C
    The Progress Rail PR30C is a C-C diesel-electric locomotive rebuilt by Progress Rail Services. It is the result of a conversion to an existing EMD SD40-2-type locomotive. This involves replacing the existing prime mover with an EPA Tier-II-compliant turbocharged V16 Caterpillar 3516...

  • PR43C
    Progress Rail PR43C
    The Progress Rail PR43C is a C-C genset diesel-electric locomotive built by Progress Rail Services Corporation. It is the result of a conversion of existing EMD SD50 locomotives. This involves replacing the original EMD 645 prime mover with a pair of Caterpillar engines, a C175 engine and a ...


Signals

Progress Rail's Signal Division makes grade crossing and wayside signals under the name Lincoln Industries
Lincoln Industries
Lincoln Industries Corp., also known as Progress Rail Services Corporation - Signals Division, manufactures railroad signal products sold to customers throughout North America. Founded in 1985, Lincoln Industries has been part of Caterpillar Inc...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK