The Greenbrier Companies
Encyclopedia
The Greenbrier Companies is a publicly traded transportation manufacturing corporation based in Lake Oswego, Oregon
, United States. Predominantly an American company, Greenbrier specializes in transportation services, notably barge
and railroad car manufacturing, railroad car refurbishment, and railroad car leasing/management services. As of 2006, Greenbrier employs in excess of 3,500 people combined at its operations in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Formed in 1981 and went public in 1994, the company generates revenues of USD $953 million.
The main operating business of the company is Gunderson Inc. based in Oregon, USA. In Europe the company has a main manufacturing facility in Świdnica
, Poland.
By the 1930s the company had expanded in other automobile parts servicing, after an unsuccessful foray into the fertilizer distribution business, the company began to manufacture trailers, the equipment for which required an investment of over $12,000. In 1937 a dual axle trailer began production, suitable for on and off road use. The new design of trailers were a commercial success and in 1938 the incorporated company 'Gunderson Bros.' was formed with its factory in Linnton, Portland, Oregon
. In 1941 the company began building ships. The company distributed, installed and pioneered the use of General Motors
diesel engines, with products including winches using engines coupled through fluid coupling
s.
In 1938 the company was near to bankruptcy, in part due to he effects of the great depression
and in part due to the Gunderson brother's own financial mismanagement. The company's main creditor, their bank, took control of the accounts, and began to pay their suppliers, but the company's financial position remained tenuous.
At the beginning of the Second World War the company worked on assembly work for the US navy, in 1941 a loan from the navy enabled the building of a shipyard. During the same period continued debts caused the original factory to taken by the US National Bank as security. The Gunderson company constructed lifeboats, landing craft and other vessels, as well as trailers for the US army. Shortage of manpower also led to the first women working in the construction sheds.
In 1942 the company became 'Gunderson Bros. Engineering Corporation'. After the war the company had comprehensive facilities for large scale metal engineering, as well as a slipway for launching ships at the Front Avenue plant, and the earlier Linnton plant was closed. Construction of marine vessels such as tugs, barges, trawlers and more specialised craft continued in the 1950's and 60's, by the 1970s the company was building vessels as long as 650 ft (198.1 m) and as wide as 100 ft (30.5 m). Other post war business lines included metal water tower
s, large scale metal storage tanks, bridges and structural steel for buildings as well as specialised equipment such as metal slipways for the McNary Dam
(1950s), a dry dock for the Port of Portland (1963), and the vessel RP FLIP (1962).
The company entered the rolling stock business in 1958 with a successful bid to construct 200 boxcar
underframes for the Southern Pacific Railroad
. The business was successful and profitable, and the order expanded with Gunderson eventually building over 2000 frames in the first contract.
In 1965 the Gunderson's sold their company to the FMC Corporation, in 1973 the company became a division of FMC as the 'Marine and Rail Equipment Division of FMC' (MRED). By 1979 over 6000 freight wagons were produced. The following year the early 1980s recession
began and orders plummeted, by 1982 only 25 wagons were made. At the same time new developments in rail freight transport led to new products. 10 car units of jacobs articulated wagons for transportation of road semi-trailer
s were built for the Itel Corporation. Also in the 1980s the company developed "Twin-Stack" wagons for double-stack rail transport
of intermodal container
s in a joint venture with Greenbrier. The "Twin-Stack" became an important product with ~3000 being produced per year in 1990.
In 1985 the company was acquired by the 'Greenbriers Companies' and the Gunderson name restored as 'Gunderson Inc.'
In 1970 the Commercial Metals Company
and M.D. Friedman companies jointly formed a railway flat wagon leasing company: 'Greenbrier Leasing Corporation'. In 1981 Commercial Metals sold the company to Alan James and William A. Furman, the leasing business became part of the 'Greenbrier Companies'. In 1985 the company acquired the 'Marine and Rail Car Division of the FMC Corporation' (MRED) (formerly Gunderson Bros. Engineering) and renamed it Gunderson Inc.
In the early 1990s the company's sales and profits increased dramatically due to an increase in North American railfreight. The company went public in 1994, and in 1995 acquired TrentonWorks, another rail freight rolling stock manufacturing facility in Canada.
In 1998 the company acquired Polish freight wagon manufacturer 'WagonyŚwidnica SA', and formed a joint venture with Bombardier Inc. in Sahagun, Mexico for the manufacture of rail freight vehicles, named 'Gunderson-Concarril SA', in 2004 Bombardier's stake in the venture was acquired. Another Mexican plant 'Gunderson-GIMSA S de L de CV' is formed in 2006 as a joint venture with Grupo Industrial Monclova.
In 2007 the TrentonWorks plant in Nova Scotia, Canada closed, in part due to unfavourable exchange rates, as well as lower operating costs in Mexico.
Between 2006 and 2008 the company bought several rolling stock equipment companies.
, United States plant manufactures ocean-going conventional deck barges, double-hull tank barges, railcar/deck barges, barges for aggregates and other heavy industrial products and ocean-going dump barges.
Under the names Gunderson LLC (Portland, Oregon), Gunderson Concarril (Concarril, Mexico
(spanish wiki :es:CONCARRIL) and Gunderson GIMSA (Monclova, Mexico), both intermodal (60% market share) and conventional freight (30% market share) cars are produced.
Europe
Under the name Greenbrier Europe (plant in Świdnica
, Poland
), conventional freight cars (approx 20% market share) are produced.
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Lake Oswego is a city located primarily in Clackamas County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Small portions of the city are also located in neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Located south of Portland surrounding the Oswego Lake, the town was founded in 1847 and incorporated as Oswego in...
, United States. Predominantly an American company, Greenbrier specializes in transportation services, notably barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
and railroad car manufacturing, railroad car refurbishment, and railroad car leasing/management services. As of 2006, Greenbrier employs in excess of 3,500 people combined at its operations in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Formed in 1981 and went public in 1994, the company generates revenues of USD $953 million.
The main operating business of the company is Gunderson Inc. based in Oregon, USA. In Europe the company has a main manufacturing facility in Świdnica
Swidnica
Świdnica is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. From 1975–98 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship...
, Poland.
Gunderson Inc.
In Chester Ellsworth Gunderson, son of a Swedish immigrant, founded the 'Wire Wheel Sales & Service Company', acting as a distribution partner for the Houk Company, Pennsylvania, a manufacturer of wire wheels. His brother Alvin Gunderson joined the company in 1923. In 1925 the company became the 'Wheel & Rim Service Inc.'By the 1930s the company had expanded in other automobile parts servicing, after an unsuccessful foray into the fertilizer distribution business, the company began to manufacture trailers, the equipment for which required an investment of over $12,000. In 1937 a dual axle trailer began production, suitable for on and off road use. The new design of trailers were a commercial success and in 1938 the incorporated company 'Gunderson Bros.' was formed with its factory in Linnton, Portland, Oregon
Linnton, Portland, Oregon
Linnton is a Portland, Oregon neighborhood located between Forest Park and the Willamette River along U.S. Route 30 , close to the agricultural community of Sauvie Island. It borders the neighborhoods of Northwest Industrial on the south, St. Johns and Cathedral Park via the St...
. In 1941 the company began building ships. The company distributed, installed and pioneered the use of General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
diesel engines, with products including winches using engines coupled through fluid coupling
Fluid coupling
A fluid coupling is a hydrodynamic device used to transmit rotating mechanical power. It has been used in automobile transmissions as an alternative to a mechanical clutch...
s.
In 1938 the company was near to bankruptcy, in part due to he effects of the great depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and in part due to the Gunderson brother's own financial mismanagement. The company's main creditor, their bank, took control of the accounts, and began to pay their suppliers, but the company's financial position remained tenuous.
At the beginning of the Second World War the company worked on assembly work for the US navy, in 1941 a loan from the navy enabled the building of a shipyard. During the same period continued debts caused the original factory to taken by the US National Bank as security. The Gunderson company constructed lifeboats, landing craft and other vessels, as well as trailers for the US army. Shortage of manpower also led to the first women working in the construction sheds.
In 1942 the company became 'Gunderson Bros. Engineering Corporation'. After the war the company had comprehensive facilities for large scale metal engineering, as well as a slipway for launching ships at the Front Avenue plant, and the earlier Linnton plant was closed. Construction of marine vessels such as tugs, barges, trawlers and more specialised craft continued in the 1950's and 60's, by the 1970s the company was building vessels as long as 650 ft (198.1 m) and as wide as 100 ft (30.5 m). Other post war business lines included metal water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
s, large scale metal storage tanks, bridges and structural steel for buildings as well as specialised equipment such as metal slipways for the McNary Dam
McNary Dam
McNary Dam is a 1.4-mile long concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam which spans the Columbia River. It joins Umatilla County, Oregon with Benton County, Washington, 292 miles upriver from the mouth of the Columbia at Astoria, Oregon. It is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' McNary...
(1950s), a dry dock for the Port of Portland (1963), and the vessel RP FLIP (1962).
The company entered the rolling stock business in 1958 with a successful bid to construct 200 boxcar
Boxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...
underframes for the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
. The business was successful and profitable, and the order expanded with Gunderson eventually building over 2000 frames in the first contract.
In 1965 the Gunderson's sold their company to the FMC Corporation, in 1973 the company became a division of FMC as the 'Marine and Rail Equipment Division of FMC' (MRED). By 1979 over 6000 freight wagons were produced. The following year the early 1980s recession
Early 1980s recession
The early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...
began and orders plummeted, by 1982 only 25 wagons were made. At the same time new developments in rail freight transport led to new products. 10 car units of jacobs articulated wagons for transportation of road semi-trailer
Semi-trailer
A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. A large proportion of its weight is supported by a road tractor, a detachable front axle assembly known as a dolly, or the tail of another trailer...
s were built for the Itel Corporation. Also in the 1980s the company developed "Twin-Stack" wagons for double-stack rail transport
Double-stack rail transport
Double-stack rail transport is a form of Intermodal freight transport where intermodal containers are stacked two high on railroad cars. Introduced in North America in 1984, double stack has become increasingly common, being used for nearly 70% of United States intermodal shipments...
of intermodal container
Intermodal container
An intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...
s in a joint venture with Greenbrier. The "Twin-Stack" became an important product with ~3000 being produced per year in 1990.
In 1985 the company was acquired by the 'Greenbriers Companies' and the Gunderson name restored as 'Gunderson Inc.'
Greenbrier Companies
Commercial Metals Company
Commercial Metals Company , based in Irving, Texas, is a United States based steel and metal manufacturer founded in 1915. It owns four steel minimills in Texas, Alabama, South Carolina and Arkansas, one copper minimill in Virginia, fabricators, and recyclers in the United States and CMC...
and M.D. Friedman companies jointly formed a railway flat wagon leasing company: 'Greenbrier Leasing Corporation'. In 1981 Commercial Metals sold the company to Alan James and William A. Furman, the leasing business became part of the 'Greenbrier Companies'. In 1985 the company acquired the 'Marine and Rail Car Division of the FMC Corporation' (MRED) (formerly Gunderson Bros. Engineering) and renamed it Gunderson Inc.
In the early 1990s the company's sales and profits increased dramatically due to an increase in North American railfreight. The company went public in 1994, and in 1995 acquired TrentonWorks, another rail freight rolling stock manufacturing facility in Canada.
In 1998 the company acquired Polish freight wagon manufacturer 'WagonyŚwidnica SA', and formed a joint venture with Bombardier Inc. in Sahagun, Mexico for the manufacture of rail freight vehicles, named 'Gunderson-Concarril SA', in 2004 Bombardier's stake in the venture was acquired. Another Mexican plant 'Gunderson-GIMSA S de L de CV' is formed in 2006 as a joint venture with Grupo Industrial Monclova.
In 2007 the TrentonWorks plant in Nova Scotia, Canada closed, in part due to unfavourable exchange rates, as well as lower operating costs in Mexico.
Between 2006 and 2008 the company bought several rolling stock equipment companies.
Marine
Under the name Gunderson Marine LLC, the Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, United States plant manufactures ocean-going conventional deck barges, double-hull tank barges, railcar/deck barges, barges for aggregates and other heavy industrial products and ocean-going dump barges.
Rail vehicles
North AmericaUnder the names Gunderson LLC (Portland, Oregon), Gunderson Concarril (Concarril, 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...
(spanish wiki :es:CONCARRIL) and Gunderson GIMSA (Monclova, Mexico), both intermodal (60% market share) and conventional freight (30% market share) cars are produced.
Europe
Under the name Greenbrier Europe (plant in Świdnica
Swidnica
Świdnica is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. From 1975–98 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), conventional freight cars (approx 20% market share) are produced.