116:-approved railroads within North America. Many tri-level autoracks built by Thrall exist today, identifiable by the blue Thrall rectangle logo present on either the extreme right or left end of the car side. Cast or forged parts, such as grab irons, trucks, axles, and wheels, were purchased from suppliers from the Chicago area.
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plant. This plant operated with a peak employment of over 1,000 in 1998–1999, but a dramatic downturn in the economy led to the closing of the plant and layoffs of all employees. Although the layoffs were termed "temporary," the plant never reopened under Thrall's ownership. Following the purchase by
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cars and single-level trailer cars. In the 1980s, Thrall acquired five competing railcar manufacturers, including autorack builders
Whitehead & Kales and Portec, and became the largest such manufacturer of these cars in the United States. In 1984, Duchossois purchased the remaining shares of the
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Chicago
Heights Plant No. 2. 1964 plant at 26th and State Street. This was headquarters at the sale to Trinity. The site includes an office, assembly building, paint shop, fabricating building, and jig/fixtures facility, as well as outdoor cranes. The plant was served by Union Pacific and
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company owned by the Thrall family, and the company then operated as part of
Duchossois Industries. In the 1990s, Thrall had a production capacity of over 16,000 freight cars per year, with more than 3,000 employees.
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Trinity
Industries the plant reopened, operating at a much smaller level until 2020 where it was mothballed. This facility was sold in 2022 and purchased by Metal Benderz.
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in 1916, selling used and reconditioned rail car components. This became the Thrall Car
Manufacturing Company in 1917. By mid-century, under the leadership of
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Chicago
Heights Plant No. 1. Original plant at 26th street. Includes a plant office, main factory, and outdoor crane. This plant was served by the
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in
England. In 2000, Thrall acquired the railway vehicle manufacturer ČKD Vagonka Studénka (Czech Republic), renamed
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Thrall was mainly a freight car fabrication and assembly operation. Additional car types manufactured included
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Additional plants were located in the United
Kingdom and the Czech Republic.
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The closely held company was sold to
Trinity Industries, based in
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Thrall Europa re-opens York Works to build 2,500 wagons for EWS
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Both of the
Chicago Heights facilities have been redeveloped.
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Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States
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From 1997 until 2002, Thrall manufactured wagons at the
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Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1917
375:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Illinois
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390:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2001
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323:Overhead View of Plant 2 in Chicago Heights
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34:from 1917 to 2001. The company was sold to
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206:"The History of the Duchossois Group."
204:The Duchossois Group, Elmhurst, IL.
181:List of rolling stock manufacturers
135:Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway
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400:2001 disestablishments in Illinois
237:Worthington, Rogers (1986-08-24).
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276:issue 1217 September 2002 page 7
263:issue 1157 September 1997 page 7
20:Thrall Car Manufacturing Company
395:1917 establishments in Illinois
22:was a manufacturer of railroad
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105:. Most cars were designed for
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292:Railway Gazette International
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80:International Railway Systems
76:Thrall Vagonka Studénka, a.s.
219:"Duchossois Industries Inc."
217:Chicago Historical Society.
46:A.J. Thrall established the
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56:double-stack container cars
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307:"Trinity Rail Group, LLC."
305:Inside View, Inc. (2013).
287:"CKD DS break-up imminent"
16:Rolling stock manufacturer
370:Chicago Heights, Illinois
222:Encyclopedia of Chicago.
120:Manufacturing locations
146:Cartersville, Georgia
52:Richard L. Duchossois
309:Accessed 2013-11-10.
274:The Railway Magazine
260:The Railway Magazine
239:"Citizen Duchossois"
224:Accessed 2013-11-10.
208:Accessed 2013-11-10.
346:41.4929°N 87.6114°W
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72:York Carriage Works
48:Union Wagon Company
272:York Works closes
36:Trinity Industries
351:41.4929; -87.6114
152:Clinton, Illinois
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112:service on
110:interchange
364:Categories
337:87°36′41″W
334:41°29′34″N
187:References
38:in 2001.
175:See also
103:gondolas
93:Products
64:autorack
32:Illinois
99:boxcars
154:plant.
101:and
114:AAR
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