Nordco, Inc. is an American manufacturer of railroad maintenance of way and inspection equipment, based in

Oak Creek, Wisconsin Oak Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Milwaukee County, it sits on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and is located immediately south of Milwaukee. The city is one of the fastest growing in Milwaukee County and all ...

. Founded in 1926, it has been a subsidiary of

Wabtec Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered ...

since 2021. The company is one of the top manufacturers of railroad maintenance equipment in North America.

History

Nordco was founded in 1926 as a division of

Nordberg Manufacturing Company Nordberg Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of steam engines, large diesel engines, pumps, hoists and compressors for the mining and quarry industries located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History The company was founded by Bruno V. Nordberg an ...

. Nordco was purchased by OMERS Private Equity in 2009. In 2021, Nordco was acquired by

in a $400 million deal.

Acquisitions

Nordco purchased

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

railroad maintenance machinery rebuilder J.E.R. Overhaul in 2006, followed by

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

based non-destructive testing company Dapco Industries in 2007. Both of the headquarters of these companies now serve as additional manufacturing facilities for Nordco. These were followed in 2008 by the purchase of Central Power Products, manufacturer of the Shuttlewagon series of railcar movers. In 2016, Nordco acquired

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

heavy lift truck manufacturer Royal Tractor.

Products

Nordco manufactures and rebuilds a wide variety of maintenance of way vehicles, including tie exchangers, ballast regulators, spike drivers, spike pullers, and tie cranes. The company also manufactures equipment for non-destructive rail testing, used to inspect railroad tracks for defects. Products range from portable inspection systems to larger systems based on hirail vehicles. Through the company's Shuttlewagon division, Nordco also produces railcar movers and forklifts. In 2012, Nordco constructed a $438,000 ballast regulator/

snowplow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to re ...

for the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

. Due to an error in construction, the plow was built too wide and touched the

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

, requiring Nordco correct the error at no additional cost.

Subsidiaries

* Dapco Industries * J.E.R. Overhaul * Nordco Rail Services * Shuttlewagon - Railcar mover manufacturer Shuttlewagon is based in

Grandview, Missouri Grandview is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 24,475 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. History A post office called Grandview has been in operation since 1889. The city wa ...

. Nordco purchased the company in 2008. In 2016, Shuttlewagon produced the world's first electric railcar mover, the NVX-E. Also in 2016, Shuttlewagon expanded its operations with a new nearly 500,000 square foot facility in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

References

Companies based in Wisconsin Rolling stock manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1926 Wabtec 1926 establishments in Wisconsin Oak Industries