Development News From Southwest Indiana

Rail car repair business moving to former Rescar site in Greene County
By Patricia Morrison, Washington Times-Herald News Editor

Washington is returning to its railroad roots with the announcement Friday that B-W Services will be renovating the old Rescar site for use in repairing and refurbishing rail cars.
Billy White, president of B-W, said the Louisiana-based company repairs all types of rail cars, currently at two sites, one in Westlake, La., and the other in Angleton, Texas.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” White said of the 47-acre site on the city’s far west side.
Plans call for renovation of several buildings as well as the construction of a new building for sandblasting and painting.

Ron Arnold, executive director of Daviess County Economic Development Corp., said he first met White two years ago when he looked at the Rescar site.

White said while the majority of rail traffic is along the gulf coast, the north also has a lot of rail traffic, and after looking at building a new plant in Tennessee or renovating the Washington site, this was the better option.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Billy,” Arnold added. “He had the vision to see what that property can become. He’s willing to take the risk. I feel he’ll be very successful.”

Washington Mayor Dave Abel was also on hand for the announcement, as the city and state EDCs have worked together on this project.

“This was a real cooperative effort the economic development commission, the city, state and Billy all working together to create hope and opportunity,” Abel said.

The plant should employee 40 to 50 people when it is up and running, but that may be a while. White said clearing the lot and renovating the buildings are just the first steps. New machinery will have to be installed, and then the plant has to be certified to repair rail cars. He did say local people will probably be hired for painting and clean up as well as local contractors to work on the buildings.

“This won’t be done over night,” he added.

Judy Rueger, a project manager with the state EDC, said a local and state economic incentive package will be announced Monday.

White thanked the state and Mayor for their work on this project, singling out Arnold for special praise.

“You can be proud of them,” he said of the city and state officials. “They worked hard at bringing us here. I had Ron’s (Arnold) cell phone number, and he was always there to talk to me.”

Arnold said there are other projects in the works, but they will take time. The first contact with White’s company was several years ago.

“These things don’t happen overnight,” he said. “A nice thing is we had the full support of all the elected officials to make this happen.”

Rescar was the last company at the site which was a major manufacturer of rail cars in the past.

The company had been downsizing when it pulled out completely in 2004, leaving just one employee. The buildings have been hit by fire, storm damage and vandalism in the past two years, something White wants to see remedied immediately.

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