Patriot Rail to rebuild Blue Ridge Railcar Repair facility
Published 9:28 am Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Patriot Rail Company LLC (Patriot Rail), owner of Blue Ridge Railcar Repair LLC (Blue Ridge), announced Tuesday in a press release that it will rebuild the Blue Ridge facility located in Keysville.
On Jan. 30, a fire ignited in a building where coating of railcars takes place. The fire was quickly contained and no injuries were reported in the incident.
Although the building is secure enough to work in, it will need to be rebuilt to meet code again, stated the release.
And though the fire was not deemed suspicious by fire officials, the investigation continues as to its exact cause.
“Despite this unfortunate incident, we want to assure the citizens of Keysville that we are still committed to their city and to making the Blue Ridge facility a success,” stated Patriot Rail President and CEO John Fenton.
“Though we cannot provide a definitive timeline for completion, we are in the process of rebuilding the facility.” The Blue Ridge facility is located in Keysville.
The shop is an M-1003 AAR certified railcar repair facility with 21 acres of land, paint and blast capabilities, and 11,000 feet of track capacity which allows for up to 130 “repair in progress” cars to be stored at any given time.
Once rebuilt, Blue Ridge will again have the capability to repair, clean, coat and paint a wide array of railcar types, including boxcars, hoppers, gondolas and flatcars, stated the release.