Blue Ridge Railcar Repair Expansion Brings Jobs to Charlotte County

Charlotte County received a much needed economic boost on Monday in the form of an announcement of the expansion of Blue Ridge Railcar Repair. The proposed expansion, estimated at approximately 2.4 million dollars to realize, will include a new, state of the art, sandblasting and railcar painting facility capable of coating the railcars with the longer-lasting epoxy based finish that most customers prefer today. The new Blue Ridge Rail/ Patriot Rail operation, when underway, will provide nearly 40 new jobs to our area.

The official announcement ceremony on Monday took place in one of the buildings that will undergo the necessary renovations to accommodate the refurbishing operation.

A beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, played by Charlotte county student Victoria Ingersoll on the flute led off the ceremony.  Charlotte County Administrator R.B. Clark made introductions at the beginning of the presentation, which included numerous County and State officials, such as Governor McAuliffe’s Special Advisor for Rural Partnerships Mary Rae Carter; Senator Frank Ruff, of the State’s 15th District, 61st District Delegate Tommy Wright, and County Supervisor, as well as Virginia Tobacco Commission Chairman, Gary Walker, representing the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization. Nancy Carwile, the Chair for the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors accepted a check for $100,000 from Governor’s Advisor Mary Rae Carter during the presentation.  Another 133,000 check was presented to the County on behalf of the Tobacco Commission.

Vice President of Patriot Rail, Dennis Marzec , took a few minutes to narrate an informative slideshow that outlined the immediate changes that were ahead for the Railcar repair yard  to get the sandblasting and painting operation up and running, as well as the capabilities of the operation when the expansion is completed. Mr. Marzec also took the time to look to future, well beyond the immediate project that is before the Rail Company and County now. For a few minutes he spoke of plans for a possible tanker car upgrading facility that would work to bring tanker rail cars up to Federal DOT-111 transportation specifications.( Flammable liquids).  The numbers associated with this phase of operation are astronomical. Of the 92,000 tanker cars that are used today to move flammable liquids, only 14,000 are built to the latest federal specifications. That leaves some 78,000 tankers to be refitted. The need for a tanker refitting facility is real, and will continue to grow as the demand for tanker car retrofitted to newer DOT-111 specifications grows exponentially ahead of the same endeavors that created the need for the Atlantic Coast pipeline recently announced.  While Mr. Merzac gave no time frame for this phase of the expansion, he made it very clear that it was a priority in the future of Blue Ridge Rail/ Patriot Rail, and it would seem, Charlotte County as well.