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Brooklyn._____inc1 7 ; - - - - %u2014 i~ n ri.^ t i A h t t t n r_r i r i u r m u s 1116 r A i n i uSuccess At Army TerminalBY ROB TAYLORThere was a time, at the turn of the century, when more than 50 companiesmanufactured railroad cars in the UnitedStates. That golden era, however, is goneand comapnies from France, Canada andJapan have taken the technological lead inthis industry.Now there are signs of a renewed vigorfor the rail car industry in the U.S. and inthe New York metropolitan area; one of theshining stars of this rebirth is on theBrooklyn waterfront at the old Brooklyn Army Terminal where New York Rail CarCorporation now employs some 400 peoplewho have been remanufacturing subwaycars for the New York City Transit Authority and the PATH system for about fiveyears.%u201cThere%u2019s a tremendous amount ofnostalgia involved in this work,%u201d saysJoseph LoCurto, general manager of NewYork Rail Car. %u201cI sometimes feel like a kidwhen I look at what we have done here.And, we%u2019re working in a historic area aswell.%u201dEven though it has some $45 millionworth of contracts now in hand, New YorkRail Car, a division of NAB ConstructionCorp., got into the rail business in a piecemeal fashion when NAB received a contractto install air-conditioning systems in 1,200subway cars. Over the years NAB Construction has been involved with such diverseprojects as the renovation of YankeeStadium, the Brooklyn Bridge and theStatue of liberty.%u201cNAB has always gotten itself into oddball projects,%u201d says LoCurto, adding thatthe company always works with %u201chighlyspecialized%u201d projects.From the air-conditioning contract, NewYork Rail Car added work including ziplocks for the wire covering on subway linesand then for assembling trucks, the wheelassembly that the cars ride on, for R-44Transit Authority subway cars. This wasfollowed by a contract for the manufacturing of the trucks themselves.%u201cThey would send us the cars, we wouldtake the truck out, build a new one and putthe car back together again,%u201d explainsLoCurto. To do the work, the companyneeded to find space large enough to accommodate this type of construction. Justas the business was slowly expanded, sowas the manufacturing facility in one of theenormous piers off the Army Terminal.RENOVATED THE SPACE%u201cWe moved into a completely unimprovedpier,%u201d says Robert Zindler, chief engineerwho was responsible for the development ofthe Army Terminal manufacturing facility.%u201cWe had to bring in our own utilities andcompletely renovate the space.%u201dZindler identified the Army Terminallocation in 1981 and New York Rail Carmoved in four months after signing thelease. With about 200,000 square feet, thecompany was anxious to begin utilizing thepier as soon as possible to complete some oftheir pending contracts.A recent tour of one of the other vacantpiers shows how dilapidated the Army Terminal was when the rail car companylocated its manufacturing facility there.Once a flourishing headquarters for theshipment of army supplies and soldiersoverseas, the terminal fell into disuse afterWorld War II and was eventually acquiredby the City of New York for development into manufacturing space.New York Rail Car chose the location, inpart says LoCurto, because of the many railconnections that directly link the Army Terminal to the Transit Authority lines, makingthe delivery of subway cars easy. The routealso connects by float or barge with theGreenville Rail Yards in Jersey City andwith the Conrail Bay Ridge branch.HIS OWN FIRE ENGINEI H L a m i U n M M V M V tn M V f 4 a %u2666 A w * 4 a a .f f IK V tl k liV M A V V VV* *V H U Vminal, Zindler says he had to clean outyears of debris that had accumulated in theproperty. As the first private tenant at theArmy Terminal, he adds that the companyhad no public assistance with their plans,There's a tremendousamount o f nostalgiainvolved in this work. 1sometimes feel like a kidwhen Ilook at what we'vedone here. And, we'reworking in a historic areaas well.though the landlords, the City%u2019s PublicDevelopment Corporation, were helpful.%u201cIt was strictly free-enterprise,%u201d Zindlergrins. %u201cWe even moved in here before thesprinkler system was installed. I managedto get a fire truck and then convinced thefire department to let us move in with it until a sprinkler system could be installed.%u201dr . - w n %u00ab ! i O a . %u00bb*%u25a0%u00bb m o A i i