Company History

• 1981 - Commences business under the name ‘Nortrak Railway Supply Ltd’, supplying railroad track components, both new and used, from its British Columbia, Canada, location.  

• 1983 - Nortrak manufactures trackwork for the first time at its Richmond, BC, Canada, facility.  

• 1990 - Voest-Alpine Eisenbahnsysteme of Austria enters the North American market by purchasing a share-holding in Nortrak. Nortrak changes its name to VAE Nortrak Ltd.       By the late 2000’s Voest-Alpine Eisenbahnsysteme had evolved into a company called VAE GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Austrian conglomerate, voestalpine AG. VAE GmbH is a key component of voestalpine’s Railway Systems Division.  

• 1992 - Opening of VAE Nortrak’s second manufacturing plant in Birmingham, AL.  

• 1996 - Opening of VAE Nortrak’s third manufacturing plant in Cheyenne, WY with ground breaking ceremony in October.  

• 2000 - Cheyenne, WY facility added a 37,500 sq ft plate shop to its operation.  

• 2004 - Acquisition of the assets and business of Meridian Rail Track Products Corp., with operations in Pueblo, CO, Newton, KS, and Chicago Heights, IL. At that time Meridian was the largest supplier of trackwork into the North American market.  

• 2004 - Acquisition of the assets and business of Rail Products and Fabrication Inc., including a trackwork manufacturing facility and manganese foundry in Seattle, WA.  

• 2007 - Purchase of two buildings from the City of Cheyenne, expanding its covered manufacturing area there to 154,700 sq ft; Establishment of VAE Nortrak’s Concrete Turnout Tie manufacturing facility in Cheyenne, WY in one of the newly acquired buildings totaling 65,500 sq ft. The second acquired building was the previously leased plate shop of 37,500 sq ft.  

• 2007 - Purchase by VAE GmbH of the minority shareholding in VAE Nortrak, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary.  

• 2008 - Acquisition of a majority shareholding in DAMY Cambios de Vía, S.A. de C.V. DAMY, located in Guadalajara, Mexico. Having been in business for over 40 years, DAMY is the leading supplier of trackwork to the Mexican market with a reputation for high levels of quality and customer service. The company changes its name to Nortrak-Damy Cambios de Vía, S.A.P.I. de C.V.  

• 2009 - Acquisition of the assets and business of Leading Edge Enterprises Inc. of Decatur, IL. This facility, now operating under the VAE Nortrak banner, offers wide ranges of cast ductile iron and manganese steel products as well as injection molded plastic items. 

Throughout its history VAE Nortrak has sought to satisfy its customers’ needs by consistently expanding its range of high technology products and services. Its integration in the 1990’s into the VAE Group of companies was a major milestone in this regard. With VAE Nortrak’s parent company, VAE GmbH, having been in the trackwork industry for over 160 years and with sister subsidiaries in some 26 countries world-wide, VAE Nortrak is uniquely placed in the North American market, being able to offer its customers the benefit of the VAE Group’s broad-based, deeply historic, yet up-to-date knowledge and experience.