Our 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 facility in Richmond, BC, Canada.
- 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.
Voest-Alpine Eisenbahnsysteme later evolved into voestalpine VAE GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Austrian conglomerate, voestalpine AG. voestalpine VAE GmbH is a key component of voestalpine's Metal Engineering 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: The Cheyenne, WY facility added a 37,500 sq ft plate shop to its operations.
- 2004: Acquisition of the assets and business of Meridian Rail Track Products Corp., with operations in Pueblo, Colorado; Newton, Kansas; and Chicago Heights, Illinois. 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 foundtry 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: voestalpine VAE GmbH acquires the remaining minority shareholding in VAE Nortrak, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary.
- 2008: Acquisition of a majority shareholding in DAMY Cambios de Via, S.A. de C.V. DAMY, located in Guadalajara, Mexico.
With more than 40 years of industry experience, 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 Via, 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 voestalpine Nortrak banner, offers wide range of cast ductile iron and manganese steel products as well as injection molded plastic items.
- 2012: Corporate name change to voestalpine Nortrak, to reflect long standing ultimate shareholding.
- 2020: Corporate name change from voestalpine Nortrak to voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak. This name change reflects Nortrak's position in North America and its ability to leverage the worldwide capabilities and integrated systems approach of voestalpine Railway Systems.
- 2023: Acquisition of the concrete rail tie assets of CXT Incorporated from L.B. Foster Company effective June 30, 2023. Our new Spokane, Washington location will continue to serve our valued customers throughout North America.
- 2024: Acquired the assets of Unitrac Railroad Materials from Wabtec Components LLC on August 26, 2024. This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to the industry and to our customers in North America.
- 2026: Opening a new Plant in the Niagara Region, Ontario.
Since 1981, Nortrak has continuously expanded its capabilities, manufacturing footprint, and product portfolio to better serve the evolving needs of the North American rail industry. Today, as part of the global voestalpine Railway Systems network, Nortrak combines local expertise with worldwide innovation to deliver reliable railway infrastructure solutions across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.