A new blanking line keeps eight stamping presses flush with material, turning out anti-slip safety grating for the railroad, construction and other industries. The U.S. freight-car industry has felt the economic meltdown as much or more than any other industry, watching new-car orders fall from 60,000 in 2008 to an estimated 18,000 in 2009. That trend has supplier Morton Manufacturing Co., Libertyville, IL, a provider of anti-slip walking surfaces to railroad-car builders since 1903, eyeing the freight-car repair market for opportunities to provide its manufactured products - running boards, brake steps, end platforms and intermodal platforms. The company, which occupies a 200,000-sq.-ft. facility that takes in two to three truckloads of steel per day, processes coils as wide as 48 in. that weigh as much as 30,000 lb. Most of what Morton processes is 11- to 14-gauge hot-rolled and pre-galvanized steel; it also yields 500,000 lb. of aluminum stock each year, and a bit of stainless steel as well.
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