U.S.-based company steps in.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: Brief Article

A Capreol locomotive repair shop plagued by labour disruptions in recent years is back on track under new ownership.

An Illinois-based locomotive refurbishing and supply company has stepped in to re-open the doors of the former CLN Industries Ltd. that were closed after a strike last August resulted in CLN Industries Ltd. ceasing operations and firing 54 unionized employees.

Now operating as NRE-Alco Locomotive of Canada, the equipment repair shop, located 30 kilometres north of downtown Sudbury, is the first Canadian subsidiary of National Railway Equipment Co. of Dixmoor Ill., considered an industry leader in locomotive repair, remanufacturing and component supply.

"Having an entity in Canada enables us to go after Canadian business," says Mel Dinius, the shop's new general manager, who was plucked from a short-lived retirement in Montana after 38 years in the rail refurbishment business with Montana Rail Link and Illinois Central.

The 50,000-square-foot shop had remained idle since parent company CLN Ventures Inc. announced Aug. 30 it was closing after unionized employees walked off the job largely over wage issues. The City of Toronto subsequently cancelled a multi-million-dollar contract it had with CLN to refurbish locomotives from GO Transit. It was the third labour disruption at the company in two years.

Negotiations then began between CLN owner Jay Nusca of Mississauga and NRE with a letter of intent being signed to purchase the facility in October. Labour peace was assured with an eight-year contract with the Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Employees and operations resumed Nov. 27.

Dinius has high hopes of doubling the current workforce of 33 employees, many of whom are former CN supervisors, technicians and skilled tradesmen, who work one shift Monday to Friday.

"I think there's enough business out there to be had," he says, alluding to potential customers such as Via Rail, Huron Central Railway and the New Brunswick South Railway, as well as the major Class I carriers and industries across Canada.

The suburban Chicago company has a...