Paul Foster, president and CEO of PowerRail, stands next to his N-21 model caboose he purchased years ago, refurbished, and proudly displays at his manufacturing plant in Exeter.
Tony Callaio | Sunday Dispatch
Locomotive parts manufacturer’s plant also home to eye-catching restored caboose
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
The entire PowerRail team stands in front of the company’s restored Conrail N-21 caboose just prior to the begining of an open house at the world headquarters of PowerRail on Susquehanna Avenue, Exeter, on Wednesday.
Tony Callaio | Sunday Dispatch
Paul Foster, president and CEO of PowerRail, addresses those in attendance for an open house at PowerRail on Wednesday, Sept. 28, just prior to a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Tony Callaio | Sunday Dispatch
President & CEO Paul Foster of PowerRail, cuts the ribbon at PowerRail’s world headquarters located at Susquehanna Avenue, Exeter, on Wednesday. Left to right: Ken Okrepkie, Ben Franklin Tech Partners of NEPA; John Morgan, Exeter Borough Council, state Sen. John Yudichak, state Sen. Lisa Baker, Exeter Mayor Denise Adams, Foster, Kendra Radle, Luzerne County Council/Exeter Borough, David Balent, Exeter Borough Council, state Rep. Aaron Kaufer.
Tony Callaio | Sunday Dispatch
The caboose is finally set at its new home in Exeter on Susquehanna Avenue, the home of PowerRail, a manufacturer and remanufacturer of train engine parts servicing engines all over the world.
Tony Callaio | Sunday Dispatch
Northeast Installation & Rigging, Inc. had the task of relocating the over 21-ton caboose from Duryea to Exeter. A forklift designed to lift extremely heavy material is shown moving the caboose body onto its trucks — the assemblies which hold the wheels and axles.
Tony Callaio | Sunday Dispatch
The N-21 caboose owned and refurbished by PowerRail was dismantled at its former home in Duryea and is shown last month traveling on a flatbed truck on Route 11, West Pittston, to its new home in Exeter.
Tony Callaio | Sunday Dispatch
EXETER — While the transition from its former Duryea location was effectively completed over the summer, Paul Foster and the team at PowerRail hosted a ribbon cutting and open house at their new headquarters on Susquehanna Avenue last week, with local, county, and state elected officials touring the plant.
So far, PowerRail’s move to the former Pride Mobility facility has been a positive one, and the manufacturing firm’s future looks bright according to Foster, the company’s president and CEO.
“It’s worked out very well,” he said during the Wednesday, Sept. 28 event.
PowerRail is a world leader in engineering, manufacturing, and distribution of aftermarket locomotive parts — in some cases providing equipment for engines built as far back as the 1940s. The company made headlines earlier this year when they were called upon to provide desperately needed parts for a Polish railroad that was helping evacuate civilians from war-torn Ukraine.
Founded in Wilkes-Barre in 2003, the company moved to Duryea in 2006, settling in on over seven acres of land.
As Foster said in a Sunday Dispatch interview earlier this year, this latest move took PowerRail from roughly 90,000 square feet of space in Duryea to a 200,000-square-foot facility in Exeter.
PowerRail has five other facilities in the United States, partnerships in Canada, a service outfit in Germany, and a parallel company in Australia.
But Exeter is home, and Foster wanted to thank local and state officials on Wednesday for their support and assistance over the years, including leading up to the move.
As demand for PowerRail’s products grows, the added space has already begun to pay off.
“Last month our production was up 20%,” he said.
The company had 16 people when they moved to Duryea, left there with 111, and now have 148 employees, Foster added.
And they are looking for more.
“I’m looking to hire, to train,” Foster said. “Everything from welders, machinists, laborers, office help, sales, accounts payable/receivable.”
More information can be found at www.epowerrail.com.
While guests had an opportunity to see the company’s operations inside and out, the star of Wednesday’s show may well have been the big blue landmark that visitors will encounter near the front door.
Mounted proudly outside PowerRail’s new global headquarters, a former Conrail N-21 caboose serves not just as a conversation piece, but a place for conversations.
Built in the late 1970s, the caboose was among the last built. After its service to Conrail it moved around a bit before becoming an office for the Reading & Northern at Coxton Yards in Duryea, which is where Foster purchased it.
That’s also where it had gotten flooded “right up to the roof.”
“After the floods we decided to get it out of there and restore it,” Foster said.
It was moved to PowerRail’s site on Clark Road, Duryea in about 2007, he said, and remained there until being relocated to Exeter last month.
Foster said guests from around the world who have visited the company enjoy chatting inside the restored railcar.
“It’s nice for meetings and it’s casual. You can have some tea or coffee and have the chance to talk and take it from there,” he said.
“It’s kind of cool,” Foster added. “Everyone I take inside loves it. They’re like little kids when they see it.”
Indeed, the transition from Duryea to Exeter really started to feel complete when the relocated caboose finally touched down in September.
“Everyone came out when they were putting it in and when it landed in its place, everyone started clapping, crying,” Foster said.
