National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association

The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, Inc. (NRC) is a trade association

Trade association

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...

in the railroad

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

and rail transit

Urban rail transit

Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas...

construction industry. The NRC is a non-profit trade association, governed by a Board of Directors and administered by the Washington, DC government relations firm, Chambers, Conlon, and Hartwell, LLC. NRC members include rail construction and maintenance contractors such as Balfour Beatty Rail, Inc. (www.bbri.com), Colo Railroad Builders (www.colorr.com), Delta Railroad Construction, Inc. (www.deltarr.com), Herzog Contracting Corp. (www.herzogcompanies.com), Kiewit Western Co. (www.kiewit.com), Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc. (www.loram.com), RailWorks Corporation (www.railworks.com), and Stacy and Witbeck, Inc (www.stacywitbeck.com); in addition to supplier companies such as A&K Railroad Materials, Inc. (www.akrailroad.com), Harsco Rail (www.harscorail.com), L. B. Foster Company (www.lbfoster.com), Progress Rail Services, Inc. (www.progressrail.com), and Western-Cullen-Hayes, Inc. (www.wch.com).

The NRC holds an annual conference and exhibition each January, usually taking place in South Florida or Southern California and encompassing more than 800 attendees and about 90 exhibitors. Attendees include executives from rail construction contractors, suppliers, and associated professional service firms. Speakers are generally engineering executives from freight railroads, executives and administrators of public rail transit agencies, and a small number of related experts on topics such as railroad financial analysis and rail-related federal legislative developments. The first NRC Conference took place in 1973 and has been held annually without interruption ever since.

The NRC hosts an annual railroad construction and maintenance equipment auction each spring. In the auction, NRC member companies buy and sell rail construction and maintenance equipment from each other and from railroads that participate. The auctions have ranged in size from 150 to 300 pieces of equipment, with a total value of $400,000 to $750,000. The first NRC-organized auction took place in March 2004, and have been held annually without interruption ever since.

The NRC participates in organizing an annual "Railroad Day on Capitol Hill" event, in cooperation with the lead organizations, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association

American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association

American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association is an association of North American short line and regional railroads. Members include a variety of Class II and Class III railroads. The ASLRRA acts as a lobbying group for member railroads, representing them for both legislation and regulation...

(ASLRRA) and the Association of American Railroads

Association of American Railroads

The Association of American Railroads is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight railroads of North America . Amtrak and some regional commuter railroads are also members...

(AAR).

See Also