Watco Mechanical Services in Pittsburg, Kansas, has become a stand-alone division with two separate operations, Car Repair at 437 South 260th Street and Fabrication at 315 West 3rd Street.

Rail car repair began in the Pittsburg area in June 1996, as a mobile operation with three employees based at the West 3rd Street warehouse. Repair work was originally performed at the Sherwin siding track, moving to the present Cornell location in October of that year. Mobile repair work performed along a single siding track with portable equipment continued to grow with supporting materials, equipment, and employees operating form temporary and portable structures through 1999 as planning began to develop for construction of a permanent car repair building and facility.

Y2K, the year 2000, brought construction of the current facility and Cornell Mobile Repair became Mechanical Services - Pittsburg. Two repair shop tracks were installed and a 12,000 square foot car repair building was constructed allowing permanent, more efficient equipment to improve shop methods and capabilities.

Watco Mechanical Services - Pittsburg was certified by the Association of American Railroads for mechanical operation and quality assurance as a Car Repair Facility in August 2000. Building construction was completed in October with equipment installations operational by 2000 year end.

We are extremely proud of our shop, which now includes a central compressor with air pipeline system supporting conveniently located repair stations also equipped with central pipeline oxygen, bulk pipeline propane gas, and new permanent, efficient wire feed welding machines. A 15-ton overhead crane spanning two tracks inside our new shop building now provides capability to perform heavy repair work, program repairs, efficient production, and quality of workmanship that is attractive to our Customers. This improved repair capability supported by the storage capability and service provided by our Transportation Services railroad operations is causing potential Customer interest daily. Watco combined services cannot be matched by area competition.

Customer service is also being provided through stability, growth, and improved capability of our employees utilizing the new facility. Our shop supervisor, Steve Coleman has been a driving force since the first day of operation in June 1996. O.B. Carlson managed development from the first day in 1996 throughout the year 2000. Travis Clark was the third original employee and has recently returned to the operation. Ken Seely was the first Cornell Mobile addition in October 1996, and remains as a key car repairman, welder, and air brakeman. This type of stability combined with growth assures our Customers that quality service will be provided.

During a period of slow business in our industry, in early 200,1 fabrication of building bases for the local company, Atkinson Industries, was added as a new product line. Initially started in the new car repair building, utilizing our new welding equipment and overhead crane, this business was expanded and moved to the West 3rd Street warehouse building during October and November 2001. Effective January 2002, Mechanical Services - Fabrication is a separate operation in Pittsburg.

The warehouse bay occupied by Fabrication has been partitioned and renovated with a central compressor and pipeline air system. Lighting, ventilation, and electrical wiring has been upgraded for operation of six new, efficient, wire feed welding machines. A new grit blast with recovery system is being installed and the shop has been provided with new tooling, paint equipment, and undercoating equipment.

Again, Customer service is being provided through the capability of our employees utilizing the new facility. Our shop supervisor, David Dugan, with the help of John Feugate has moved form Car Repair and demonstrated superior quality and performance to the satisfaction of a new Customer. Growth and improved capability are being provided by new members to the Mechanical Services - Fabrication team; Torry Holsinger, Larry Lever, Kevin Redman, and Edward Davis.

Year 2002 is off to a great start. Fabrication produced seven building bases in January ranging in length from thirty-two feet to forty-one feet six inches. We are now in the process of building the first of five projects which will be the largest ever constructed by our Customer, twenty-eight feet by eighty-two feet, 2296 square feet each, separable in four parts for shipping. Car repair completed ninety-five individual bad order cars in January and will produce programs as well as wreck repairs in February.

Growth in this economy and the state of our industry is possible through the capability of our employees with the leader ship of Watco Companies.

Why in the world is there an article in the Newsletter about our Watco Companies web site? Well, have you ever looked at our company website? Take a few minutes and check it out. You can find it on the Internet at www.watcocompanies.com.

Why should an employee look at our web site? Isn't it just for customers? No, not at all. Give me a few minutes of your time, and maybe I can persuade you to visit the site on a regular basis. There are several good reasons why an employee should use our web site.

It is an excellent way to learn more about our company. Maybe you're a track man and you want to learn more about one of our railroads. Or maybe you work in switching and wonder what the warehousing people do. How many Mechanical sites do we have and where are they located? Who is in charge of Leasing? What is Property Management? What are Transportation Services? What does our Management Team look like? You can go to our web site and find out the basics about each part of our company.

Have you ever wondered just where the PCC railroad is? How about the Timber Rock Railroad? Do you want to know what towns we serve on the K & O? The site has maps that show this information for each of the railroads.

Take a look at the job postings. Maybe you want a shot at being an engineer or maybe you're tired of being the CEO and want a job as a car knocker. Heck, after writing that comment, I may want a job as a car knocker. The job posting page is the place to go and find out what opportunities are available within our company. Remember, Watco has a history of promoting employees, if possible, instead of hiring from the outside, so we definitely want our employees to use this part of our web site.

Do you need information about Blue Cross/Blue Shield providers? How about employee benefits such as the 401(k) plan or the tuition reimbursement policy? What about information on the Railroad Retirement Board, or help in planning your retirement? What are the benefits specific to your division or location? It's all there. The web site also has many of our company policies, and the most up-to-date revision of our employee handbook.

If you don't see the specific thing you had in mind, check out the Frequently Asked Questions section. If it's not there, maybe it should be. After all, surely you're not the only employee that has ever had that question.

If anything noteworthy has happened at your site, it can be put in the News section so that everyone can know about it. Supervisors can send any news items to us for inclusion on this page. Promotions, awards, Safety milestones, etc. can be sent to corporate headquarters and we will relay it to the Webmaster for posting.

Let us know what you think of the web site. We need your input. We want any suggestions you might have so that we can make this site the best it can be. We want this web site to be beneficial to our employees and our customers. When you're on the site, if you think it's not very easy to use, then give us ideas to improve it and make it more user friendly. If it's not user friendly, our customers may never tell us, they may just quit using the web site, so we are relying on our employees to help us make it friendly for everyone. If you have any ideas, we need to know what they are. Our web site will only be as good as we (all employees) make it. If you have any suggestions, please give them to your supervisor, or send them to me at lforsythe@watcocompanies.com. Our web site is a tool. Use it to your advantage.

Alan Elliott, former VP of Marketing Services for Watco Companies, Inc., Pittsburg, KS, has accepted the position of Vice President of Customer Support and Billing Services for our railroads. Alan has been with Watco Companies for four years and has over 21 years of railroad marketing and customer service experience.

Stacy Pippitt, Asst. Mngr. for the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad in Winfield, Ks, and his wife Tammy welcomed a baby boy February 3. Shay Dean weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces. Stacy and Tammy also have a son Cody.

Rebecca Merritt joined the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad in Wichita, Ks, as accounts payable clerk. Rebecca has one son and has spent time working with a local electric company and automotive dealerships.

Mike McGee joined Watco Companies Mechanical Division in Jacksonville, FL, as a car mechanic and welder. Mike has 5 years experience with Progress Rail. He and his wife, Jenny, have a son and daughter.

After 23 years with Progress Rail Services, Kenny Schulze also joined Watco Companies Mechanical Division in Jacksonville. He is working as a production supervisor.

Lonnie Dixon joined the Switching Division of Watco Companies in Monroeville, AL.. He is working as a switchman and has experience as a welder and security officer.

Our nation has honored the firefighters, policeman, and volunteers who responded to the tragedy of Sept. 11th. While we do not know the names of these heroes, we have been awed by their sense of duty and PRIDE as they performed their duties. Watco also has its heroes; employees who perform their daily tasks taking great PRIDE in what they do.

Thursday January 31st at the RailDog Rally in Rupert Idaho, I had the privilege of being with the track crew, locomotive repair crew, and railcar repair crew. These men had spent the last several days battling temperatures that hovered near 0 degrees, drifting snow, packed snow, and frozen switches. Their jobs were difficult as they did their very best to predict the location of the most dangerous hazards and urgently took steps to mitigate the dangers.

I listened as each man stood up and spoke of their areas of responsibility. Each one was proud of what they had accomplished, and not only within the last few days. Some spoke of preventative maintenance and repairs completed during the hot summer that was making the difference in safety these many months later.

These men often work with no one else to see what they are doing. A personal PRIDE in their craft drives them. They labor many hours with no audience, motivated by their own desire to know that when they go home for the day, they have done a good job.

On Wed Jan 30, Pittsburg, KS was hit with a terrible ice storm. Homes and businesses were losing electricity and radio towers were collapsing from the weight of the ice. Payroll knew that it was very possible that Watco office could lose electricity at any moment. The W2 forms were due to be mailed the next day and she utilized every resource to get as many printed as possible before the electricity was lost. When the electricity did fail, out came the flashlights and candles so that numbers could be checked and envelopes stuffed. Even the risk management department pitched in and helped.

These ladies worked hard under tough conditions and not because someone was making them do it. They did it without an audience, with nothing to drive them but their own desire to know that they had done a good job. They took personal PRIDE in their work.

And our company is filled with people with this same PRIDE in what they do. Employees who we never hear about have saved the company money, worked long hard hours, prevented accidents, satisfied a customer, and helped a fellow worker. This company is filled with unsung heroes who work daily with PRIDE.

It would be impossible to recognize all of our great employees who make up Watco. Let this article be a small and indirect way of saying thanks to every single employee.

Congratulations to the following dedicated employees who celebrate anniversaries with Watco Companies, Inc., in the month of March.

Following the family based values of Watco Companies, Inc., the corporate office in Pittsburg, Kansas, is joining others across the state to make children's lives a little brighter.

YouthFriends is a mentoring program that connects caring adult volunteers with young people in schools to encourage success, promote healthy behaviors and build stronger communities.

Beginning in 1995, as a pilot effort in six metro Kansas City school districts, YouthFriends now is working to create bonds with children and adults in 75 districts in Greater Kansas City and surrounding areas.

YouthFriends creators soon realized most adults were working during school hours, so there were not many adults available for mentoring. Brandy Olivera, Marketing and Volunteer Service Specialist, said though this appeared as a problem, it actually created the solution, Employer Partners

"By incorporating volunteers from the workplace, we not only provide the children with a partner, but we allow the adults to have a change of pace. Our experiences with volunteers from the workplace have shown both the child and adult benefit," Olivera said.

YouthFriends can benefit volunteers by boosting morale, improving teamwork skills and developing new skills. Employer partners can benefit by gaining new channels of information and community relations and also gain increased employee productivity.

Teresa Wallen, Payroll/HR Assistant and YouthFriends volunteer, believes being a volunteer provides great opportunities.

"This is an excellent chance for adults to be involved with children. Personally, I see it as a tool in raising my own kids. You can volunteer with a child, other than your own, and take what you learn from that child and apply it to situations with your own children," Wallen said. "Also, being a volunteer and a friend to a child, lets the child see a different view of adults. You are their friend, not necessarily an adult they view as someone to answer to."

"Safety begins with you in 2002". A catchy slogan or words to live by.

We all as members of TEAM WATCO need to always be thinking about safety as our number one priority. When we are safe we meet our Goals of becoming the best provider of transportation services in the country. Being safe allows us to come to work everyday and return to our families safely at the end of the day. It means we have met our customers expectations of delivering the service that they need, on time, when needed and with no damage.

Safety does begin with you and with the whole WATCO Team.

The Team has made a commitment to make this year and every year safer.

The team needs you to think about your safety, your fellow employees safety, safety of your families and the communities where we operate each and every day.

Think of Safety as the part of the playbook our teams use to play the game of transportation service. The rulebook is one part of the playbook.

We need to use a Job Briefing every day. The Job Briefing is like the quarterback in the huddle giving the play and when to execute the play. As the Job conditions change we job brief to change our game plan. At the end of the day we are all playing on the same team and we have won part of the game by completing the day safely.

Think of 2002 as the game and each day as plays in the game. We as a team only win if we end the year safer than before.