General Railway Signal

Infobox_Company
company_name = General Railway Signal Company
company_
company_type = dependent site within ALSTOM since 1998
foundation = 1904
location_city = Rochester
location_country = New York
key_people =
products = Equipment and services for rail transport
homepage = [http://www.alstom.com/ www.alstom.com]
industry = Manufacturing
num_employees = 350
revenue = N/A

General Railway Signal Company (GRS) is a supplier of railway signaling equipment, systems and services in Rochester, NY. Now a part of ALSTOM Transport and no longer an independent company, the Rochester site traces its history all the way back to founding in 1904. GRS was a member of the original Dow Jones Industrial Average.

History

General Railway Signal Company (GRS) was founded in 1904 with the merger of three companies (Pneumatic Signal Company of Rochester, New York, Taylor Signal Co. of Buffalo, New York and Standard Railroad Signal Company of Arlington, New Jersey). On October 1 1928, General Railway Signal was one of the 30 stocks on the original Dow Jones Industrial Average. [ [http://www.cftech.com/BrainBank/FINANCE/DowJonesAvgsHist.html Charles Dow, the History of the Dow Jones Averages] ] In 1965, General Signal Corporation (GSX) was created with the intent to diversify into areas other than railway signaling. GRS was a wholly-owned subsidiary of GSX. In 1989, GRS was acquired by the Italian company Sasib and joined the Sasib Railways group. In 1998, it became part of ALSTOM when ALSTOM acquired Sasib Railways. It is now a dependent site of ALSTOM Transport. The GRS name is no longer used. All products now use the ALSTOM brand.

In 1986, GRS joined with China National Railway Signal & Communication Group Corporation (CRSC) to form the Chinese-American Signal Company (CASCO) in Shanghai, China, which produces products and systems for railways in the People's Republic of China. [ [http://www.cn.alstom.com/home/jvs/cascosignal/profile/32456.EN.php?languageId=EN&dir=/home/jvs/cascosignal/profile/ CASCO Signal Ltd] ]

From its founding until 1993, GRS main office and manufacturing facilities were located at 801 West Avenue in Rochester, New York. In 1993, it moved to two new suburban facilities: administration and engineering to Sawgrass Drive in Brighton, and manufacturing to John Street in West Henrietta. In 2003, the Sawgrass facility was closed and all activity was consolidated at the John Street plant, renamed ALSTOM Station.

Products

*Carborne signaling equipment
**ATC
**ATP
**ATS
*Wayside signaling equipment
**DC code systems
**electronic communication systems
**electronic interlocking
**relays
**signals
**switch machines
**track circuits
**trip stops
**yard retarders
*Central Control signaling equipment
**computer-based Manual Control Systems
**computer-based Traffic Management Systems
**dark territory control systems
**electro-mechanical cTc machines
**yard control systems

Clients

*Railroad
**Amtrak
**BNSF Railway
**Canadian National Railway
**Canadian Pacific Railway
**CSX
**Ferromex
**Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana
**Ferrocarriles Argentinos, through GRS de Argentina (GRSA)
**Kansas City Southern Railway
**Norfolk Southern Railway
**ProRail, operator of the railway infrastructure in The Netherlands
**Union Pacific Railroad

*Transit
**Bay Area Rapid Transit
**Chicago Transit Authority
**Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf, the municipal transport company in Amsterdam
**Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
**Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority
**NJ Transit
**New York City Transit Authority
**Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
**Toronto Transit Commission
**Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Major Accomplishments

*First cTc machine ["Elements of Railway Signaling", General Railway Signal (June 1979)] 1927
*Computer-based central control office 1968
*First fully automatic computer-planned and executed train meet 1981
*Microprocessor based Interlocking (VPI) 1985
*Northeast Corridor Improvement Project 1980s
*100th Anniversary 2004

ee also

* Interlocking
* Union Switch and Signal, the other major US railway signaling company.

External links

* [http://www.macraesbluebook.com/search/company.cfm?company=314039 Company Info]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_n5_v197/ai_18313834 GRS Orders 1996]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_n11_v196/ai_17720570 LED Highway Crossing Signals 1995]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,823769,00.html Time magazine article 1955]
* [http://www.railroad-signaling.com/mysignals/2A.html Model 2A Dwarf Signal introduced 1908]
* [http://www.du.edu/~etuttle/rail/lock.htm Principles of Interlocking]

External links

* [http://www.alstom.com/ ALSTOM website]
* [http://www.transport.alstom.com/ ALSTOM Transport Sector]

References