About

Paragon Bridge Works and Paragon Railcar Salvage prides itself in being the "little fish" in the "giant pond". You get common sense, down to earth people who truly value each and every customer. Paragon has experienced steady year to year growth since opening its doors in 1999 and the future looks very bright.

History

Paragon Railcar Salvage officially opened its doors in January of 2000 as a subsidiary of United Capital, LLC. Paragon's primary business was in railroad tank cars. Tanks were stripped down, dismantled, with parts sold to reconditioners and the car body (the tank) sold as pipes/culverts or for bulk off-rail liquid storage. Several tanks were utilized by land developers in order to meet the needs of economical emergency fire water storage. Some being used by rural fire departments.

The world famous "Burning Man Project" in Nevada called Paragon because their week long fire pits kept destroying its enclosure. Paragon provided them with several "tank ends" or "tank heads" 10' in diameter which they took and made them look like giant ash trays. They worked very well!

Paragon Bridge Works, also a subsidiary of United Capital, LLC, was started in 2001 after we brought structural engineers on board and thoroughly evaluated the feasibility of using railroad flat cars as bridges. Not only did we find it feasible, we also found it very economical, extremely quick to erect, and easy to replicate throughout the US. It just made sense.

Paragon Bridge Works, INC was created in 2005 in order to undertake installations in California and Arizona per their state laws for contractors.

Our engineers are now licensed in at least 33 states! We have built bridges in just about every single state in the US. The future look bright!

What makes Paragon different from other
companies that sell railroad flat cars?

Experience, training, and knowledge. While other companies that sell railroad flat cars have their roots in general salvage operations or are brokers that often have no idea what they are dealing with, Paragon has its roots in railcar repair in repair shops certified by the Federal Railroad Administration. Paragon is very familiar with railcar types, the proper way to inspect and repair railcars, along with a broad range of experience knowing where defects are common on certain types of railcars.

Paragon also continually collects data and drawings, often times generating their own computer models from physical inspections of railcars. This allows Paragon's data base of railcar designs to be superior to others.

So, instead of asking "why Paragon", the better question should be "why in the world would you buy a railcar/bridge from somebody else that has no idea what they are selling".

Paragon...it just makes sense.