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Article: Railcar company on track toward founder's 2020 vision
- Article from:
- The Sun - Naperville (IL)
- Article date:
- October 10, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright, 2006, The Naperville Sun. All rights reserved. REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED. (Hide copyright information)
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Eugene Constance, front, stands with employees of Excel Railcar. From left to right, back row: Jack Allen, Tony Eads, Dereck Cox, Todd Hardin, Shelly Constance, Jim Jones, Jack Spivey, Rick Eads, Bill Ballinger and Keith Constance.|Excel Railcar employee Bill Ballinger inspects a railcar to be repaired.
Eugene Constance, 67, remembers shaking hands with the client, a parts company in Mexico, and consummating his first deal to lease 247 railcars. The year was 1980.
Everything about the transaction was normal - save for one detail. Constance didn't have 247 railcars. In fact, he didn't have one.
"They said to me, 'Where are the cars?'" Constance recalled. "I said, 'Don't worry, I'll come up ...