ALLIANCE — A downturn in the rail industry has forced Alliance Castings Co. to lay off 108 salaried and hourly employees this week.
General Manager Lawrence Stewart said the company’s order book has been cut in half. Production of rail car wheel carriage parts will go from about 300 to 140 castings a day.
The reduction puts employment at the plant at about 490, but Stewart said the rail business is cyclical and it will recover.
“It’s just a matter of time,” he said.
In its heyday, the plant at 1001 E. Broadway St. was American Steel Foundries and employed more than 1,000. The last 200 were laid off in 2002, and it closed until 2004, when Alliance Castings was formed and restarted production there.
