FreightCar America Delivers Multi-Purpose Steel Triple Hopper Cars to Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.

CHICAGO -- FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) announced today that it has begun delivering 150 multi-purpose steel triple hopper cars to Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (W&LE) from its railcar production facility in Johnstown, PA.

Ed Whalen, FreightCar America senior vice president, marketing and sales, said, "The railcars in this order are newly-designed to carry the wide range of products handled by the W&LE. We are particularly pleased to build the first order of steel triple hoppers the industry has seen in many years. We already have negotiated a follow-on order for similar open top hopper cars."

The railroad plans to carry a variety of cargos in the cars, including coal, aggregates, limestone, and taconite pellets. "These are the first new cars we've ever purchased and they look wonderful!" Larry Parsons, W&LE chairman & CEO said. "We anticipate using the cars to meet the needs of our customers for many years. Initially we will put the cars into iron ore service," Parsons added.

The W&LE, now headquartered in Brewster, OH, began in 1871 connecting the Wheeling, WV coal fields and Lake Erie port cities. After WWII, the railroad was absorbed by Norfolk & Western Railway. In 1989, after the merger of the Norfolk & Western and Southern railroads, Norfolk Southern Railway dissolved the old W&LE in 1988. In 1990, a group of investors purchased a portion of the old W&LE system along with the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway and renamed the new system the W&LE. It operates today on 840 miles of track with annual revenue of over $70 million.

FreightCar America, Inc. manufactures railroad freight cars, with particular expertise in coal-carrying railcars. In addition to coal cars, FreightCar America designs and builds flat cars, mill gondola cars, intermodal cars, coil steel cars and motor vehicle carriers. It is headquartered in Chicago, and has manufacturing facilities in Danville, IL, Roanoke, VA and Johnstown, PA.

This press release may contain statements relating to expected financial performance and/or future business prospects, events and plans that are "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements represent estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Actual results may differ materially from the results described in or anticipated by forward-looking statements due to certain risks and uncertainties. These potential risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the cyclical nature of the business; adverse economic and market conditions; fluctuating costs of raw materials, including steel and aluminum, and delays in the delivery of raw materials; ability to maintain relationships with suppliers of railcar components; reliance upon a small number of customers that represent a large percentage of sales; the variable purchase patterns of customers and the timing of completion, delivery and acceptance of customer orders; the highly competitive nature of the industry; the risk of lack of acceptance of new railcar offerings by our customers; and the additional risk factors described in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. FreightCar America expressly disclaims any duty to provide updates to any forward-looking statements made in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about FreightCar America is available on its website at www.freightcaramerica.com.