The McConway & Torley Pittsburgh facility is almost as old as the American Railroad industry itself. In 1868, William McConway purchased the Eagle Gray Iron Foundry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This foundry became one of the railway industry’s first suppliers of steel castings. John J. Torley joined McConway a year later, when the first transcontinental railroad spurred the rapid growth of industry, McConway & Torley was born. The foundry in Pittsburgh has an expansive history, one of more than 130 years. This historic steel foundry began rebuilding in the late nineteen seventies, with the last phase of modernization completed in 1996. Both the equipment and technology are almost identical to a sister plant in Kutztown.

McConway & Torley soon became the exclusive manufacturer and patent-holder of the industry’s first automatic coupler, invented in 1873 by Eli H. Janney. In 1887, the Master Car Builder Association (MCB) selected the Janney Coupler over 40 other designs as the industry standard and McConway & Torley’s railcar-coupler castings business became the mainstay of the company. Today McConway & Torley continues to be the leading manufacturer of standard couplers and car-connecting systems in the world.

The Pittsburgh facility also boasts about its dedicated and highly experienced workforce, one that has proven itself with the highest quality steel castings.McConway & Torley purchased the Kutztown Foundry in March of 1980. Located in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, in the small town of Kutztown, the foundry dates back to 1869. It was very old and outdated by today’s standards, but rich in people: people with a wealth of foundry experience and a heritage of respect for the work ethic…unique people in today’s changing workplace.