Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (GREX)

Edwin “Ned” deSteiguer Snead
(1929 – 2015)

(The following is excerpted from his obituary)

In 1992, at an age when most men are retiring, Ned created Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (GREX). GREX is a rail services company providing the railroads with specialty equipment and innovative technological products and services to maintain and repair track all over North America. Much of the equipment that GREX uses was invented and patented by Ned, including the DUMP TRAIN, a train that unloads itself by way of a conveyor belt running the length of the train. Also unique to GREX is the SLOT MACHINE, ballast cars that connect, forming one continuous car in which a front end loader can run from front to back. Ned holds 26 patents for various inventions related to the rail industry. Often Ned would have an idea and others would tell him, “That won’t work” or “We don’t need that.” He never let negative opinions deter him from pressing on with his invention. Sometimes the idea didn’t work, but often enough he would come up with a product that was both ingenious and economically viable. GREX has grown exponentially since its inception and now enjoys an international reputation for state-of-the-art rail services.