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MEDIA CONTACT	ED WHALEN
TEL.	(312) 928-0856
FAX	(312) 928-0890
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Sept 4, 2003

Johnstown America delivers AutoFlood III™ coal cars to Oglethorpe Power

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, September 4, 2003 - Johnstown America Corporation today announced the acquisition of 523 AutoFlood III™ automatic discharge coal cars by Oglethorpe Power Corporation of Tucker, Georgia. The cars are being built at Johnstown America's Danville, IL facility. They will carry coal from the Powder River Basin to Plant Scherer near Juliette, GA, 70 miles southeast of Atlanta. Plant Scherer is a coal fired electric power plant co-owned by Oglethorpe Power.

According to Bill Hutzel, VP sales - eastern region for Johnstown America, delivery of the cars will be completed this fall. "We are very happy with this sale of cars, since these are the first AutoFlood III cars we have sold to Oglethorpe Power," Hutzel said.

Harry Zander, MRC's Vice President, Sales and Marketing said, "We chose Johnstown America's automatic discharge/rotary combination cars because of their flexibility and the future demand we see for this capability. We want to show our continued commitment to the new car market and have had excellent experience with Johnstown America and look forward to continued business."

The first two trains are already in operation and moving coal to Plant Scherer. Larry Graus, Senior Fuels Analyst for Oglethorpe Power said, "We are happy with the cars and Johnstown America's quality control techniques." Oglethorpe Power Corporation is a not-for-profit power supplier serving 39 of Georgia's 42 customer-owned Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs).

Harry Mullins, senior railcar specialist - maintenance at Southern Company, operator of Plant Scherer, added, "The cars are performing well. We have had no problems with the first two trains that are now running. It has been a pleasure working with the people at Johnstown America's Danville shop."

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is a super-regional energy company with more than 38,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Southeast. It is one of the largest producers of electricity in the United States. For over a century, Johnstown America Corporation has been a leading producer of railcars in North America. It designs and builds aluminum coal cars, flat cars, mill gondola cars, heavy haul intermodal cars, aggregate cars, the new aluminum motor vehicle carrier, the AVC, and the VersaCoil™ steel coil car.

Johnstown America Corporation is delivering 523 of these AutoFlood III™ automatic discharge coal cars to Oglethorpe Power. They have already begun carrying coal from the Powder River Basin to Plant Scherer near Juliette, GA.

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