To celebrate the news, Owney, a resident of the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum, is back with a makeover for the opening of a new exhibit that chronicles his adventures. The museum also is announcing an Owney photo look-alike contest. Postal Service Owney related activities will take place at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis and at the visitors’ center in Albany, N.Y. Events will also take place in Toledo, Ohio; and Tucson, Ariz.

“With his new stamp and through the efforts of the National Postal Museum, Owney’s legacy will transcend time, becoming as much a part of the Postal Service of the 21st century as he was more than 100 years ago,” said Mary Anne Gibbons, Postal Service general counsel and executive vice president. “For almost 10 years, Owney was the much-beloved and well-traveled mascot of the Railway Mail Service.”

Railway clerks believed Owney brought them good luck, since not a single train he rode was in an accident. During his life, Owney traveled by some estimates more than 140,000 miles. He even visited other countries representing the U.S. Post Office.

Joining Gibbons in dedicating the stamp were Allen Kane, director, National Postal Museum; William H. Bond, Owney stamp artist; Dirk Wales, author, and Stephen Kearney, manager, Stamp Services.

“The National Postal Museum is excited to offer many exciting activities and events in celebration of Owney’s new stamp,” said Kane. “And there’s more to come — as we will soon be launching an Owney iPhone application and an Owney iPad interactive e-book, both of which will bring Owney to life.”

The stamp art features an illustration of Owney by artist Bill Bond of Arlington, Va., under the direction of art director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Va. The illustration depicts Owney in profile, facing left, with many of his famous tags and medals gleaming in the background.

The Owney stamps — like all Forever stamps will always equal the value of the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Owney: The ‘Barkstory’

In the 1880s, during the height of the Railway Mail Service, clerks in the Albany, NY, Post Office took a liking to a mixed terrier named Owney. Fond of riding in postal wagons, Owney followed mailbags onto trains and soon was known as a good-luck charm to Railway Mail Service employees who made him their unofficial mascot. Working in the Railway Mail Service was highly dangerous. According to the National Postal Museum, more than 80 mail clerks were killed in train wrecks and more than 2,000 were injured between 1890 and 1900. However, it was said that no train ever met with trouble while Owney was aboard.

As Owney traveled the country, clerks affixed medals and tags to his collar to document his travels. When John Wanamaker, Postmaster General from 1889 to 1893, heard that Owney was overburdened with tags, he gave him a special harness to display them all.

Data from research analyst PIERS, a sister company of the JOC, supports the expectation that containerized exports – which jumped nearly 12 percent in the first half of 2010 before slowing in the third quarter – will accelerate to mid- to high single-digit growth over the next few quarters.

Fueled by a growing Asian middle class, overseas crop issues and a weak U.S. dollar, demand for U.S. goods from agriculture to manufactured products is accelerating. Congressional approval of a recently negotiated U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement stands to push those exports upward dramatically.

“I cross my fingers thinking this is too good to be true, but it looks like it’s going to be a long run,” said Howard Wallace, president of Los Angeles Grain Terminal. The grain export growth that began in 2009 could last another two years, he added.

With optimistic outlooks being reported by a range of sectors, the Administration’s goal of doubled exports by 2015 is looking more and more possible. This week’s JOC Cover Story analyzes the 2011 outlook for U.S. exports and supply chain interests, exploring the expectations for various commodities and the ever-present concerns of capacity and rates.

To view daily news visit www.joc.com.

Koppers will purchase the assets of Portec’s rail joint business primarily located at Portec’s Huntington, W.Va., Plant. Revenues for this business in 2010 are estimated at approximately $22 million.

“We are happy to finalize this transaction with Koppers and complete our last step in the acquisition of Portec Rail Products Inc.,” said Stan Hasselbusch, president & CEO of L.B. Foster.

These five locomotives were manufactured at GE’s plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, and will join the first batch of seven that were placed in revenue service shortly after arrival in the U.K. in November 2009. The locomotives are part of a 30-unit order placed in 2007, the largest in Freightliner Group’s history.

The PowerHaul Series represents GE Transportation’s first entry to the UK and European market place, GE said. The PowerHaul Locomotive recently made its international debut at InnoTrans, the world’s largest rail trade show in Berlin, generating great interest among European as well as Asian railways.

“We are gratified that Freightliner already has been honored by the U.K. rail industry for their success in deploying GE’s new PowerHaul Series Locomotive,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of GE Transportation. “It is a strong validation of our strategy of serving rail customers worldwide when the industry itself recognizes the PowerHaul performance advantage. We look forward to even more success for Freightliner with the addition of this latest shipment to their fleet.”

The subsequent offering period expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on December 21, 2010.

As of the subsequent offering period’s expiration time, approximately 8,662,078 shares had been tendered and not properly withdrawn pursuant to the tender offer, which represented approximately 90.2 percent of the outstanding shares. L.B. Foster and Foster Thomas Co. accepted for payment all shares that were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn, and paid for these shares in accordance with the tender offer’s terms.

L.B. Foster intends to effect a “short form” merger of Foster Thomas Co. with and into Portec, with Portec being the surviving corporation, as soon as practicable. As a result of the merger, Portec will become a wholly owned subsidiary of L.B. Foster.

“I am very pleased that we are able to complete the Tender Offer and now begin the process of combining our two great companies,” Stan L. Hasselbusch, President and Chief Executive Officer of L.B. Foster, said. “As I look ahead I see a very bright future for the new L.B. Foster as we continue our path to enhancing our position as a leading supplier of products and services for the global rail industry.”

The tender offer was previously set to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City Time on December 21, 2010.

As of Dec. 21, approximately 991,424 shares of common stock had been tendered in the subsequent offering period and Foster Thomas Co. has accepted for payment all tendered shares. Foster Thomas Co. now owns approximately 8.6 million Portec shares, representing approximately 89.78 percent of Portec outstanding shares.

The partnership represents an investment of approximately $50 million in the joint venture with the potential to sustain or create 250 U.S. jobs by 2012 for the first phase of the agreement.

This collaboration establishes the GE Transportation – CSR joint venture as the first U.S. manufacturer ready to supply high-speed rail (HSR) passenger trains for the two proposed true U.S. HSR corridors in Florida and California. The agreement also advances passenger rail transport through the manufacturing of medium-speed passenger trains and transit rail vehicles for urban areas in the U.S.

“We are committed to advancing the global high-speed rail technology market and this agreement provides a significant opportunity for infrastructure and business growth,” said GE Vice Chairman John Rice. “It is in line with GE’s company-to-country initiatives and will help support investment and high-tech job growth in America.”

The agreement is another critical step to support and advance passenger rail development in the U.S., following the memorandum of understanding (MOU) GE signed with China’s Ministry of Railways (MOR) in November 2009.

GE and CSR are committed to maximizing U.S. content in high-speed passenger trains to meet Buy America standards. In addition, all final production will be in the U.S., sustaining approximately 3,500 long-term high-tech manufacturing U.S. jobs in support of the joint venture. GE is the world leader in diesel-electric locomotive technology and this agreement is a step towards expanding offerings to manufacture high-speed passenger trains or EMUs (Electric Multiple Units).

The tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Portec expired at 5:00 p.m. on Dec. 15. As of that time, the depositary for the offer advised that approximately 7.63 million shares, representing approximately 79.46 percent of Portec’s outstanding shares, were validly tendered and not withdrawn in the offer. Foster Thomas Co. has accepted for payment all validly tendered shares.

Foster Thomas Company is providing a subsequent offering period, which will expire at 5:00 p.m. on Dec. 21, unless the subsequent offering period is further extended. During this subsequent offering period, Portec stockholders who did not previously tender their shares of common stock in the offer may do so and will promptly receive the same $11.80 per share as was paid during the initial offering period.

The DOJ has filed the agreement together with related papers in federal district court.  The signing of an Asset Purchase Agreement relating to this sale was announced on Dec. 9.

“We thank the DOJ for their expeditious approval and their cooperation with us throughout this entire process,” Stan L. Hasselbusch, president and CEO of L.B. Foster, said.

L.B. Foster will be able to close the tender offer and acquire Portec following judicial approval of this agreement which will satisfy the antitrust condition in the tender offer, assuming all of the other conditions to the tender offer are satisfied.

Koppers will purchase the assets of Portec’s rail joint business primarily located at Portec’s Huntington, WV Plant. Revenues for this business in 2010 are estimated at approximately $22 million.  This transaction is expected to close by year-end.

Consummation of the divestiture is subject to various conditions including final approval by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division,  entering into a consent order by Foster and Portec to be filed and approved by a federal district court judge and Foster’s subsidiary notifying the depositary for its tender offer for Portec’s shares that it is accepting the tendered shares for payment.

Upon judicial approval, the antitrust condition in our tender offer will be satisfied and L.B. Foster will be able to close the tender offer and acquire Portec assuming the other conditions of the tender offer are satisfied.