HELM Financial

Company History: HELM Financial Corporation provides operating leases of freight railcars and locomotives to railroads and shippers throughout North America. Additionally, HELM services the international rail marketplace through the sale and export of North American rolling stock and motive power. Their subsidiary, HELM Rail Equipment Services, supplies locomotive parts and components, diesel engines and diesel power parts to a wide range of rail, marine and industrial markets.

HELM Financial Corporation was the largest independent locomotive and railcar operating leasing company in North America. With a fleet of 850 locomotives and 22,000 railcars, HELM was well equipped to supply their customers with the broad range of rail equipment they require.

HELM Financial Corp. was acquired by First Union Rail, a Wells Fargo Company in April 2014. First Union Rail is a full service rail leasing company offering rail cars and locomotives for lease. First Union Rail operates one of the largest and most diverse rail equipment leasing companies in North America. It offers all types of general purpose freight cars, tank cars, switcher locomotives, 4 axle and 6 axle locomotives to the marketplace. The company is based in Rosemont, IL, with offices throughout the United States and in Montreal and Calgary, Canada,

Successor/Parent History: Wells Fargo Rail is the new name for the historic First Union Rail Corporation, along with the combined business of the former GE Capital Rail Services, which Wells Fargo purchased from GE in September 2015.

First Union Rail was the freight-car leasing unit of the First Union Corporation, a bank. At some point GE Capital Services, the financial services wing of the GE corporation acquired the assets from First Union bank. Later on, the assets were sold by GE to Wells Fargo.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.