EAST CHICAGO | The huge machinery and equipment used by UTLX Manufacturing Inc. to build railroad tank cars was sold at auction Wednesday and Thursday at the former site of the Union Tank Car plant.

Conducted by R.J. Montgomery & Associates Inc. of Plymouth, Mich., the auction included all the contents of the Railroad Avenue facility that had built railroad tank cars on the site for 50 years. A large portion of the buildings were more than a century old.

The company closed the plant at the end of May, moving all of its tank car production to nonunion facilities in Texas and Louisiana. The closure eliminated the jobs of about 70 salaried and 375 hourly employees, many who had worked at Union Tank for several decades.

Bruce Winslow, spokesman for the company, said Thursday that the buildings "have been sold and will be demolished and recycled." The company continue to own the land, he said.

After the facility's closing was announced in early April, the hourly employees were promised a $1,000 bonus if no vandalism to the plant or equipment occurred prior to the closing.