EAST CHICAGO | Gathering morning clouds Friday reflected the mood as the last of Union Tank Car Co.'s hourly union workers left the plant for good.

"When you get to the 34-year mark, you figure your life is made. I really thought I'd retire out of here. Today is definitely a hard day," said Arland Robinson, of Lowell, secretary-treasurer of Local 524 of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Union.

The union represented 375 workers at the plant. Some 70 salaried employees also are affected by the 40-year operation's closure, which was spurred by the economic downturn, company spokesman Bruce Winslow said.

The Chicago-based firm announced earlier this year it would shut the plant at 300 W. 151st St. and transfer operations to nonunion facilities in Texas and Louisiana. Winslow said a declining market for tank car sales and leases prompted the decision, which, for workers, was hard to swallow.

"It's sad. It's like when you graduated from high school and everyone went their separate ways. Only this was 30 years instead of four years," said Munster resident Jim Sheridan, an X-ray welder who lost his job three weeks short of his 30th anniversary. Winslow said on that Thursday most of the workers received their checks and benefits explanations, a process he said went well.

Winslow said some accounting department personnel will remain at the plant for about three months to close the books.

"It's a sad day," he added.

Valparaiso resident Kelly Hounshell, president of Local 524, was more than sad as he and the others stood just outside the gate.

"I'm thankful I had a job here for 21 years. I just can't believe this membership contributed to making billions of dollars for the company. It makes no difference now. It's just a slap in the face."

Still, he said, "You've got to suck it up and go on."

Merrillville resident Stevie Anderson, a 19-year employee, said "It really hasn't dawned on me yet."

"There's a lack of integrity in manufacturing companies. It's about making a buck. It's not about people."

The plant was building about 60 tanks per week with about 650 represented workers from late 2006 to September, when weekly tank car production dropped to 50, then to 40 in October and to 30 in early January.

The railroad freight and tank car industry has all but disappeared from the region. GATX Rail Corp. closed its plant in East Chicago in February 2001, about the same time as the Thrall Car Manufacturing Co. facility in Chicago Heights was shuttered.