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CORRESPONDENCE

June 3, 2009

Via EDGAR and UPS overnight

Linda Cvrkel

Accounting Branch Chief

Securities and Exchange Commission

Division of Corporation Finance

100 F Street N.E.

Washington, DC 20549

    Re:

    FreightCar America, Inc.

Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008

Filed March 13, 2009

Form 10Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2009

Filed May 11, 2009

File No. 000-51237

Dear Ms. Cvrkel:

On behalf of FreightCar America, Inc. (the “Company”), I am submitting this response to the
comments of the staff on the above-referenced filings as set forth in your letter dated May 21,
2009.

In addition to the Company’s responses set forth herein, the Company understands that it will need
to consider the staff’s comments in its future reports on 10-K and 10-Q. For your convenience, the
staff’s consecutively numbered comments are set forth below, followed by the Company’s responses.
Amounts discussed below are in thousands except for stock option amounts which are shown as whole
numbers.

Pursuant to your request, the Company hereby acknowledges that (i) it is responsible for the
adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filings, (ii) staff comments or changes to
disclosure in response to staff comments do not foreclose the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “Commission”) from taking any action with respect to the filings, and (iii) the Company may
not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person
under the federal securities laws of the United States.

Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008

Consolidated Statements of Income, page 42

Comment No. 1

We note from your disclosure in Note 1 that the description of your business includes manufacture,
rebuild, repair, sell and lease freight cars. In future filings, to the extent any of the revenues
from services (i.e. rebuilding and repair) or from leasing freight cars exceeds 10% of total
revenues, the amount of such revenues, and related cost of services, should be separately presented
on the face of the statements of income. See Rule 5-03.1 of Regulation S-X. Also, your revenue
recognition policy as disclosed in Note 2 should be expanded to disclose how you account for
service related revenue.

Response to Comment No. 1

Note 17 Operating Segment and Concentration of Sales, provides additional detail regarding the
Company’s revenues including the following categories: New railcar sales, Used railcar sales,
Leasing revenues and Other sales. Other sales include revenues from repairs and parts sales.
At the present time revenues from services (i.e. rebuilding and repair) or from leasing freight
cars do not exceed 10% of total revenues for any period presented. If revenues from services or
leasing exceed 10% of total revenues in future periods the Company will separately present the
amount of such revenues, and related cost of services on the face of the statements of income as
required by Rule 5-03.1 of Regulation S-X. In future 10-K filings the Company will expand its
revenue recognition policy as disclosed in Note 2 to indicate that it recognizes service related
revenue from rebuilding and repairs when all significant rebuilding or repair services have been
completed and accepted by the customer.

Note 5 Leased railcars, page 50

Comment No. 2

We note your disclosure that you began offering railcar leasing to your customers and you are
packaging the transactions and offering them for sale to leasing companies and financial
institutions. Please tell us and revise your disclosure in future filings to explain in greater
detail the nature, terms and significant provisions for such leasing transactions and how such
transactions have or will be accounted for within you financial statements. As part of your
response and revised disclosures, please describe the criteria/factors that the management
evaluates in determining whether it is probable that a leased railcar will be sold within one year,
including when and how often such evaluations are made (e.g. at the outset, monthly, quarterly,
etc.). Provide us with any accounting guidance you relied upon in determining the appropriate
accounting treatment. Also, in future filings, please disclose the useful life of the leased
railcars that are depreciated.

Response to Comment No. 2

We will include the following revised disclosure in our future 10-K and 10-Q filings:

In response to competitive market conditions, the Company began offering railcar leasing to its
customers on a selective and limited basis during 2008. The Company offers railcar leases to its

customers generally at market rates with terms and conditions that have been negotiated with the
customers. Railcar leases generally have terms of from three to seven years. It is the Company’s
strategy to generally offer these leased assets for sale to leasing companies and financial
institutions as market opportunities arise, rather than holding them to maturity.

Initially as of the date of manufacture and on a quarterly basis thereafter the Company evaluates
leased railcars under the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 144
to determine if the leased railcars qualify as “assets held for sale”. If all of the held for sale
criteria of SFAS No. 144 are met, including the determination by management that the sale of the
railcars is probable, and transfer of the railcars is expected to qualify for recognition as a
completed sale within one year, then the leased railcars are treated as assets held for sale and
classified as current assets on the balance sheet (leased assets held for sale). In determining
whether it is probable that the leased railcars will be sold within one year, management considers
general market conditions for similar railcars and considers whether those market conditions are
indicative of a potential sales price that will be acceptable to the Company to sell the cars
within one year. Leased railcars held for sale are carried at the lower of carrying value or fair
value less cost to sell and are not depreciated.

Leased railcars that do not meet all of the held for sale criteria are included in railcars on
operating leases on the balance sheet and are depreciated over 40 years. Depreciation on railcars
on operating leases was $369 for the year ended December 31, 2008.

The Company recognizes operating lease revenue on leased railcars on a straight-line basis over the
life of the lease. The Company recognizes revenue from the sale of railcars under operating leases
on a gross basis in manufacturing sales and cost of sales if the railcars are sold within 12 months
as the manufacture of the railcars and the sale is within the 12 month period specified by SFAS No.
144 and represents the completion of the sales process. The Company recognizes revenue from the
sale of railcars under operating leases on a net basis in leasing revenue as a gain (loss) on sale
(i.e. net) of leased railcars if the railcars are held in excess of 12 months as the sale
represents the disposal of a long-term asset.

Leased railcars at December 31, 2008 included leased railcars classified as held for sale of
$11,703 and railcars on operating leases classified as long-term assets of $34,971. Due to a
decline in asset values in the current market, an impairment write-down of $597 related to these
railcars on operating leases was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2008. Leased railcars
at December 31, 2008 are subject to lease agreements with external customers with terms of up to
three years (leases with terms greater than three years have been executed during 2009). The
Company had no leased railcars at December 31, 2007.

Future minimum rental revenues on leases at December 31, 2008 are as follows:

    Year ending December 31, 2009

    $
    3,610

    Year ending December 31, 2010

    3,299

    Year ending December 31, 2011

    2,303

    $
    9,212

Note 13 Stock Based Compensation, page 60

Comment No. 3

We note your disclosure that in valuing the stock options granted in 2008, the expected life
assumption was determined using the simplified method. Please explain to us, and disclose in
future filings, why you believe it is appropriate to use the simplified method in determining the
expected life assumption.

Response to Comment No. 3

The Company will revise future 10-K filings to disclose that the Company believes that it is
appropriate to use the simplified method in determining the expected life assumption for options
granted in 2008 because the Company did not have sufficient historical exercise data to provide a
reasonable basis upon which to estimate the expected term due to the limited period of time its
shares have publicly traded and the limited number of stock option grants to date.

The Company issued its first public offering in April 2005 and granted stock options on a limited
basis to certain executives prior to January 2008. Up until January 13, 2008 the Company’s stock
option awards included 329,808 stock options granted in April 2005 to three named executive
officers and 10,000 stock options granted in December 2005 to one additional named executive
officer. In January 2008 the Company issued stock options to a broader base of its employees. The
historical exercise data from the awards issued in 2005 may not be comparable to the January 2008
awards since the 2008 awards have been more widely granted to employees whose positions with the
Company are below the named executive officer level. The Company believes that its option awards
in 2008, which vest ratably over a three year period, qualify for use of the simplified method for
“plain vanilla” options granted after December 31, 2007 as described in Staff Accounting Bulletin
110.

Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2009

Note 4 Plant Closure

Comment No. 4

We note that in the three months ended March 31, 2009 you recognized $176 income for employee
termination benefits and $203 income for insurance recoveries and other related costs. Please
provide us details of the nature of these amounts and tell us why you believe it is appropriate to
record these amounts as operating income.

Response to Comment No. 4

As described in Note 3 to our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 the Company incurred
plant closure charges of $20,037 and $30,836 for the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007,
respectively, which included costs and accruals for employee termination benefits and legal
expenses. During the three months ended March 31, 2009, over accruals of $176 for employee
termination benefits related to plant closure were reversed. During the three months ended March
31, 2009, an insurance recovery of $203 was received related to legal costs incurred related to the
plant closure. As required by paragraph 19 of SFAS No. 146, “Accounting for Costs Associated with
Exit or Disposal Activities,” income from plant closure for the three months ended March 31, 2009
has been reported on the Company’s income statement on the same line that plant closure expenses
were reported during the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007.

If you have any questions, please contact me at (312) 928-0874.

    Sincerely,

    /s/ CHRISTOPHER L. NAGEL

    Christopher L. Nagel

    Vice President, Finance and

Chief Financial Officer

FreightCar America, Inc.

Two North Riverside Plaza,

Suite 1250

Chicago, IL 60606 USA

312.928.0874

FAX 312.328.0890

www.freightcaramerica.com