CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc HO Scale Models

CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc. operates in the North American railroad industry primarily as a lessor of locomotives and freight cars, conducting that business under the reporting marks CEFX and CITX. As a subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares following an acquisition completed in January 2022, the company represents a small but notable segment of a much larger financial services enterprise with roots stretching back more than a century. Equipment lessors such as CIT play an important role in the railroad industry by allowing carriers to expand or adjust their fleets without committing to outright purchases, providing operational flexibility particularly valuable during periods of fluctuating traffic demand. The parent company's origins trace to February 11, 1908, when Henry Ittleson founded the Commercial Credit and Investment Company in St. Louis, Missouri. The firm relocated to New York City in 1915 and rebranded as Commercial Investment Trust, known by the initials CIT. Over subsequent decades the company grew through diversification and acquisition, moving into automobile financing, factoring, and consumer lending. After passing through ownership by RCA Corporation beginning in 1980 and later Manufacturers Hanover Trust in 1984, CIT returned to public markets in 1997. A pivotal moment came in November 1999 when CIT acquired the Toronto-based Newcourt Credit Group in a transaction valued at approximately 4.2 billion dollars, creating one of the largest publicly held leasing operations in North America and substantially deepening its capabilities in equipment finance. CIT's corporate history includes a period of significant turbulence during the late 2000s financial crisis. After being acquired by Tyco International in 2001 and briefly operating as Tyco Capital before being divested through a public offering in July 2002, the company pursued aggressive growth in education lending and subprime mortgages under CEO Jeff Peek. Those ventures resulted in losses exceeding three billion dollars over roughly two years. CIT filed for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 1, 2009, and emerged from reorganization approximately six weeks later on December 10, 2009. The company subsequently stabilized under new leadership, eventually selling its European rail leasing subsidiary NACCO in October 2018 to focus its rail equipment operations on the North American market, where its CEFX-marked locomotives and railcars continue to serve freight carriers across the continent.