ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Workers said mixed emotions swirled around Ford Motor Co.'s St. Paul, Minn., assembly plant when it closed Friday after 86 years of operation.
The last vehicle, a Ford Ranger, came off the assembly line at about 10:00 a.m. with veteran worker Dallas Theis behind the wheel, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Theis spent more than 50 years at the plant, the newspaper said.
A cheer went up as he hopped into the compact truck, but emotions ranged from high to low, workers reported.
"It felt like we'd been preparing for a big holiday meal and we were all done and it was time to do the dishes," said 21-year-old line worker, Thomas Epperson.
"A lot of people brought their fathers and grandfathers to see the very end. There was a lot of tears and a lot of smiling when Dallas drove it off the line. He's been here for a million years," Epperson said.
"People will be celebrating because it's hard work that eats up your body. But they'll pretty much be mourning, too, because it's a darn good-paying job with great benefits," said Michael Bartlett, 39, with more than 12 years at the plant.
For Minnesota, the loss of the plant is part of a longer trend that has seen a quarter of the state's 400,000 manufacturing jobs vanish since the late 1990s, the newspaper said.
