UPDATE 1-FreightCar America Q2 results better than expected

* Q2 profit $0.59/shr vs est $0.10/shr

* Q2 revenue falls 26 pct

* Shares up 12 pct

Sept 22 (Reuters) - FreightCar America Inc (RAIL.O) posted better-than-expected second-quarter results as gross margins increased, helped by new car sales and an increase in parts sales and leasing revenue.

For the quarter ended June 30, the railroad freight cars maker reported net income of $7 million, or 59 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $368,000, or 3 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 26 percent to $104.3 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 10 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $78.8 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

The gross margin rate for the second quarter was 15.3 percent compared with 5.2 percent in the year-ago period.

Total backlog of unfilled orders was 1,472 units at the end of the quarter, the company said.

Shares of the company were up 12 percent at $22.80 in pre-market trade. They closed at $20.39 Monday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by A.Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)