Page 7 - March 2023 Track N Times

FEATURE STORY

The law of Loram in conjunction with operation rules were put into place for obvious reasons, it allows the

machine to be put into a safe controlled descent down long descending mountain grades, prevents wheels
from overheating, allows braking forces to be efficient, and most importantly takes the risk out of a cata-
strophic event.

Some forty years ago Loram had a machine that started it’s decent down a 2.5% mountain grade that had a
very close call. By the time the machine reached the bottom of the mountain all the brake shoes and the
brake heads were gone, and the wheels of the machine were glowing red hot. There were no physical inju-
ries, but the mental emotions were at the time, well let’s put it this way, glad the ride was over. There was
no damage to the machine except all the wheels were now condemnable and needed to be replaced. There

were numerous reasons why this happened, but the biggest contributing factor that was missing was a proce-
dure on how to descend properly down a mountain grade.

After this incident, operations and engineering worked together along with information from railroads to
come up with a procedure on how to safely proceed down mountain grades. The outcome of this collabora-
tion with all parties was the birth of “Law of Loram”.

So the next time your machine Superintendent seems a little edgy, cut him/her a little slack, working on
mountain grades brings another level of concern to an all ready highly safety sensitive operation. Your ma-
chine Superintendent is the captain of the machine and they need all your support to make it happen.

Now you know the rest of the story. Have a Safe and Good Day.

Page 5 MARCH 2023