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Spotlight on Specialized Maintenance

This month’s interview is with Mark Riola, Assistant Manager, Specialized Maintenance.

When did you start with Loram? My first day of training was June
15, 1998. However, I was offered a brakeman position on the EJ&E
Railroad in late 2001 and left Loram. EJ&E was terrible to work for,
and I returned to Loram on January 27, 2003 and have been here
ever since. In total I have been with Loram for 23 years!
I hired on as a General Laborer on RG15 (or ground pounder they
called us back then) and worked my way up through every position
through the years. Operator-1 was B Cab operator back then.
Next, I moved to a Field Clerk position for a year or so. After that
I became an Operator-2 which was operating from A Cab or FCC
depending on the machine. After a year or two of that I took a
Night Lead position (now called Maintenance Superintendent). I did
Night Lead for a few years. I really didn’t want more responsibility.
Eventually I took the Crew Chief position which was second in
command and took over when the Superintendent went on time
off. After working for a very difficult Superintendent for a couple of years, I took the Superintendent position after
that person was terminated. I was still on RG15 after all these years. After about 5 years of being Superintendent on
RG15, RG311, RG314 and RG405 I took an Assistant Manager position for Luke Olson. I was Assistant Manager for
NS, CSX, CN, CP and Mexico machines for 3 to 4 years. Loram restructured and added the Product Specialist posi-
tion so I took that position for the same machines and also UPRR. After a couple years, Loram restructured again,
and the Product Specialists became Assistant Managers of the Specialized Maintenance group. I now primarily take
care of the NS and CSX machines and Mexico as I did before. I also have the boom truck, oil change van and air
compressor service truck reporting directly to me. I go anywhere Jeff Leadstrom needs me regardless of railroad. I
have training for them all.
What was your impression when you arrived at the machine for the first time? I was a bit overwhelmed at first
with the size and complexity of the equipment.

Can you tell us a little bit about your experiences the last few years at Loram that would be a good example
of what Loram does and who Loram is? The past few years Loram has made major advances with the technology
and machine design. Machine reliability is easily maintained causing very little machine delay, and Loram is quick to
respond for a fix if an issue with component reliability is found. It is obvious Loram strives to be the best of the best
in every aspect of railway maintenance machinery.

What is your favorite task on the machine? I really do not have a favorite task. I just like to stay busy. Replacing
engines, dust blowers and buggies where heavy equipment is needed to get the job done would be among my favor-
ites though.

What’s your favorite memory from this past year while working? So far, it was watching the biggest crane I have
seen used lift RG401’s rear water car off the track and out of the way so the power car could be moved behind it.

Define success for you at Loram, what does that look like? For me it is completing a major project like when we
retired RG15. We pulled the camp cars off and put them into RG401’s consist for Mexico. We also did overhaul

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