Page 13 - August 2021 Track N Times

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Loram’s Beginnings

By Carol Schlenz, Operations Administrative Services Manager

Starting this issue, we will be including a feature story highlighting
one of Loram’s customer. This month’s spotlight is the BNSF
Railway. I thought it would be fun to include a little summary of
the history of Loram. Books have been written documenting all
aspects of Loram from the people and equipment, this is just a
small snapshot.

Loram’s beginnings go back to 1898 when a young Irishman
named Frederick Stephen Mannix started F.S. Mannix in western
Canada as a construction contractor on the first Canadian trans-
continental railroads. A single team of horses was used to build
railroad grade.
In 1936, Loram’s parent company diversifies into railway track
maintenance. Up until then, most work was performed with sim-
ple hand tools and brute strength.
In August 1954, Mannix International was created with an office in Delaware. The main reason for setting up an office
in the United States was a project to rehabilitate the Alaska Railroad and a couple smaller jobs in Oklahoma. Later in
1954 an office in Minneapolis, MN was opened to promote the Sled Rental Division. In 1955 The Mannix Plow and
Sled was introduced.

In 1956 Mannix International created its first US manufacturing shop in an old pole building in New Brighton, MN,
which after a couple years they outgrew and moved again to Plymouth, MN. In 1974 under the leadership of Dick
Peppin, a 25-acre plot of land was purchased in Hamel, MN, which is where Loram’s headquarters are today. During
this time, there were major organizational changes and is when Mannix was dropped and the company was renamed
Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc. Loram is an acronym for Long-Range Mannix.
Loram has a rich history of designing and manufacturing the most advanced, most productive, and most innovative rail-
road maintenance equipment and services to meet the needs of its railroad customers. Loram has grown to a global
entity with offices in 6 countries, equipment in 16 countries, over 250 machines 2,300 friction management units
worldwide, and over 1,400 employees.
With all it’s success, Loram still maintains that family feel and provides amazing career opportunities to its employees.
This employee commitment is thanks to the Mannix family. A quote from Ron Mannix from Leading the Way demon-
strates this “As we look to the future, we recognize that people are our greatest asset. Their ideas, creativity and imagination
have provided us with the greatest opportunities.”

References:
Beating The Odds, 2004, Details Loram’s 50 years in business.
th
Leading The Way, 1998, A book honoring the 100 year anniversary of the Mannix Family Business.
Loram’s website, www.loram.com.

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