Loram provides track maintenance services to freight, passenger, and transit railroads worldwide, as well as sells and leases equipment which performs these functions.

Loram Maintenance of Way was founded in 1954 in Hamel, Minnesota, in the United States[2] by Canadian businessman Fred C. Mannix.

The rough edges of ballast rock not only supports the ties and holds them in place, it helps water drain away from the track bed.

[4] Over time, Loram replaced its large work crews with automated machines which can clean ballast 2 to 2.5 feet (0.61 to 0.76 m) in depth.

The burrs and cracks created can damage train wheels, slow traffic, and cause rails to degrade faster.

[9] In the early 1990's the VISTA system was created by Dr. Robert Monson and Darwin Isdahl in collaboration with VSI in Minneapolis (US patent 5,140,776).

In the late 1990s, working with KLD Labs,[6] Loram enhanced the VISion Transverse Analyzer (VISTA), a computer guided grinding system.

[9] In the mid 2000s, Loram introduced the RG400 rail grinder, which doubled efficiency to roughly 60 miles (97 km) per day, was lower-emission, and had markedly improved safety features.

[11] A variation of this vehicle, the RGI series railgrinder, was developed specifically for the international market and has been sold in Colombia, India, Mexico, and in Scandinavia.

[6] The Railway Supply Institute said in 2015 that Loram was "one of the leading suppliers of track maintenance machinery and services in North America and the global market".

[16] The Derby site of Loram UK (formerly RVEL) has three workshops totalling over 86,000 square feet (8,000 m2) for the maintenance and heavy overhaul of traction and rolling stock.