An apparatus for distributing tie plates alongside rails of a railroad track including a singulating system for separating and singulating tie plates to be distributed along the rails of a railroad track, an orientation system positioned beneath the singulating system for orienting the tie plates with the correct side up, and a distribution system for distributing tie plates along the rails of a railroad track.

A rail plate dropping apparatus is provided, including a plate magazine having an upper end and a lower end and constructed and arranged for retaining at least one rail tie plate, a locating portion connected at the upper end and constructed and arranged for reciprocally positioning the magazine between a raised, travel position and a lowered work position, and an ejector mounted in operational relationship relative to the lower end of the magazine and configured for ejecting the plates sequentially from the magazine.

A rail plate handling device is provided for removing and reinstalling rail tie plates, wherein at least one of the rails is raised from an operational position during the removal and installation process. A frame is configured for movement relative to the track; at least one tie plate gripping assembly is mounted to the frame, the assembly is configured for grasping a selected tie plate at front and rear edges between an adjacent rail raised from the operational position supported by the selected tie plate and the associated tie, pulling the selected plate away from the adjacent raised rail and away from the associated tie, retaining the selected plate in a suspended position above the track while the tie is extracted and a new tie inserted, and then replacing the suspended tie plate back upon the rail from a gage side of the rail.

A rail plate handling device is provided for removing and reinstalling rail tie plates, wherein at least one of the rails is raised from an operational position during the removal and installation process. A frame is configured for movement relative to the track; at least one tie plate gripping assembly is mounted to the frame, the assembly is configured for grasping a selected tie plate at front and rear edges between an adjacent rail raised from the operational position supported by the selected tie plate and the associated tie, pulling the selected plate away from the adjacent raised rail and away from the associated tie, retaining the selected plate in a suspended position above the track while the tie is extracted and a new tie inserted, and then replacing the suspended tie plate back upon the rail from a gage side of the rail.

Embodiments of a tie plate sorter are disclosed wherein the tie plates are sorted and fed to an output device for further feeding to a tie plate distribution system. The tie plates may be oriented as needed. Exemplary methods are also provided.

Embodiments of a tie plate sorter are disclosed wherein the tie plates are sorted and fed to an output device for further feeding to a tie plate distribution system. The tie plates may be oriented as needed. Exemplary methods are also provided.

Present embodiments relate to a tie plate dispenser which aligns tie plates for dispensing based on rail base rather than outer edges of tie plate. Thus tie plates are aligned and located in a differing manner than prior art systems. Further, the tie plate dispenser includes an opening over which a magnet is disposed to retain a tie plate over the opening. The tie plate over the opening may be selectively released by disengaging the tie plate from the magnet.

Present embodiments relate to a tie plate dispenser which aligns tie plates for dispensing based on rail base rather than outer edges of tie plate. Thus tie plates are aligned and located in a differing manner than prior art systems. Further, the tie plate dispenser includes an opening over which a magnet is disposed to retain a tie plate over the opening. The tie plate over the opening may be selectively released by disengaging the tie plate from the magnet.

A rail tie plate retaining workhead is provided for use in conjunction with a rail tie replacement machine moving along a railroad track having a pair of rails. The workhead includes a workhead frame configured for movement along the track relative to the rail tie replacement machine, and a pair of plate retaining frames, each frame associated with a respective one of the rails, and being connected to the workhead frame. Each plate retaining frame has at least one rail guide wheel connected to the retaining frame using a fluid powered cylinder, the wheels vertically reciprocating between an extended position, in which the workhead is raised to a travel position, and a retracted position, in which the workhead is lowered to a working position in operational relationship with at least one targeted rail tie plate.

A rail tie plate retaining workhead is provided for use in conjunction with a rail tie replacement machine moving along a railroad track having a pair of rails. The workhead includes a workhead frame configured for movement along the track relative to the rail tie replacement machine, and a pair of plate retaining frames, each frame associated with a respective one of the rails, and being connected to the workhead frame. Each plate retaining frame has at least one rail guide wheel connected to the retaining frame using a fluid powered cylinder, the wheels vertically reciprocating between an extended position, in which the workhead is raised to a travel position, and a retracted position, in which the workhead is lowered to a working position in operational relationship with at least one targeted rail tie plate.