Patent ID: 7895950

Claim:
A method for manipulating long rail on a rail train comprising: defining first and second elevated gantry lanes elevated above a work unit and a rail transport train, the first and second elevated gantry lanes residing in a parallel orientation; providing a first gantry residing on the first elevated gantry lane and a second gantry residing on the second elevated gantry lane; independently gripping first and second lengths of long rail with a first gripper head on a first gantry boom attached to the first gantry and a second gripper head on a second gantry book attached to the second gantry, each of the first and second gripper heads having a pair of opposed gripping assemblies to retain the length of long rail in opposed directions; and independently pulling the first and second lengths of long rail below the first and second gantry lanes under the power of the first and second gantries, the first gantry traversing the first elevated gantry lane and the second gantry traversing the second elevated gantry lane.