Patent ID: 7497166

Claim:
A railway vehicle for inserting a tie plate on a rail tie that engages with a rail, said vehicle comprising: a frame movable relative to the track; a plate stopping mechanism mounted to said frame, said plate stopping mechanism having at least one stop that contacts a top surface of the rail tie on a first side of the rail; a plate inserter workhead mounted to said frame and located on an opposite side of the rail from said at least one stop, said plate inserter workhead having at least one arm, at least one cylinder for moving said at least one arm, and a plate pusher attached to said at least one arm, upon actuation of said at least one cylinder, said plate pusher pushes the tie plate against said at least one stop and pivots a trailing edge of the tie plate about a leading edge of the tie plate while the leading edge contacts the tie so that a trailing edge of the tie plate is lifted off the tie.