Patent ID: 8006624

Claim:
A machine for unloading and positioning a plurality of rails on a plurality of crossties in railway tracks, comprising: a gantry including a main body ( 1 ); two side branches ( 2 ) extending downwardly from the main body and supported on a pair of side caterpillar tracks ( 4 ); a pair of adjustable clamps ( 8 , 8 ′), each said clamp comprising a pair of clamp arms configured to hold a rail; two first hydraulic cylinders ( 10 ), each said cylinder interconnecting the pair of clamp arms of one of the adjustable clamps to close onto a web of the rail; two vertical support rods ( 13 ), each said rod extending vertically through the main body ( 1 ), and having a lower end supporting one of the adjustable clamps and an upper end including a screw threaded portion, a nut, and a counter locking nut together forming a mechanism for adjusting the one of the adjustable clamps vertically; and two second hydraulic cylinders ( 11 ), each said second hydraulic cylinder having one end attached to one of said vertical support rods, and another end attached to one of the two side branches to laterally adjust the one of the vertical support rods and one of the adjustable clamps.