Patent ID: 7156723

Claim:
A system for uninterrupted grinding and profiling of a railroad track equipped with first and second rails, each rail having a railhead presenting a generally arcuate cross-sectional profile extending in a transverse direction between a gage side portion and a field side portion of the railhead, wherein said railroad track includes an unencumbered section of rail and an encumbered section of rail, said system comprising: a locomotive having a forward motion relative to said railroad track in a first direction substantially parallel to said first and second rails and substantially perpendicular to said transverse direction; a first grinder pulled by said locomotive, the first grinder having a plurality of variable grinding modules for independently rotating and positioning a plurality of Type II grinding stones relative to the railhead, each variable grinding module having an offset adjustment mechanism, wherein the plurality of variable grinding modules cooperatively grind the entire generally arcuate cross-sectional profile of the railhead when the first grinder encounters unencumbered sections of rail and wherein the offset adjustment mechanism individually offsets each variable grinding module so as to avoid grinding a rail shoulder when the first grinder encounters encumbered sections of rail whereby the offset adjustment mechanism adjusts each variable grinding module without interrupting the forward motion of the locomotive; and a second grinder having a plurality of fixed offset grinding modules for independently rotating and positioning a plurality of Type III grinding stones relative to the railhead, each fixed offset grinding module vertically positioning each Type III grinding stone at one of a first non-contacting position corresponding to unencumbered sections of rail and a second contacting position corresponding to encumbered sections of rail, whereby a concave grinding surface grinds a rail shoulder profile in the second contacting position, and whereby each fixed offset grinding module is vertically positionable without interrupting the forward motion of said locomotive.