Abstract: A spiker vehicle and associated method of spiking apply a line of laser light which is reflected from a tie plate and imaged by a CCD camera connected to a computer programmed for image recognition by simultaneously determining the locations of two spike holes in the tie plate and the edge(s) of the tie plate, which spike holes are offset in the rail direction. A first spiker is mounted to a carriage which is moved automatically until the first spiker is over one of the sensed holes. The laser and camera are mounted to the spiker for rail direction movement therewith. A second spiker may be mounted to the carriage for spiking spike holes on the opposite side of the rail from the first spiker.

Abstract: A tie replacement vehicle uses a tie feed arm to turn ties upon the main frame of the vehicle upside down such that they may be gripped by a tie inserter having a boom mounted below the main frame of the vehicle. The tie inserter has a tie clamp which may be shifted in the lengthwise direction of the vehicle in order to shift old ties out of the way. A tie pickup is mounted at each end of the vehicle for moving ties from the main frame of the vehicle to the rails. A conveyor system on the vehicle allows ties to be moved under the operator cab and engine.

Abstract: A vehicle for replacing selective ties in a road bed uses a conveyor system whereby ties may be picked up from on top of the rails. If the ties are to be used by the particular vehicle, they may be held by that vehicle. On the other hand, the conveyor system allows ties to pass over top of the vehicle such that the ties will be again disposed on top of the rails such that a following tie replacement vehicle may use the ties. By use of a tie replacement or inserter head having two tie clamps, one can more quickly remove an old tie from underneath the rails and replace the old tie with a new tie which has been picked up from on top of the vehicle. Electromagnets are used to hold the tie plates against the rails during the selective replacement of particular ties such that replacement of the tie plates is not usually necessary.