Abstract: One or more high angle grinding units are supported by a carriage mountable on the underside of a rail grinding vehicle. Each grinding unit is attached to the carriage in a manner enabling controllable movement of the grinding units laterally, vertically, and angularly, with respect to the rails, so that a grinding stone rotated by the grinding unit can be operated to grind between a railhead and a closely adjacent rail structure to reform the gauge side of the railhead and the field side of the closely adjacent structure.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for directing a spark stream generated by contact between a rotating grinding stone and a railhead away from nearby combustible material, wherein the grinding stone is tilted at an angle such that only one of the leading and trailing edges of the grinding stone contacts the railhead during the grinding operation. The leading or trailing edge is selected such that the spark stream is directed away from the nearby combustible material. The apparatus can include tilting assembly, associated with a grinding unit, including a grinding stone, which is controllable to tilt the grinding unit at an angle to the railhead during the grinding operation such that only one of the leading and trailing edges of the grinding stone contacts the railhead during the grinding operation.