Abstract: An apparatus for conveying profiled rods or rails in a direction transverse to their length, particularly from a rollerway to a cooling bed which comprises a plurality of adjacent carriages for conveying a profiled rod or rail and displaceable along said direction of conveyance is described. Each carriage has connected thereto a cable or chain moveable by a respective cable drum or chain wheels. The cable drums or chain wheels of the carriages are driven by a common drive means for effecting simultaneous displacement of all said carriages, and individual displacement means associated with each carriage effects stepless individual displacement of each carriage independently of the rotary position of its associated cable drum or chain wheel. The apparatus is able to cope with curved or obliquely disposed rods or rails.