This invention relates to rail grinders and more particularly to rail grinders mounted on a vehicle that travels along the rails as they are being ground.
As railroad rails wear, crests and troughs are formed which define irregular waves extending longitudinally off the tracks. When the length of such waves is greater than the diameter of the circular grinding wheels used to smooth the rails, the rail grinding apparatus will follow the waves; this results in as much material being ground from the troughs as is ground from the crests. Though attempts have been made to solve this problem, the prior grinding apparatus followed the waves because the grinding discs were not mounted for movement that is essentially completely independent of the vertical movement of the rail carriage.