Apparatus for performing operations on a railway track

Apparatus for performing operations on a railway track, comprising automatic means for adjusting the relative positions of a flanged rail and a sleeper vertically and for adjusting the position of a flanged rail by moving it sideways relative to a sleeper, said automatic means including a rail adjusting mechanism with two diagonally symmetrical rail adjusting parts arranged to be juxtaposed to the opposite edges of the rail flange, each of said rail adjusting parts including a rail adjusting member having a recessed end portion defining an upper and a lower jaw adapted to receive therebetween a proximate edge region of the rail flange, and said rail adjusting parts further including means to operate the respective rail adjusting members (a) for moving said rail adjusting members so as to locate said upper and lower jaws thereof in positions to engage the rail flange from above and below, respectively, for lifting and lowering the rail and (b) for moving at least one of said rail adjusting members so as to locate the bottom of the respective end recess thereof in position to push against the associated rail flange for either shifting the rail sideways to or maintaining the rail in a desired location.