Tie plugging machine and method

A railroad tie maintenance vehicle for sealing spike holes in a tie of a railway comprising:

• a chassis including an operator work station;
• a plurality of wheels that support the chassis and that are configured to engage at least one railroad track;
• a motive power source that is supported on the chassis and that propels the vehicle to move along the railway;
• a work head that is mounted on the chassis and that is movable longitudinally relative to the chassis;
• a source of chemical solution mounted on the chassis;
• at least two injection devices that are supported on the work head and that are configured to receive the chemical solution from the source and to dispense the chemical solution into the spike holes;
• a powered actuator assembly that is operable to move the at least two injection devices vertically, laterally, and longitudinally relative to the chassis;
• and
• at least one controller in the operator work station and operable by a single operator within the work station to control the powered actuator assembly to move the at least two injection devices relative to the chassis and relative to each other to a location in alignment with the spike holes and to dispense the chemical solution into the spike holes.

A method of operating a railroad tie maintenance vehicle to seal spike holes in a railroad tie of a railway comprising the steps of:

• via action of a single operator, manually operating at least one controller supported on a chassis of a vehicle travelling along a railway to
• a) more at least two injection devices relative to the chassis and relative to each other into alignment with respective spike holes of the railroad tie;
• and
• b) control the dispensing of a chemical solution into the spike holes.