A system and method for inspecting railroad track is disclosed. The
disclosed system includes lasers, cameras, and a processor. The lasers
are positioned adjacent the track. The laser emits a beam of light across
the railroad track, and the camera captures images of the railroad track
having the beam of light emitted thereon. The processor formats the
images so that they can be analyzed to determine various measurable
aspects of the railroad track. The disclosed system can include a GPS
receiver or a distance device for determining location data. The
measurable aspects that can be determined by the disclosed system include
but are not limited to the spacing between crossties, the angle of ties
with respect to rail, cracks and defects in surface of ties, missing
fastener components, misaligned fastener components, sunken tie plates,
raised spikes, rail wear, gage of rail, ballast height relative to ties,
size of ballast stones, and break or separation in the rail. The system
includes one or more algorithms for determining these measurable aspects
of the railroad track.