Just a quick one today showing our next location for re-railing with 80lb rail. 

The curve between Muckleford Creek Bridge and Donkey Farm Track. Previously the high leg had been re-railed with this work on the low leg.

All rails, bolts, spikes, sleeper and fish plates were placed out on site today, with job completion expected by Friday Afternoon.  

A quick pic to show the ballasted and tamped section we dug out the day before. 

The vehicle in the distance is the scarifier, returning to Maldon. 

Today saw the team remove a mud hole from a short section of track between Mucleford Creek Bridge and Donkey Farm Track.

The track after we’d dug out the mud and clay from around the sleepers using the excavator and scarifier.
Quite a bit of drain clean was also undertaken along side to prevent future issues with water logging.

Another small section ready for new ballast 

Having run some new ballast in with the excavator we’ve jacked up one leg ready for tamping. 

The waste material from the job will be relocated to one of our many embankments in need of some widening. 

With the new pit edging timbers on hand, today saw the start of work to remove the old timbers and prepare the site for the new.

The Pits, already excavated some 10 years ago had become quite overgrown and the area around quite uneven.

Partway through the work, removing the old timbers and scraping off the built up ground.

While removing the rails still in place over one of this pits we found these small ramps fitted to the very end of the rail. Presumably a safeguard against wheels finding their way off the end of the rail and into the back of the shed.

A view from the excavator of the scraping works.

A view of the site. A good day’s work, with not only the area scraped and old timbers gone but the pits have also been dug cleaned out by hand, to remove the small amount of dirt and vegetation which had made its way in during the past 10 years. The old timber securing nuts & bolts are still in place and in surprisingly good condition, all have been wire brushed and coated in penetrene to hopefully aid in their removal and possible reuse.