Today we put in our first timber replacement concrete sleeper, we’ve got others on the railway around Castlemaine but this was the first put into track as a timber replacement.

It is very much an experiment, to see if our axel loads and lower ballast profile can support them.

It was relatively easy to insert and install, so fingers crossed.

Today was spent getting ready for our next area of re-railing, the short straight on the UP side of Pipeline Xing.

Weather permitting we’ll be into this job on Thursday and Friday, any help is always greatly appreciated.

Our new grab has again proved it’s worth when it comes to putting on rail anchors.

The grab, when angled, can punch a hole under the rail through the ballast to make knocking on the anchors much easier.

A bit more flail mowing today.

This time attacking the years of gorse growth between Maclise and Rowe Streets in Castlemaine.