Due to the predicted rain for today we chose to stay close to shelter in Maldon yard. Luck we did because we had quite a bit more rain fall than was predicted.
The target work was sleepers in 1 and 2 roads, meaning we had to keep moving the rolling stock around the yard to get access.
9 sleepers today we’re replaced in the platform. Generally the condition, although not new, is actually reasonable, but we had a couple of broken sticks which always just look terrible, especially at a station.
We’ve not replace any timber in 1 road since before we pulled 2 road across last year, and it’s amazing how much easier it was this time with those few extra inches of clearance.
We even dared to look under areas of 2 road that haven’t seen daylight for many years, pleasingly not as bad as we had expected.
And without fail, we managed to park the loco on top of a sleeper to be replaced! We did quite a few moves today until we found a good spot to hide the train away.
The mess we created is quite impressive! Thankfully that’s what tomorrow’s for. We managed to fasten up everything we put in today, which totalled around 34 (it was too wet to do a precise count so we’ll do that tomorrow).
We got to test out our new hydraulic sleeper drill, and what a ripper it is! It attaches onto the same power packs used by the spiking hammer and pandrol clipper, making our kit very versatile. This drill has both forward and reverse, a very important feature. This will no doubt speed up re-railing greatly.Tomorrow we’ll be back at Maldon, still needing to ballast and tamp all of today’s work, as well as clean up all the mess, hopefully the weather is a little kinder. Meeting Maldon Yard from 8am
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