Rail Recovery

Another extremely successful day. Around 550m of track (1.1km of rail) has been lifted and towed up to Godfrey Lane.

A fresh gang keen to see the sled in the action.

It’s a pretty neat bit of kit. In some ways the track being so poor is working in our favour.

We’re able to tow on rail, speeding things up greatly. If the sleepers were in good condition, the resistance would probably be too great to tow on rail, but it’s working just like a zipper without straining the big digger. Perfect!

We’re towing up to the joints, breaking the rails, then dragging the loose rail over the sled and towards Castlemaine (for a suitable distance).

The horrendous job of anchor removal is greatly sped up by waiting until the sled has lifted the rail a little, much easier the knock them off when they aren’t buried.

Unfortunately we haven’t devised a super easy collection method for the anchors yet… But we will.

Both diggers were in full employment today, dragging rail. A process we’re now getting quite slick at.

Best off all… We’ve pulled up the mighty heat buckle. It’s nice to have that hurdle behind us.

We’ll be having a big tow day tomorrow, dragging as much rail as we can up towards Donkey Gully Road. Meeting Maldon 7.45am or Godfrey Lane 8.15am. We could use a hand or two… Just to help out with the little odd jobs.