More progress

Another successful day out on the concrete sleeper mission, with an excellent start made on tangent 7-8.

After running in the trolley and digger from Boundary Trk this morning and loading on all the tools to remove fastenings, all screws right the length of the straight were removed, with about 2/3rds of the spikes having been pulled.

White marks the spot, or sleepers in our case. The regular pattern of 1 in 3 avoiding as many joints and anchors as possible was picked, it doesn’t always miss all the anchors or joints but it certainly reduces the overall work.

We improved the method slightly today, with a drum on the trolley allowing the jewellery to be collected at the same time, saves another walk along the track.

We even achieved a 50mm lift from curve 8 to Rifle Range Bridge, with all the timber sleepers removed and stacked ready for sorting track side in one location. A start was also made on inserting the concrete with 20 installed under the track.

A very socially distant smoko, however still very welcome after lugging around the fastening removal gear.

Now that our delivery of pads has arrived, tomorrow will be spent clipping up the remainder of tangent 8-9 before we make more progress on tangent 7-8 in the afternoon. Meeting Maldon 8am or Boundary Trk Crossing from 8.30am.