Track Inspection

It’s that time of year again, walking the track and running the rolling track gauge over the full length to check for any deterioration.

We’ve still got a few kms to go, but generally we’re extremely happy with the results, with nothing found that exceeds any of the tolerances or poses any risk to safety. All that work is paying off!

We did find a couple of very freshly broken bolts, they were old non high tensile bolts and both did appear to have historical defects. We’re gradually upgrading all these old bolts to new ones as money allows. It was an easy fix, once we’d opened up the nearby gaps which had obviously stayed nicely closed after the bolts let go yesterday. That’s also why there’s four bolts per joint, as for a dangerous situation to arise, all 4 must break.

That was it really, nothing else has been found of any consequence. Fingers crossed when we complete it tomorrow we don’t find anything. The data collected will be used to help us prioritise the work over the next 12 months, but we only found a few areas that will need much attention, which is good as we’ve still got lots of re-railing and Castlemaine work to complete over the next year.

Earlier this week we said goodbye to the ballast hoppers, as SSR called in and collected them. It was all rather uneventful, as it should be.

Our new track at Castlemaine is now part of the roadway once again, with the remainder of that trackwork to occur later in the year.

Tomorrow will see us complete the track inspection, weather permitting. We’ve only got a few kms to go, so hopefully between showers we’ll find the time to knock it over. Meeting Muckleford station from 8.15am.