An extremely successful day today, with 503m of rail installed. We didn’t actually count the number of rails but it certainly felt like a lot.

It all happened with a minimum of fuss and with clockwork precision, with the whole low leg of Curve 9 completed before lunch.

So after lunch we set about making a start on the tangent. We’re about a rail length of the whistle board now, putting Sawmill Rd Crossing firmly in our sights. The level crossing will be the end point for the short term, as we then go back and begin the massive task of drilling, spiking and replacing any failed timber.

It now seems quite achievable, with only a few hundred metres to go.

Tomorrow’s gang will meet on site from 8.15am.

We’re now officially half way through Curve 9, with the high leg completed today, 5 lengths of rail, totalling 214m.

We actually finished that quite early in the day, so we’ve removed all the screws from the low leg and prepared the rails to go in.

Hopefully on Thursday, weather permitting, we’ll get most of the low leg completed. Meeting at Maldon 7.45am or on site from 8.15am on Thursday.

Despite the rain, we managed to install another 163m of rail today, into the high leg of Curve 9.

The difference in this section, with nothing more than the new rail is quite noticeable.

We’ve also distributed the jewellery right through the curve to speed things up next week.

Today’s effort takes us to just under half way around the high leg of the curve, meaning we should be able to get the whole curve completed next week.

This week’s rerailing total came to 617m, with the monthly total so far sitting at 1192m.

Tuesday’s gang will meet at Maldon at 8am or out on site from 8.30am.

On a day that felt like it was going to be a washout, we achieved managed to achieve an enormous amount.

We began with the goal of installing 3 lengths of rail into the low leg of the curve, as the weather was looking very unfavourable.

However after a few extended breaks sheltering in the vehicles, we ended up installing 10 lengths, a distance of 374m, taking up almost up to the start of Curve 9.

It’s a little hard to tell from this pic, but the end point was another rail length past where the digger is.

And it wouldn’t be a day in the rain without a little bit of bogging.

Unfortunately simple and convenient to extract, taking all the fun out of it, we didn’t even have to get the digger off the track.

Tomorrow’s gang will meet on site from 8.15am (mind you don’t park in any soft ground), the weather is looking a bit interesting, so it may end up being more preparation for the next rerailing than actual rerailing, allowing us to hid in vehicles to escape the rain if required.