01 February 2004

Mud, mud, glorious mud... yup more packing of ballast into the bog that is our nemesis. This particular patch was just north of the advanced starter at Horsted Keynes, another notorious area for clay pumping up through the ballast. After the morning trip to Kingscote, we spent the remainder of the day digging out large piles of incredibly sticky ballast and packing some cleaner stuff under the sleepers, a seemingly never ending task.....

Almost lunchtime, and the task continues. The clay pumped up through the ballast can be clearly seen, covering the sleepers, ballast etc. This should be a thing of the past in the future, as if all goes according to plan, running will be transferred to the other line whe the resignalling is complete, and a total excavation of the trackbed is anticipated, and a terram lining will hopefully sort out the problem...