The Field Railway Fettling programme has continued unabated, not letting minor details like freezing temperatures stand in the way. After all, feeling cold is nature's way of telling you that you're not working hard enough - right?
The curve on the southernmost part of the field railway triangle has proved to be troublesome. A combination of poor rail joints, severe curvature and joggled fishplates has created a bit of a derailment hot-spot; notable victims included our Hudson brake van at the November 2014 military weekend and a Baguley loco during Tracks to the Trenches. Whilst live and unplanned demonstrations of rerailing might be entertaining for the visitors, it does little to ease the stress levels felt by event organisers.
Therefore, the curve has now been rebuilt to eliminate the bad joints, and new, properly joggled, fishplates manufactured to accomodate the change in rail sections. It was getting rather dark by the time we finished, but initial testing suggested we had acheived the planned improvement. Fortunately, we had a very inquistive Robin acting as clerk of works throughout the whole job, so we knew who to ask when advice was needed.
