The beautiful weather this weekend marked the start of spring. The plum trees are starting to bloom, not to mention the forsythia, camellias and even the Mahonias that have full sun. This was also the first opportunity to spend a few hours on PE&A maintenance. And that means putting down new ballast where it had settled or eroded away over the winter.ago. While the work is tedious, putting new ballast in place ensures the rails stay in place and are safe for operation without speed restrictions.
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| BN 5406 out for a run on a bright day. |
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| A before and after example showing a section of track where the ballast had eroded away from the ties on the left, and new ballast has been put in place on the right. |
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| The crocus along the stream bed. |
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| Ballast work around the at-grade crossing. |
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| The new growth on the euphorbia is beautiful, but this one has grown so long it's interfering with the tunnel entrance and will need to be cut back. |
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| After all the ballast work was done, I made another round to clean off the top rail surface. Then it was time to take a train out for a run. I also wanted to test how many cars BN 5406 could pull up the grade. |
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| One more view of the crocus enjoying the sunny day. |
