Services recommenced on the R&R this weekend. Initial running problems were resolved by a) regluing the gear on to the driving axle of the loco to stop it slipping and b) fettling the curve under the cutting, which appears to have been undermined and pushed up by soil creep from the embankment, creating an apparently insurmountable gradient. Once this was done, we managed a non-stop service of several circuits.

Not much has changed since last year. As you may be able to see here, we managed to move the dirty great compost bin during winter, while the contents were frozen solid, and have replaced it with some ornamental edging and decorative cat poo. The grass needs mowing, as it is starting to incur on the ballast. The ballast itself has been infilled in several places where gaps appeared. It’s a terrible thing when nafarious people with trucks drive up to a remote stretch of line when no one’s looking and begin loading up with raw materials from the railway before driving it all away; in my case, the perpetrators are under five and both live with me so it’s unlikely much that will be effective can be done.