Ballasting resumed in the opposite, anti-clockwise, direction from the former end of track near the fruit trees. The meant a much shorter trip from the ballast pile near the front gate.
Part of this section required extra-deep ballast as the ground is low-lying and boggy in winter. The width of the weed mat was increased from 600 mm to 800 mm to allow for the extra ballast depth.
By late afternoon and, with a little pushing and shoving, the track was finally joined to form a complete loop without requiring any cutting, which was amazing. Even though there was still about 10 m which wasn't ballasted, it was possible to drive a train across the gap for the first time at low speed.
A momentous occasion!
The next day, the last few metres of track were ballasted.
