Single track

Winter running

budding · planted 2023-12 · tended 2025-01

The snow plough ahead of No. 1 at a cutting.

In December we plan for the snow even when there is none. When the wind comes off the Kyrgyz Range the snow drifts across the line at the cuttings, and a snow plough is sent out ahead of No. 1. The suburban trains are cancelled in heavy snow, the freight crawls, and the dispatcher's tea gets cold.

I carry a small notebook in my breast pocket: names of the stationmasters and their telephone numbers. In a bad winter it is worth more than the radio. See Cold start.