Clearing the Turnout

A chunk of crushed granite sat wedged tight between the tapered switch rail and the slide plate, holding the mechanism out of alignment. I knelt on the weathered timber sleeper and drew the straightened wire probe from my coat. Working the rigid tip beneath the stone, I loosened the packed grit grain by grain until the bind yielded. Bracing one boot against the tie plate, I gripped the tapered rail and exerted steady lateral pressure. The granite popped free into the ballast. With a dull, metallic ring, the switch point snapped flush against the iron stock. The line through the turnout is seated true.