Twice I've seen these coloured patches on the rails, and I'm not sure what their purpose is...
The first shot is at the east end of a siding, taken from the north, and the second one is the west end of a siding 40 miles west, taken from the south. And ideas why they're there? As a reference, the SE rail is always green. Also, this stretch had some new ballast put on the sides a couple months ago, and I assume the rails were painted that way a the time. (I also assume that the wiring was sub-ballast before)
Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296
Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/
The track wires are removed to facilitate track work, and color coding the insulated joint end and wire plugs are a quick and easy way to ensure the wires are going back to the same rail they came out of.
Laurence
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