Ballast

[norfolkguy83]

Has anyone got tips or tell me how to do the ballast on the tracks thanks

[norfolkguy83]

And when u use the Pva glue is it 1 part glue to 4 parts water..

[petercharlesfagg]

If you go to the "Tutorials" and then "Search" for Ballast, it will give you dozens of ways to fix ballast to your trackwork.

This is just one of them:-  http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=6558.msg74598#msg74598

There are so many options no one way will be correct but the tutorials will help greatly!

Regards, Peter.

[austinbob]

Has anyone got tips or tell me how to do the ballast on the tracks thanks

Well... Who's gonna kick this one off then.
I can't really advise you norfolkguy cos I've just read about it and not done it yet...
BUT.... just wait for the queue of people lining up to answer this one!!

Good luck and I'll be interested to be reminded of all the different ways of doing this 

[norfolkguy83]

Thanks Austin.. Iv tried to ballast a little of my track but doesn't look right.. Lol

[norfolkguy83]

Thanks Peter

[austinbob]

Thanks Austin.. Iv tried to ballast a little of my track but doesn't look right.. Lol

At least you've got something to look at!! I haven't laid any track yet. You also have the advantage that you've had a crack at ballasting and have a result - so things are bound to improve with a little advice from here and some practice.

[norfolkguy83]

Yeap thts what I thought Austin.. Lol

[DELETED]

Gosh there's just hundreds of views out there on this.  Lots of good how to's on here, youtube and rmweb as well.

Few things I found:

• 
  I think the glue has allot to do with it.  I struggled past few years using old PVA (same tubs used to work fine years ago), buy a new tub.
  If you add detergent, you literally don't need any more than 1-2 drops (only) per half litre, any more just creates bubbles.
  Get hold of an atomiser OR I've got on exeptionally well with spectacle cleaning sprays (the original fluid is ideal, but when it's used try water / detergent).
  If you are nervous around points etc I use a small bottle from Delux containing aliphatic resin.  Has a syringe type needle and you can "draw" quite precisely with the resin then drop dry ballast ontop, then build it up later ad-hoc to fill / blend in any gaps.  A small bottle goes a long way

The best success I have had this past 12 months is using Woodland Scenics pre-mixed scatter / ballast glue so I'm "sticking" to it now

Lastly, leave it for DAYS to dry and hoover the track before putting a loco anywhere near it (I also use a little PC keyboard duster / hoover to recover any loose bits and keep tidy).  If you're a DCC user I've found I need to leave it EVEN LONGER than on DCC otherwise any moisture left at all seems to disrupt power.

Hope this helps

Rich

[austinbob]

Gosh there's just hundreds of views out there on this.  Lots of good how to's on here, youtube and rmweb as well.

Few things I found:

• 
  I think the glue has allot to do with it.  I struggled past few years using old PVA (same tubs used to work fine years ago), buy a new tub.
  If you add detergent, you literally don't need any more than 1-2 drops (only) per half litre, any more just creates bubbles.
  Get hold of an atomiser OR I've got on exeptionally well with spectacle cleaning sprays (the original fluid is ideal, but when it's used try water / detergent).
  If you are nervous around points etc I use a small bottle from Delux containing aliphatic resin.  Has a syringe type needle and you can "draw" quite precisely with the resin then drop dry ballast ontop, then build it up later ad-hoc to fill / blend in any gaps.  A small bottle goes a long way

The best success I have had this past 12 months is using Woodland Scenics pre-mixed scatter / ballast glue so I'm "sticking" to it now

Lastly, leave it for DAYS to dry and hoover the track before putting a loco anywhere near it (I also use a little PC keyboard duster / hoover to recover any loose bits and keep tidy).  If you're a DCC user I've found I need to leave it EVEN LONGER than on DCC otherwise any moisture left at all seems to disrupt power.

Hope this helps

Rich

One question Rich - what is aliphatic resin and its relevance to points? 

[DELETED]

Hopefully this image off the net works OK.  It's called Super Phatic! (sorry from Deluxe not Delux).

With the very small hypodermic nib you can draw round things very accurately easily (imagine drawing round your hand planted flat on a piece of paper).  Draw round / inbetween point blades and round the little arms on either side, you draw round the areas with the resin then drop a small amount of ballast on.  It doesn't take long to dry, once it's set, or near set you can go in with PVA and a brush, or dry ballast and drop PVA solution onto it.  The original ballast glued down with the resin stops you from gluing any moving parts because it forms a shoulder (the small keyboard hoover helps suck up precise ballast grains as you go).  I don't have any pics of the process, but it's very easy and really very accurate.  You just have to remember Aliphatic resin dries very quick (and very hard so takes some practice) and drop the nib into a cup of water as soon as you're not going to use it for a few mins.



...By the way, I tried the same method with an old empty bottle filled with diluted PVA and it doesn't work.  The PVA is too thin and runs everywhere, and takes too long to dry.

[Newportnobby]

The generally accepted way of loose ballasting is a solution of PVA/water (I used a 50/50 mix) with 1-2 drops of washing up liquid, which breaks down the surface tension and allows the glue to run through the ballast. I found this works fine and 48 hours later it was dry. I then picked off any ballast that had found its way onto the insides of the rails and vacuumed everything to remove loose particles. Finally I sprayed the whole lot with Railmatch sleeper grime which gives a nice shade of brown.
This method has only been used on plain track, not points/crossings!

[austinbob]

This method has only been used on plain track, not points/crossings!

So whats the advice for points and crossing then captain???

[Newportnobby]

This method has only been used on plain track, not points/crossings!

So whats the advice for points and crossing then captain???

I can only advise what I intend to do when I have fitted the Seep point motors, Bob.
Loose ballast carefully between the sleepers no higher than the tops of the sleepers.
Use the same mix of glue/water but applied with a pipette or hypodeemic nerdle.
Ensure no ballast gets between the switch and stock rails.
Ensure all tiebars move freely.
Mask off switch/stock rails before application of the paint, or maybe even hand paint.

I'm happy to be told if that is not going to work!!

[austinbob]

This method has only been used on plain track, not points/crossings!

So whats the advice for points and crossing then captain???

I can only advise what I intend to do when I have fitted the Seep point motors, Bob.
Loose ballast carefully between the sleepers no higher than the tops of the sleepers.
Use the same mix of glue/water but applied with a pipette or hypodeemic nerdle.
Ensure no ballast gets between the switch and stock rails.
Ensure all tiebars move freely.
Mask off switch/stock rails before application of the paint, or maybe even hand paint.

I'm happy to be told if that is not going to work!!

Thanks - I'm sure it will work - cos you've done it before. Just not looking forward to doing it myself