You guys have been helpful in my foray into model railroading. Asked about return loop wiring and answers/advice was given. Thanks.
Now I’m ready to start detailing and finishing our layout. I have the “town” made up of the track with included pastic roadbed that came with the kit. All my expansion is standard Atlas track and a roll of foam road bed. Now, I’m looking at balast. Will really make the difference on finishing up the raw looking track and road bed.
Couple questions about the balast. I can and will buy a big bag of it…but do I glue it down? Or, just lay it between the rails and on each side and taper it out real nice like and done? Seems with out glueing, it might “go all over the place”. My two 4’x8’ sheets of plywood layout is used with my boys (ages 4, 6 and 9) so I’d imagine the gravel balast could easily get knocked all over if not glued down. Sure it would look nice when I put id down, but in time I imagine it’ll be spread all over.
So, how to glue down? I see refrence about all kind of glue/water mixes. I should brush that on the ties and foam road-bed and to each side a bit, spread out the balast and then vaccuum up what doesn’t stick after the glue sets? Or spread out the balast where I wnat it and spray, pour, dribble glue onto it? Or, spread out the balast and leave it loose.
I was thinking of just doing all the Atlas track and foam roadbed…but maybe I should balast the “snap lock” type of track too? Doesn’t all the little balsat rocks get in the way of switches and into the workings of the loco?
How do I post pics? We made a pretty cool 4’x3’ mountain out of pink foam. Came out pretty good.
Lay in the ballast carefully, brushing to where you want it. Top of ties are clear and NO ballast near the inside of the rails. Do about 1 foot at a time
Spray with wet water.
Soak with white glue (1-4 mix) using a glue bottle with the top just open enough so it drips out, not squirts.
When completely soaked, let dry ( 1 to 2 days)
Vac up all extra and fix little errors
DO NOT get anywhere near your switch points.
Pictures
Digital Camera
Storage place on computer
Photobucket (there are others, that is the one I know) free but you have to register
Tranfer pics from computer to photobucket following their directions. Takes some learning, but I figured it out so it can’t be too hard.
Select IMG box (bottom one) Mine now automatically copies
Paste into post text. You will see the pic when you select preview.
“Wet Water” is a mix of tap water, typically in one of those spray bottles, and a couple of drops of either dish detergent or rubbing alcohol. I use the dish detergent myself. When you spray it, point the sprayer horizontally about a foot above the track, and let it “rain” down. If you spray directly on the ballast, it will go all over the place.
That said, I’ve personally gotten completely away from using the sprayer. Instead, I use a “pipette,” which is a cheap plastic eyedropper available from craft stores and hobby shops. With this, I can much more accurately target the wet water to the ballast, instead of getting it all over my scenery, turnouts and rails. I also use the pipette to dribble on the glue. It gives me better control than a glue bottle.
Remember, though, that you’re going to get wet-water and/or glue on top of your rails, no matter how careful you are. Part of the cleanup, after all the glue is dry, is to go over your rails with rubbing alcohol to get the residue off. Oh, and Art is right. It takes a couple of days for the glue to harden up, more in a moist environment.
You’ll find many different methods of gluing down ballast - white glue, matte medium, pressing it into thick, wet paint, glue with wet water, glue with alcohol mixed in, etc.
One person uses tile grout instead of ballast. Follow all safety precautions though.
Do a Web search and see which method looks best to you.
I had tried the wet water using the detergent soap, sprayed over the area with a sprayer. I then used a 1 to 4 ratio of glue to water also sprayed on. I had (or at least it looked like it) really soak the ballast. After two days of drying, the ballast was all cracked and looked terrible. Upon breaking it apart, it was apparent that the lower layer never got wet.
I completely removed all the ballast and tried again.
I then tried the alcohol mix wet water 50-50 solution - again spraying heavily and appearing to have a good coating of wet water. I then applied the glue mx, this time at 50-50 with water and after two days - the cracking was back.
The area is in a dry, heated garage space at 30" above floor level.
The glue I used is white Titebond.
The Ballast is Woodland Scenics Medium Cinders.
The area is about 10" x 20" and is a multi-track yard.
Can anyone tell me why I am seeing this happen. I get the sense that as wet as it looks, with the wet water spray, it is not enough to penetrate the full depth of the ballast.
It does appear that you are not really saturating the ballast with fluid. When I do this; I end up with the ballast almost sitting in a puddle of water/glue. I use wet water (dish soap and water) and white glue mixed 50-50 (approximately) with water. I have never had (in over 20 years) a cracking problem. If you don’t have water seeping out of the ballast; you are not really getting things wet clear through.
I found something cheaper than the hobby shop pipette. A medicine dropper. Get the largest one. It’s usually in the pharmacy area, near the children’s cough syrup. Above posters are correct about the cracking. It DOES sound like you’re not getting the ballast wet enough. You should see water seeping from around the ballast. The only time I spray any kind of glue mix, in when doing large scenery areas where there is no track nearby. Spraying it near track pretty much guarantees stuck switch points. Put a small drop of Labelle oil on the rivets before gluing. This will help prevent any stray glue from gluing your points.
I used cork roadbed for all of my 240 yds of track. The tapered edges make it much easier, (and least expensive) to lay the ballast properly. “Amen!” to the soaking with water and a little detergent, using a pipette, or large eye-dropper. Spraying, does not soak adequately, whereas, a pipette,(or preferably an eye dropper), gets the water where you want it. The 4/1 (water/“white glue”) mix is definitely important! Don’t even think of running a loco over a roadbed with any kind of loose debris. Vacuum the tracks often, even after the “ballasting” is done. Tiny particles kicked up into the works of the loco, can be disasterous! Also, follow the 2 day wait rule,before vacuuming and running your locos!
An added trick to ballasting those troublesome roadbed shoulders, is before spreading the ballast, paint some thinned white glue on the edges w/ a small foam brush. Use care where you paint the glue ie: tie edges etc. Then sprinkle on the ballast. I like the control of using a plastic spoon. Then you can spread the remaining ballast, wet water and glue. The painted on portion sometimes even acts as a stop to help hold ballast from falling off the roadbed completely.
I was able to get some disposable 50cc plastic syringes without the needles and they work excellent for applying the diluted glue or matte medium. It beats have to fill up and eye dropper every few minutes.
As said above, don’t get ballast near switch points. I have seen pictuires where Rustolium Stone Creations fleck paint was used in the switch area, the color blended with the gray balast. If you are using another color ballast find a paint that matches. Where the two come together blend, a little paint on the ballast, a little ballast on the paint. Looked pretty good.