I have gargraves track mounted directly to a base of insulation board with screws. Can I successfully ballast and glue this set up?
If so, what ballast would you suggest and what glue? I note that white glue, water with a bit of detergent is often suggested. What other options are there?
Advise and opinions VERY welcome!
I really like my rubber ballast sold by Scenic Express. It is clean. Elmer’s glue diluted with water and a bit of soap work just fine to hold it in place. If you rip up the track, just throw the ballast in warm water, dry and re-use.
That’s just about the best adivce you could ever get. Thanks Buckeye!!
Sounds good to me. Thanks!!
I USE CHEAP KITTY LITTER FROM DOLLAR STORE AND WHITE GLUE
I would make sure your cats don’t get in there lol
Boonter, you should check out Brennan’s Better Ballast. It’s made from crushed granite.
The first ballast i ever used was from Woodland Scenics. I’ve given it multiple attempts but am convinced that it is junk. It is made from crushed walnut shells that are colored. The problem comes when it is being glued down. What happens to wood in water? It floats! That stuff just doesn’t stay put and has to be really cleaned up from the rail sides and tops of ties after it all dries. I save that stuff for gravel roads and parking lots.
My favorite in N and HO scale is from Arizona Rock and Mineral. It is real crushed rock so it won’t float away! It stays put and looks very nice. A recent O scale piece I just did used it and while it works great their ballast for anything larger than HO scale starts looking a little off. It is labelled as “large scale for O and G” and if you are trying to get a ballast that looks fairly accurate, it’s hard to have it accurate in both sizes. The pieces are also more shard like as opposed to more even gravel like. It still looked pretty good though. You can get their product in many different colors.
Brennan’s Better Ballast is probably the most accurate looking for O scale and it is real rock. It only comes in one color but it’s very easy to mix some color into your glue wash to change that if desired. The standard grey that it comes it looks pretty nice though.
I spread the ballast down on dry track and then use a small brush to clean it up. In between the rails I’ll tap the ballast in with the eraser of a pencil or the handle of a medium sized paint brush to help pack it in. I’ll also sweep it off of the ties and rail sides and carefully brush it where I want it along the sides. Then I’ll go back to secure it. I first wet the entire area to be glued with an eye dropper. The mixture is nothing more than a spray bottle container of water with a couple of drops of dish soap. I either set the tip so that it can drip out if I’m careful or I’ll just use the eye dropper. I don’t soak the area.
MANY THANKS! This response serves as an instruction manuel for me. Very complete and detailed. Just what an ‘Old Newbe’ like myself needs.
All of the comments are valuable. Thanks to all.
One thing I forgot to mention is that after a day or so when the glue is dry, I’ll vacuum up any excess ballast lying around. Then I’ll inspect it. If there are spots where it didn’t come out like I wanted it too or where the ballast has settled in more than I thought it would and left holes, I sprinkle more ballast in those areas and just repeat the process. Wet it with a drop or so of water and then apply the glue mix again. Sometimes I’ll even fill little holes with weeds to look like a little growth on the tracks. It depends if it’s a mainline or not.
Good luck!
+1 on the Brennans Ballast.
Also try crushed limestone, and construction sand, as ballast and as fillers below the actual ballast to save some $$. Both available at the local Home Depot type stores.
Limestone on the left, Brennans on right, sifted limestone in center:
