Ballast Tools

[doctorwayne]

…The biggest problem isn’t what you use to spread it with…but how you get the ballast off the ties.

I mentioned a very easy and effective way to do that in my first post:

…To clean excess ballast off the tops of the ties, lay the brush handle across the rails, then, while loosely holding it by the ferrule, move the brush along the rails, rapidly tapping the handle using the fingers of your free hand.

The errant bits of ballast will bounce into the area between the ties, unless you’ve already over-filled those places.

Wayne

[blubryexp]

For ballasting,I used a foam brush behind the dispenser as I went along the track. Used a brush as wide as the ballast so that it is removed from the ties outside and inside the rails. After a little practice(repeated short strokes with light pressure)it works pretty well.

[gmpullman]

FYI

All Electronics happens to have mini vibrating motors in stock:

http://www.allelectronics.com/item/dcm-371/mini-motor-vibrator/1.html

Have Fun!

Ed

[SouthPenn]

I use the container the ballast came in to pour on the track. Then use paint brushes to smoothout the ballast. Lastly, I use a tack hammer to lightly tap on the rails to settle the ballast. Then glue.