I know that it says “post new topic” but I still cannot get the ballast to stick to the slope part of the cork until I can spray it with water than glue mix. Gravity seems higher here in the north. No matter how carefully I place the granules, they fall in a pile on the foam. I guess I can use some suggestions from the experts. (that’s you)
BB
I do not understand the issue, Bruce. If all you have is roadbed (one layer), and the tied track, then the ballast should fall very close to naturally as you sprinkle it over the ends of the ties. Whatever profile you get is what it should look like, minus a bit of tidying up here and there where you place too much.
If you wish, use a 1/2" brush and gently sweep from the edge of the ballast up to the ties, lifting the brush as you go. Develop a feel for this and you will surely get what you seek.
What am I missing in your question?
-Crandell
Is it washing away? Go slow and you shouldn’t have any problems.
TA462, i sent you another email.
Sean
selector, it isn’t washing away. I cannot get that far. Both ballast and cork are dry as is the 2"" foam under them. I haven’t tried brushing up as you suggest but I will try it next building session.
I can just imagine trying to prewet the ballast when it is so precarious on the slope.
BB
One technique you could try is to brush white glue (full strength or lightly diluted) on the shoulder and slope, then sprinkle some ballast on that part. The wet glue should hold it in position (if you don’t pour on too much). That might provide enough tooth so that if you go back to add more ballast to complete the shape you want, it won’t slide off so easily.
In my case, I didn’t want much of a shoulder, so I’m using this to ballast both shoulders and one pass is enough for me. Then Im going back to do the section between the rails later.
Regards
Ed
Using the full strength glue before you add the ballast is the way to go. I use modge podge matte-mat brushed up to the outer edge of the rail and then add the ballast. After that dries, i add wherever i need more (dry), brush off what i don’t want, then fill and level the areas between the ties, spray with “wet water” (or windex if I’m really lazy) then drizzle dilute senic cement over the whole thing. I use some plastic eyedrop bottles i “found” at work, but spraying the senic cement directly onto the wetted surface works also. Clean up is with a wet cloth on the top of the rail. The other neat trick I’ve seen done is to vacuum up the excess with an old nylon in the hose line so you can recover and reuse the loose stuff. No problems so far in the last 6months. [:D]Good luck, J.R.
Actually, gravity is stronger up north, due to the oblateness of the earth.
But, it’s not enough to make a difference. After I sprinke the ballast, I notice the same problem, though. So, I take a brush and just push it all back neatly. All the spraying has to be done gently, too, or it will blow the ballast away. Since I usually only do a few feet of ballasting at a time, I go back over earlier track and touch up missing spots as necessary, too.
I noticed that the Woodland Scenics brown stuff, the crushed shell, is very light and I had those problems when I wet it. But I used a sprayer, like ones you find for liquid fertilizer, Windex, etc.
HOwever, I used beach sand for the bulk of my layout, and it stays put much better than the WS stuff. I will most definitely use my handy beaches again.
i agree with selector.
Selector
I read that beach sand was not good around track and any electrical connections because of the salt in the sand. Do you rinse or otherwise clean the sand before you lay the ballast? I understand playground sand is sterilized, wouldn’t that be better?
Dave
Hi, Dave. I was ignorant about much of this when I elected to go cheap and use the local beach sand. I knew enough to desalinate it by rinsing it in clean tapwater, but I did not know to check it for magnetic material. I read about that here, fortunately before I had begun to use the sand. If you can believe it, I collected sand in two places spread 600 meters apart on the same stretch of beach, and kept them separate. When I tested each with a fridge magnet, one of them had the material in it. Naturally, I discarded it.
As for sterilization, nothing is going to live in plain rinsed beach sand that will become a problem for your layout. My ballast looks great, nine months in, shows no signs of deterioration, discoloration, staining, growth, etc. Of course, it helped that I set batches of it on top of my wood furnace to dry in aluminum pie tins! The high temps must have killed whatever the rinsing left behind.
The sand does not hurt the electrical connections in the track or in the loco, but it could be drawn up toward open motors if it is magnetic. When inert and glued in place, it is as good as any other product, and I would say cheaper and easier to place.
Here is what it looks like.
Selector
Thanks for the feedback[:D]
Dave
Bruce, it sounds to me like you’re being too stingy with the ballast. I usually use a paper cup to distribute ballast along the track, both between and on the outside of the rails. Then I use a soft bru***o level things out. When I have the ballast around the ties to the depth that I want (usually to the tops of the ties), then I turn my attention to the shoulders of the roadbed. Where the terrain at trackside is level with the bottom of the cork, just pour ballast from the cup as you move it along the track, just outside of the tie ends, but still on top of the roadbed. Then, using the soft brush, follow the path that you just made with the cup and gently flatten the ballast on the edge of the top of the roadbed, letting the excess roll down the shoulders of the cork. You may have to repeat this step if you didn’t dump enough ballast on your first pass, but don’t use the brush on the sloping part of the roadbed…merely let the excess ballast find its own slope. Ballast is not that expensive and you’ll get a much more realistic profile. After you’ve got the look that you want, be sure to go back and remove all the excess ballast from the tie tops. The easiest way to do this is to loosely grasp that soft brush by the ferrule, lay the handle across the tops of the rails, then, as you slowly move along the track, lightly tap the handle at a point between where you’re holding the ferrule and where the handle touches the near rail. The resultant vibration will magically remove stray ballast from the tie tops. When you spray the wet water on the ballast, aim the sprayer up for the first couple of passes, then after the ballast has been dampened, come back with a more direct spray. This helps to keep the sprayer from blowing the dry ballast all over the landscape. I use a white glue and water mix to fasten the ballast in place, applying it with a plastic applicator bottle, first down the centre of the track, then along the outside of the rails. You can apply it down the ballast slope if you wish, but I f
I have found that the WS foam Track-Bed has slopes that are way too steep for my taste. The only way to deal with that is either to paint the slopes with full strength glue and then apply ballast, or to use a lot of ballast and let it find its own natural slope as suggested above. The cork roadbed has a more natural slope to begin with.
The other problem with Track-Bed is that there may be a little cornice at the top of the slope. I think that that may be hard to remove efficiently. At least with cork you can file or sand its contours.
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