What is the best way to take track that has been ballasted and turn it into a railroad crossing. For both pavement and dirt roads.
Do I need to chip away the glued on ballest?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
if it’s a dirt road than you can just pour the road material over the top of the ballast and glue it over the ties… spray it down good with a mister bottle filled with water mixed with a couple of drops of dish soap, then drizzle in a solution of white glue and water mixed 40% glue / 60% water…spray it again with the water bottle so that the glue soaks into the ballast real good…if you are doing a plaster road to similate a tar or concrete road than yes, i would scrape up the ballast before you make the pour…another way to make a road is by using .030 sheet styrene or matte board and glue it atop the ties where it meets the rail and you’ll probably have to scrape up the ballast here too so it will lay flat against the ties and rail…chuck
I would chip it away. It shouldn’t be too difficult. I would take a razor saw first and score the ballast where you want to remove it. For the ballast between the rail. I would just scrape away any ballast that is above the tops of the ties so you have a flush surface. That should allow you to put whatever material you choose between the ties (wood planking, steel plate, dirt, asphalt)
Don’t forget to clean out the flangways.
If you are patient, and used white or yellow glue, you could wet it carefully, several times over the course of a day, and then scrape it all off with a hard plastic spatula. If you are pressed, chipping away at it will do, although you must take care to prevent excessive forces getting transmitted down the track on either side of the place where you are chipping and causing problems with continuity, alignment, or damaged ballast.
I have decided, having learned this by luck at the outset, that soaking the ballast completely creates a hard block that is difficult to deal with later on. By misting the ballast with a spritzer bottle until just the top 1/4" is glued, you get the retained track, the look of ballast, and ease of removal when you must do that. It may be somewhat noisier, but I have no way of comparing my track to that of others.
I have done it several ways. Sometimes the ballast can be used for the crossing itself just by adding more ballast. If the ballast is below the level of the ties, a thin piece of styrene can be used to fill inbetween the tracks and create a crossing. Styrene can also be used with approches.
If you want just a dirt road, use the ballast. If you want to change the crossing to wood, asphalt, concrete, you may have to break up the ballast by using small tools to knock out the old ballast. from inbetween the ties.
I recently ran into a similar problem and needed to add a crossing and a road crossing. I decided to use my Dremel tool and just cut the track out and removed the balast. It was just like a real track/road repair. In fact for a few weeks I put workers and equipment where the repairs were being made and developed a diorama, showing track and road repair.
The switch was dropped in and a new grade crossing was put in. I used roofing tar paper as asphalt, glued it to the foundation right up to the tracks, placed a piece inbetween the tracks and completed the other side. It looks good.
If you are going to use actual scale crete (it’s like real HO concrete or sheet rock mud), you will have to remove the ballast, unless it is glued and has developed a firm hard surface…
If using pre-fab roads from Walthers depending on thickness or depth of the ballast, you again may have to remove the ballast first before completing the road.
Hope this helps.
WTRR
Maintanence Shed