I already made the mistake of gluing a couple of my switches down to my roadbed and now they won’t work. I am using Woodland Scenics foam tack glue and track-bed, so I am thinking that I will just have to cut out the section of track bed under the switch and replace it. This might be a hard job. Any other suggestions?
Also, how can I avoid gluing a switch shut when gluing my ballast down?
You shouldn’t use any glue to hold the turnout down anywhere near the moving parts. A bit of glue on each end of turnout will be sufficient. Some modellers will “float” the entire turnout, relying on the adjacent track to hold the turnout in place. For ballasting, be very careful and again avoid the critical working areas.
In my later installations, I’ve notched the roadbed where the throwbar sits, so that there is no contact with the roadbed. That will prevent the throwbar from getting glued to the roadbed even if a bit of glue gets in there.
You may be able to free up the turnout if you can slide a credit card between the roadbed and the turnout to loosen the glue, assuming it’s just a bit that’s causing the problem. A razor blade or knife might work if the “softer” approach of a credit card doesn’t do it.
Most of us have had to rip up recently-laid track to fix problems with it, so at least you’re in good company. Once you get it working, join us over at the Beer Barn and laugh about it.
Before ballasting, drop some oil (Labelle engine oil will do it) into the area under and around the throwbar. That way, the glue/water will not mix with it when you apply it to the ballast.
And don’t forget to do the same around the rivet/hinge area of the point assembly if you’re using the typical pre-fab turnouts that don’t use a continuous rail from point to frog.