We just finished our double mainline and are in the process of doing the ballast. At the train swap, a fellow suggested soaking the ballast with an alcohol spray, then spay a water/glue 50/50 mix coating the ballast. Will the alcohol do anything to the instant roadbed material? Any comments, suggestions would be welcome on how to solidify our ballast.
For the most part, the AMI road bed is impervious but i have used lacquer thinner to soften it up and make it sticky again when reusing it. When I lay the track, i weight it overnight with spray cans or wood or whatever falls to hand. After I’m sure the track is stuck to the bed, i add the ballast dry and level it to the height i want. If I need to get the ballast to stick on a bank outside the rails, i brush on matte medium then add the ballast. in the middle i have had the best luck spraying dilute soap (wet water) with a fine spray bottle or even when lazy windex right over the ballast then using a dropper add dilute glue or matte medium. With the soap on to break the surface tension, you can see the glue spread right through the ballast and it then stays put beautifully. J.R.