Well, I have read many threads over the past six years about ballasting. I have finally gotten around to it, now that the layout is probably in a permanent location.
I am following the SOP that has been posted many times…using little straight white glue on the cork roadbed shoulders…tapping medium grade WS ballast out with a plastic teaspoon, brushing with a dry paint brush, …, wetting by dribbling with70% alcohol (can’t be bothered to mix it down anymore) dribbling with 50/50 Mod Podge, and the results are satisfactory to me.
It sure is a slow process though, isn’t it? [:S] My best time is about 30 min per 14 to 16 " section…or an hour to start and finish about a yard of track…and I have taken a fair bit longer than that when I am being really fussy about spreading the ballast just so.
Is that about right? I will have to slow down a bit now that I am going to work around/over all the turnouts.
If it isn’t bothering you and the results are good, don’t worry about it. You’ll find that it will go faster as you get the hang of it. About the time you get to maximum speed the job will be done and you’ll have great looking track.
An inch a day of fully ballasted track is the industry norm.
Just kidding.
Take your time and do it right the first time so you’ll have no regrets or problems to iron out later.
There really is no set “standard” for how fast or far you progress.
I’ve seen videos of Some guys will just wet the track, spill it out over the track, and vaccuum up excess and wet/glue it in a matter of seconds and move along a 3’ section at a time. you may not be one of theose guys.
You should pick up speed as you move along, but it is still a bit of tedious work to do it right.
I just now finished filling in a little ballast around the turnouts, taking it very lightly near the points…just a few grains to give some semblance of ballast color, and extreme care with a brush in and around the points and frog and guard rails. I tried a little glue very precisely with my best dropper and all seems well. I am going to let the first turnout “set up” and dry completely and then use the vacuum before proceeding with my current technique on the other turnouts.[:-^]
You have settled on the same technique that I use. 14"/ 30 min is slow, but as mentioned you can pick up speed as you go. Haste doesn’t make Waste only a real mess. Crandal has the 4ft/ 30min about right.
Other hints to pick it up a bit is try various soft brushes and/ or foam brushes. If you’re using WS only, try a blnd of "real stone or go to all stone (AZ rock or Scenic Xpress). The heavier weight of stone over the WS "very Light (walnut shell or ??) allows better settling and control. I like the WS mixed w/ Scenic Xpress, it even gives a bit of salt and pepper look to the ballast. I bet the biggest time consumer is getting those stray grains off the tie tops. Also try to gently blow at an extreme angle, quite a bit of that unwanted, stray grains will blow right off the ties ready to wet down. Instaed of an eye dropper you could also try a pipette or use that small Elmer’s bottle w/ the orange cap Gives me very good control. That sm Elmer’s bottle is also great for securing groung foam etc.
As for speed, I can’t comment, as I haven’t quite gotten to that point yet. However, there are a couple of tips on ballasting that I am using or plan to use when I get there.
First, I have painted the roadbed under my turnouts with textured paint as close to the color of my ballast as I could find. This makes it so a thin layer or lack of ballast under the points doesn’t show up as much. You can paint all the roadbed if you like, but generally the ballast most places will cover the roadbed. If you are using foam under your roadbed, I suggest painting the area around the turnouts with your earth color to protect the foam in case the overspray from the textured paint likes to eat foam.
Second, I have seen it posted that it is advisable not to ballast too far before testing your track to be sure the ballasting hasn’t messed up your electrical contacts. The ballast adhesive can get into track joints and insulate electrical contact. The idea was that if you don’t go too far it shouldn’t be too hard to find the problem. If you are using full sections of flex track, obviously you won’t have as many joints to check as if you were using sectional track. Sounds like a smart idea to check fairly often, regardless. Of course if you have a fairly large layout you could work in a couple of different areas and check each area as you go.
Gee, Bear, I’m glad you have luck with that device. I have one and my medium grade WS ballast won’t go through it properly at all. The center hole (which is larger) spreads some out with several passes, but the side holes plug right up right off the bat. So I am using the teaspoon technique which is slower.
As far as tools, I thought I would share my favourites here. This is the best thing I found for the glue mix (also from Micro Mark, I think). I have just the straight needle nose types. The cap seals well so I don’t need to clean these out after use if I keep them filled. The hole is at least 1 mm wide so it drips nicely.
And for dribbling 70% alcohol I prefer this infant ear syringe thingy. It dribbles well.
As far as being able to set down and glue 4 feet of ballast in half an hour seems beyond me, alright. I think the spreading of the ballast nicely would take me the half hour alone, not even getting to the wetting and gluing. You are right, perhaps it is the light weight nature of the WS ballast, but it sure takes a while to shape it nicely on the shoulders and fill in between the ties.
Ah, well, perhaps too much writing for such a small topic. Off to do more gluing now.
When using Woodland Scenics ballast, I use a trick I picked up from "Cody’s Office". Because it is made of ground up nut shells, it’s very light. I use a garden spray bottle (finer mist), and instead of spraying it directly on the ballast (it tends to blow WS ballast around), I spray it up in the air and let it settle like a fine rain. Once it is soaked, I dribble my glue using one of those small ketchup/mustard bottles like they use in mom and pop burger joints.
How true, this is why I do the same with a selected sprayer that allows nozzle control. Allowing a fine mist to rain down at first to wet. Once wet spray can be more directed at the ballast. I also found that mixing w/ “real stone” which is heavier helps. The mix is mainly for the overall appearance of the varied salt and pepper look to the prototype we wanted for the club. I find that a mix of water alcohol works better that just wet water. Speeds drying also.
