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ballast

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derfberger
Hudson

Status: offline

Posted - September 24 2010 : 9:13:38 PM

never sure where to throw out a subject.

I'm into the step of ballasting my track. between the rails is easy

It's getting it to stick to the 45 degree on the cork bed without sticking to the tops of the outside rails and sliding down the 45..

Also for realism short of walking the local tracks in town , how far out from the cork should it come assuming i will be putting i drainage ditches with weeds

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USA ~ Posts: 424 ~ Member Since: June 25 2010 ~ Last Visit: July 30 2021

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AMC_Gremlin_GT
Big Boy

Status: offline

Posted - September 24 2010 : 10:20:50 PM

quote:

I'm into the step of ballasting my track. between the rails is easy

It's getting it to stick to the 45 degree on the cork bed without sticking to the tops of the outside rails and sliding down the 45..

, how far out from the cork should it come assuming i will be putting i drainage ditches with weeds

Originally posted by derfberger - September 24 2010 : 9:13:38 PM

From what I remember of my ballasting session with my club, here's the process we used :

- use blue drywall painters tape just outside the cork roadbed. lay it parallel to the track and cork edge.
- We used medium gray ballast. use whatever color you prefer. Spread it over the ties, and using a soft brush, you can form it semi-flat and let it angle down the side of the cork. You can use EXCESS on the outside of the rails, the main process is AFTER you wet it.
- Now, the trick to wetting it properly is to spray UP in the air, and let it rain down straight...if you spray directly onto the ballast, is just blows it everywhere... Not good
- Mix a formula of 50/50 water and elmer's glue into a bottle... . Ok, let me back up a minute. There's two different liquids you're going to use - a mixture of water and dish soap FIRST, called Wet Water, to aid in the wicking process, in a spray bottle. Then the 50/50 mix in a pour bottle. So you'll need TWO bottles, a GOOD sprayer, not a $1 store cheapie, and a simple bottle with tiny spout ( A used elmer's glue bottle will work as well, or an old dishsoap bottle or water bottle with nipple ). One nice spray bottle type is a $6 battery-operated fan type, to cool you off. I found it makes a SUPER-fine mist. If you have "butter in a spray bottle" , those bottles work great, too, they produce a super-fine mist. I've saved a couple of the I can't believe it's not butter spray bottles to use for this myself, Or just get a 2-3 dollar spray bottle. Whatever works. I think the soap content is minimal, maybe one/quater ounce per 16 oz. of water. Don't want it bubbling TOO much. here's a website which explains the whole process -

http://railroadman.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/building-placement-and-ballasting-techniques/

So, once you place your ballast and brush it roughly into place, spray the wet water UP , not down, into the air above the track and let the mist fall on the ballast to really soak it, but not dripping or running off your layout. You can cover the rest of the layout to prevent excess water deposits where you don't want it with newspaper cut to fit. Once the ballast is wet and sticky, you can then proceed to detail it, remove excess, etc. onto the blue tape, and leave it there. taper the edges down to where the blue tape begins. Run something along the cork bed angle, and you can add or subtract ballast which should have a sticky consistency to work with until it's to your liking. After you've done that, you use the old dishsoap bottle or a water bottle with pop-up nipple to lay down the 50/50 water/glue mix onto the ballast, and at THIS point, you DO want it soaked well,not dry. If you can get the bottle to "drip" very quickly rather than "pour", that is better. The wet-watered ballast will absorb the glue/water mix readily, and not bead up on top, and shouldn't disturb it much. You have some time to rework it before the glue dries. Obviously ( ? ) keep the glue mix OFF the rail tops. You can wipe it off, but preferably try not to do it, and just run it down the middle of the ties and let it soak outwards. Then do outside the rails next.
Leave it for 24 hours once you've glued it, and you can pull the tape off the next day, and have a nice clean ballasted track and nice even edging. If you're going for an older era or more decayed look, you can vary the widths slightly to look like an ill-kempt trackage section.
The keys to a good ballasting from what I remember is the preparation, the sprayed UPWARDS wet water FIRST, then the detailing, then 50/50 pour mix. If you've never done it, take a piece of flex-track, mount it to some scrap cork roadbed on a small length of board or whatever, and practice on IT first. WIll save you cussing later on. :) Good luck!

Jerry

" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"

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USA ~ Posts: 3974 ~ Member Since: January 04 2009 ~ Last Visit: January 11 2019

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