Ballast

[Cletus]

I have spent about 2 weeks using this method now and it has worked the best. Using Alcohol (straight) with an eyedropper. I have had good success dripping it from outside the rails, but on the ties on the outside. Less chance of it moving the ballast. As you go you can see it quickly and nicely darken the ballast inside the rails. Once it is well soaked I use the same approach, and even the same dropper with a 50:50 mix of white elmers and water and as above a couple drops of detergent. I never drip directly inside the rails. But a good application of the alcohol allows the glue solution to flow right in. If any fix up is then needed, it is never needed inside the rails, but only the outside tie area.

About misting. Either high like a rain fall, or directly on. Never found a good way to mist without getting everything around the track soaked. Since ballasting is the final step, I don't want everything soaked. But a steady hand and light squeeze with a dropper for both solutions has yielded good results and little "fix-up" of moved ballast.

Avoid over flowing in either mixture or it may float the ballast out of place. This is the reason for dripping on outside ties, and allowing it to truly soak in and not be forced into the ballast.

Cletus

[Bbags]

This was posted in another thread but since it is a how to for adding ballast I decided to also include it here.

Cigarguy

Crew Chief

Posted - 03/06/2006 : 07:22:59 AM

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When I lay down ballast, here are the steps I follow: First, I take a 3x5 card and fold it in half long-way. Then, I cut off one corner - what is left looks like a paper airplane shape. I call this my "special applicator." I pour some of the ballast onto the folded card, then gently pour it from the card to the tracks. Being pointed, the card allows you to get in to close areas, etc. If you gently - gently - tap on the card as you hold it, you can get the ballast to go right where you need it. The next step I do is to take a very soft 1" brush and GENTLY sweep the ballast level. Again, this is something that requires a "feel" for how hard to push. You can sweep the ballast to be level with the ties, or however you want it to look. Step 3, I spray the newly spread ballast with wet water (water with a few drops of liquid soap in it), and finally, I use an eye dropper to soak the newly spread ballast with my dilluted glue / water mixture. It will take about a day to dry, then I go back over the area with a tiny screwdriver. I simply run the screwdriver along the top of the ties, against the rails, just to clean out the flangeway. Any crumbs of ballast that may have moved from the spraying or gluing will pop right off.

Mike

D&B Lumber Co. in HO scale

Davison Division

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/mikekennedy

[MP_Rich]

One small suggestion for applying the glue/water mix. I find the eyedropper method to be a real drag. I use an old Elmer's glue bottle that I keep filled for handy use. It has the screw adjustment top so that I have some control over how much comes out. Sems to work quicker with no need to refill so often. The bottle can sit for months without the glue mix setting up inside if you close the lid. Sometimes the top does require cleaning off the dryed mix.

[Cigarguy]

Yep, done that also Rich, and your right, it is easier to do. I just find that for me, I have better control with the eye dropper for some reason. I keep an old glue bottle around for scenery sections, but I personally like the eye dropper for the ballast. Don't know why, I'm just wierd that way...

[MP_Rich]

Suits me, Mike. That's one of the really nice things about forums. We can make suggestions and get feedback. To me there is certainly no offence taken when someone suggests and none taken if the other party doesn't think my idea works for them. If we all liked the same thing we would all marry the same women. Wouldn't that be a fine mess? LOL

[lac13705]

A medicine dropper works well for glue application too. They are larger and hold more than an eye dropper but offer similar control.

[Tim_Kerkhoff]

Here is my nickels worth....I use that awful thing they clean a baby's nose out with. [:-scared]I have got two of them now, as I take them from the kids when they get older. Gosh those things are gross.

They make great glue applicators though, hold a lot and good control.


AH choo.....makes my nose itch thinking about it.

[Tabooma_County_Rwy]

And here's my nickel's worth...I use old saline solution bottles for dispensing a fine stream of alcohol, and another one for the glue/alcohol mixture. Very small orfice which gives pretty good control, yet the containers are big (8 oz), which means I don't have to keep refilling (like filling an eyedropper). Just an idea....

[Cigarguy]

Just to clarify... I use what I call an eyedropper, but it really is a "medicine dropper." It hold more than an eyedropper, yet has the smaller orifice for tight spots. I use the glue bottle in open areas like for scenery and what not.

Tim - are you talking about those rubber ball thingies???? (probably not the correct name...)

[Tim_Kerkhoff]

Mike,

Yes hose rubber ball things. They are about 2" in diameter. The nice thing is that it is flat on top, so you can turn it over and it sits without falling over..

Oh somthing else that is nice about them is that you can use them to blow the ballast off the top of the ties. You don't get dizzy that way.

I am not sure what they cost, but if your children have grandchildren, go steal theirs....well borrow it. They shouldnt use those things on your grandchildren anyways.

[BobbyDing]

Hey folks,

I've been looking around at ballast for my new layout and came across something I'd thought I would share. Maybe this has been mentioned before. Forgive me if it has. My layout is O scale, but I would think this can be used to a degree in the smaller scales.

I wanted a brownish tone for my ballast. I looked at the offerings out there and found several. But my budget would not allow for most. In my wanderings I came across "Ground English Walnuts" at a local pet store (used for lizard bedding). It was $8 for a large bag, so I bought some. It is, of course, a light walnut color (tan), but I found that it takes clothing dyes very nicely. I've been able to color it many different shades of brown, black, red and orange. It's lighter than fish tank gravel. I tried bleaching it to see if I could lighten it, but that failed. So it's only usable for earth tones.

Has anybody else experimented with this?

Bobby

[Cigarguy]

Bobby,

I've never heard of anyone using the ground walnuts. Can you post a photo of it?

[lac13705]

Tim,

I think you may be referring to an ear syringe. Drug stores such as Rite Aid carry these - go to http://www.drugstore.com/products/pr...UY-PLST-0-SRCH for a look.

[BobbyDing]

OK I'll give it a shot. I've supplied a penny and some Atlas track so you can judge the size. In the center is the original walnut bedding before dying. Going clockwise from right. Dark Brown, Cocoa Brown, Wine Red, Orange and finally, Black to the left side. The dark brown is about the same color as the plastic ties. These are the straight colors. I'm sure with some mixing, more are possible. Each was in the dye (RIT clothing dye) for about 10 hours, though it didn't need that much time to stain them. I suppose you could adjust the intensity by varying the time.

Bobby

Download Attachment: Ballast.JPG
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[Mike_Hamer]

I recall when I laid the ballast on my layout poured the ballast from the bag into an old film canister. This opening to the canister fit perfectly between the HO scale rails and made for a quick and tidy approach. A spoon was used for the areas outside the rails.

The B&M had a lighter coloured ballast, which I though would be difficult to locate, but Woodland Scenics had a light tan/grey selection which fit the bill nicely.