chicken grit HELP

[two tone]

Good the edging will save a lot of time you may omly need to put more ballast once a year. The wild life will still scatter some of it,  reballest in the spring that should last all though the running season.  Good luck enjoy running your trains

[newto gscale]

tangrine-jack today we were at lowes and found molding for vinyle siding and best of all it was on close out $4.28 for a 12 ft piece we bought enougth to do the whole layout and have some left over 

[markperr]

The chicken (turkey) grit that I purchase is made from grushed granite.  Since granite comes from a granite quarry, that technically makes my chicken grit quarry fines.  And believe me, there's plenty of dust in each bag.

Mark

 

 

[Puckdropper]

I'd say G scalers are "Railroad Modellers" rather than model railroaders.  (At least when it comes to track work.)

[tangerine-jack]

Run a 1 1/2" stripwood edging around the perimiter of your plywood base, this will keep the ballast from leaving the area.  I don't think any glue will hold up outdoors and still look presentable, resign yourself to the fact that every so often you will have to do some upkeep on the ballast, as well as any other scenic items.  As G scalers we model from real full sized outdoor railroads and encounter the same problems with weather, animals, etc.  HO scalers and other indoor scales model from real full sized indoor railroads.........wait a minute!  Real railroads run outside, we run outside.....hmmm...I guess that means that G scalers are the true "model railroaders"

[newto gscale]

my layout is about 5" off the cement slab so that air can cirulate under the plywood.Both sides of the plywood have two coats of primier and two coats of paint.Now the track is in place and we are ready to start adding rocks, small hills and a tunnel>Trying to keep the layout looking like somthing out west maybe utah, nevada or arizonia.Only time will tell,also here in ohio the weather will be changeing soon.

[Anonymous]

Real men do not use chicken grit in their garden model railways, Quarry fines is the way to go!

 

Rgds Ian

[Puckdropper]

Do you mean "fines" rather than "finds"?

[jerryl]

Hope your layout is indoors . The plywood wont hold up outside especially in contact with the ground.  Most of us in this area use " finds" which is very close to scale crushed rock with rock dust. When you put it down wet it & the rock dust sets up almost like cement, but can be broken loose if you want to adjust the track. This material goes by many names & is used under pavers to give them a firm foundation. I use the black but I've also seen it in a light tan.  jerry

[Mike Dorsch CJ&M r.r.]

Hey BMAN good to hear from you again .

[newto gscale]

I would like to thank everyone for their help and suggestions.My layout is made out of 3/4 in plywood I have put two coats of primer and two coats of paint to cover the plywood Then we put the lgb track down on the plywood.Iam getting ready to put the starter grit down and i did not want the grit to slid or fall off the plywood becaues some of the track is very close to the edge and i did not know if i should try and glue it to the plywood or just let lay free? Once again thanks too everyone for the advice i am sure i will be back for more advice.

[tangerine-jack]

I assume you are talking about outdoor G scale.  It is not necesary to glue down the chicken grit in any way, in fact it could cause more problems.  The idea behind the floating track is to allow the track to expand and contract on top of the ballast without distorting.  On a hot summer day the track can stretch 1/2" or more from morning to night, if it was rigidly fastened down it would buckle.

It is a good idea to line the bottom of the grit trench with plastic or weed matting to prevent the ground from absorbing the grit over time.  There are several sizes of grit from "Starter" to "Turkey", I use the "Grower" grit for the most part as it looks closer to scale, but "Starter" grit is just as good.

Indoor G scale you can use standard matte medium (like Modge Podge) or white glue, but the grit is large enough to stay in place on it's own without using anything at all.

Welcome to G scale, I clean track once a year with WD-40!  Try that in HO or N!

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Several folks in this area have changed to using the coarse aggregate used in concrete blocks, it really looks more realistic than anything I've seen as yet!   Some of the guys glue it down using concrete bonder.

If you want your track to float, they build the roadbed, spread the bonder on it to prevent washouts, then lay the track and ballast it.  Some will then lightly spray bonder along the outsides of the track to hold the ballast yet allow the track to float!

[bman36]

Hi there,

     I too use #2 Turkey Grit for my ballast. As mentioned earlier it will settle. I reballast about twice a season. It does not actually take that long. The results are very realistic. Without the glue I can make any necessary adjustments with ease. Later eh...Brian.

 

[two tone]

I use 4mm grit I find it does not wash away in the rain also the birds do not scatter it to much

[New Yooper]

Hello-  If you're using a sub roadbed, another idea would be to lay on a heavy coat of an outdoor gray or tan ( to match your ballast color ) paint, and put the ballast on and press it in while the paint is still wet.

[markperr]

Personally, I don't glue down my ballast (which is grower size turkey grit).  If you're going to float your track on it, then you'll want to have the ability for it to expand and contract with the seasons.  Also, the grit will settle over time and you'll need to reballast, just like in the 1:1 scale.  Gluing the ballast makes this harder to do.

The one exception that I can see, would be if you were laying your track on a sub board of some type, whether it be PT lumber or trex type decking or the like, then you may want to glue down your ballast, but again, it's not necessary.

If you do, however, still want to glue your ballast, then the mix is 50/50 with water and a drop of liquid dish soap to help disburse the water/glue mixture better.  Use one of those plastic picnic type condiment dispensers and lay it down where you want it in the ballast.  It'll will be far more accurate than pouring it out of a measuring cup or something like that.  It you do get some on the rails, just have a wet towel handy to wipe it off with.  Use an exterior glue product like titebond II or elmers exterior wood glue.

 

Mark

[newto gscale]

I'am new to g scale and before i get my self in a mess i have a question. I have read about the use of c grit and seen it on the dvd's i have bought.One of the comments is too keep the grit in place is to use a mixture of glue and water and spray it over the grit.Here is the question what type of glue would work best,what is the water to glue ratioand how or what do you use to spray it on the grit.Also how do you clean the glue off of the rails.Any and all help will be appreciated.thank you.