Ballast test results

[ondrek]

So last night I took a bit of time and did a test of ballasting a 9" section of track.
It took about 20minutes for the whole process...

1. cut the piece of foam
2. cut the piece of WS foam roadbed
3. glue the WS roadbed on
4. find a scrap 9" piece of track...found an old brass section.
5. painted the track with this black liquid that dries very fast and leaves a black film on the surface that is suposed to increase electrical flow, i cant remember the name of it...i got it from micro mark. works great. then i painted the side of the rails and the ties for weathering. let it dry.
6. after it was dry...I took the foam section and spray painted the roadbed with the rock textured paint. I did quite a few passes to get a build up of the stuff. it doesnt run like normal spray paint.
7. while it was still wet, i pushed the track down into the paint.
8. put in 3 pins to hold the track down. noticed that the track was bent just a bit so it had a crest in it...oh well, too late now.
9. while it was still wet, i sprinkled over it fine ballast and on the sides ground foam to the wet paint. There was so much paint that the tops of the ties, even though they werent under the paint, were wet, some liquid in the paint just spread itself over it, which i was worried about at first, but then after i sprinkled the ballast over the whole thing, it worked great as the ballast stuck to this liquid on the tops of the ties. the liquid did not spread to the rails, the rails stayed nice and dry.
10. let it sit overnight.

I built this last night at 1130pm. this morning when i woke up at 645am it was all dry. 90% of the sprinkled balast has stuck to the paint and the foam did too. the paint is dry and the track does not need the pins, but i feel i will leave them in anyhow.

The best part? the paint is flexable and not rock hard, so the properties of the WS foam roadbed will still work as designed, it still is squishy so the sound reduction should still work as its not ridged and sound can stil be absorbed.
Another great thing about doing it this way is that you DONT have to go back and clean out the rails from ballast that might stick to it, because it doesnt.

the whole process would be so much faster if i didnt have to spend time searching for a scrap peice of track, and then painting it. if i prep all the track before hand, the actual process should be very fast.

Here are some pics of the results:
http://www.vermontel.com/~kevin_ondre/HO%20Train/track%20paint/

hard to get good close ups. sorry if any are a bit blurry.
the crest in the track can be see as some of the ties are above the paint, but at the other end of the track its not, its sunk in. thats the beauty of the paint, it builds up as you spray it. it might even be possible to skip the step of sprinkling the ballast on, but i like the effect it had on the whole thing, and it takes so little ballast to get the effect too as the paint already looks like ballast. win win situation.

Tonight i will try just using caulk and sprinkling the balast on top of it, no paint.
I doubt it will come out as nice as the paint did.

Kevin

[ondrek]

Oh, I forgot to mention that this was my 4th EVER trime at ballasting track.



My first ever attempt was just using the 50% glue on cork roadbed, the old tried and true method. it came out ok, but it looked like a beginers attempt. the second and 3rd attempt were using caulk and sprinkling ballast on it, but i messed the 2nd attempt by rubing the balast with my figer after it was dry. it all came off like the sand does on sandpaper after it gets wet. the 3rd attempt was messed up by trying to pu***he ballast into the caulk so it would stay there. my figer touched the wet caulk and messed that all up, it looked horrible, and its not fixable after you mess it up.

[Anonymous]

Hi ondrek,
Looks like you may have a winner! The test track pictures look great. It sounds like it is a real time saver and the results are excellent. The only question is does it hold up over time. How flexible is the finish and does it stay fexlible after two or three days to insure that it is completely dry. Keep on eye on it and let us know the final results.

Happy Modeling, Jack

[selector]

Good work, judging from the pictures. Thanks for reporting to us.

[scubaterry]

I used some rock textured paint on an area in one of my yards. I had an open space and it looked too flat so I did as you did and sprayed a bunch around the flat area and then dropped some fine ground foam on it while wet and it really made the area stand out. Problem is down here in the Florida Keys anyway the paint was about 6.50 a can at Home Depot. It did look good though. I really like the rusty used look you gave your track. Good job and thanks for sharing.
Terry

[Blind Bruce]

Kevin,
How do you propose to do this type of ballasting when you get to a curve? Can you spray the paint, pin down the track and sprinkle ballast in a short enough time?
BB

[ondrek]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Blind Bruce

Kevin,
How do you propose to do this type of ballasting when you get to a curve? Can you spray the paint, pin down the track and sprinkle ballast in a short enough time?
BB

I currently have sectional track, so curves wont be a problem. Now, I did buy some Shinohara flex track that holds its shape when bent. so my plan is to lay the roadbed. then lay the flex track. pull the flex back up, it now should be all set up and still bent into shape. then after that I will go to work on painting the roadbed. The paint when this think takes a good amount of time to dry. so my attempt will be 3' at a time.
What i will do at the turn outs is different. I will spray the paint, let it dry and then install the turnout. that way i dont have any interference with the moving parts.

I hope it all comes out well.
First thing first, i need to glue the roadbed down.

Kevin

[oleirish]

Kevin

This is good work,I'am going to keep an eye on this test because I'am about redday to do my new layout.this looks fast!!And I hate ballasting!!!!!
JIM

[ondrek]

QUOTE: Originally posted by oleirish

Kevin

This is good work,I'am going to keep an eye on this test because I'am about redday to do my new layout.this looks fast!!And I hate ballasting!!!!!
JIM

Ok, I will post pics of the process when i am doing the real track...I am working on cutting the foam sheets for the mountain first. then i will lay the roadbed on the whole layout. then the first section that will get "ballasted" will be the turnouts as nothing other than just the paint will be applied there.

I will also keep track of the time it takes to do the process

Kevin

[ondrek]

I forgot....

An update -

Its been a few days since i did the test section pictured. the paint is still nice and flexable, the foam roadbed is still nice and soft, just like it was before i painted it.

I have to admit, the can of spray paint wasnt cheap....they are $6.50 at the store...but, how much is a bag of ballast? $4 something right? So what is going to matter is how far does the can of spray cover? we will see.

Kevin