Ballasting turnouts

[jacon12]

Well, I've finally started ballasting some spur tracks and I've discovered that ballasting is the most tedious, the most time consuming, the most likely to cause great aggrevation, job I've yet experienced in model railroading.

Can you tell I'm not fond of it?

I did a search on this forum and came up with a couple of threads about how different folks do it and, as usual... it's different strokes for different folks.  I do like the 1 inch foam brush idea, I think I did better with it than the 6 other brushes I tried.  I also believe one of my problems is I'm putting down too much ballast and then having to contend with it all.  On the next track section I'm going to put only enough to barely cover the ground between the ties.  See if that works better.  I haven't yet mastered the fine art of spraying wet water without blasting up gravel here and there, and believe me.. I've tried. 

So I've come to a turnout and I know to keep ballast away from the the contact points and I'm wondering if others put any ballast at all in this area.

How do you handle ballasting turnouts?

Jarrell

[cacole]

I paint the roadbed gray under the turnout before it is put into place, and I never ballast between the ends of the point rails and frog or where the point rails swivel.  I also keep ballast away from the throwbar.

[pomperaugrr]

Gordon Odegard had a great technique he used when building the Clinchfield N scale layout.  It should work for other scales too.  He covered the bottom of the turnouts with electrical tape (sticky side up).  Then he pressed ballast into the tape from the top.  Shake out the excess and you have a ballasted turnout without any glue issues.  Cutting the tape away from the throwbar may be a good idea too.

 

 

[selector]

Gordon Odegard had a great technique he used when building the Clinchfield N scale layout.  It should work for other scales too.  He covered the bottom of the turnouts with electrical tape (sticky side up).  Then he pressed ballast into the tape from the top.  Shake out the excess and you have a ballasted turnout without any glue issues.  Cutting the tape away from the throwbar may be a good idea too.

I like this idea.  I would think that duct tape would hold the ballast material very well, too, maybe better than electrical tape...worth a try.

JaRRell, I would advise against spraying wet water onto any ballast...strongly!  Instead, use an empty plastic bottle, something with a plastic cap, like a water bottle.  Drill a small hole through the centre of the cap, and use that bottle to dribble wet water onto your ballast.  Much easier to control, much less collateral damage, less displaced ballast material.

[SpaceMouse]

Ballasting is a Zen activity.

It need not be boring and tedious. All I have to do is see the difference between the unbalasted track and the track with the ballast. Throw a weed here or there and you have drama.

It is like waxing your car.

[mls1621]

Jarrell,

I agree, ballasting the track is the most tedious part of the hobby. 

Having said that, I tend to make it worse by applying the ballast a pinch at a time.  I just find that I can control it better this way.

I work a few inches at a time and work the ballast between the ties with the tip of a finger. 

I was rail fanning the other day and noticed that the ballast was even with the tops of the ties on the UP mainline near here.  Using the method I described above allows me to duplicate that.

As far as turnouts are concerned, let your conscience be your guide.  I've tried the tape under the points method and didn't care much for the results.  If the ballast isn't wetted, the color doesn't match the ballast that has been.  Besides, when you clean the area and run a small vac over the area, the ballast is pulled out.

I drop a pinch of ballast into the area and work it into place with a small paint brush, being careful to keep it away from the throw bar.

Once the ballast is in place, I wet the area with rubbing alcohol instead of wetted water and I never ever spray it on.  Screw up your courage and go to a beauty supply shop and get a few hair color application bottles.  They have a small taperred tip that makes it easy to get the wetting agent only where you want it to go.  I use one for the wetting alcohol and another for the glue mixture.  This is critical around the points and throw bar.

I like the alcohol method better than wetted water because it flows more easily into the ballast.  I mix my white glue with equal parts water and alcohol.  This mixture penetrates the wetted ballast very well and dries rock hard.  The alcohol evaporates quickly so be sure to have a well ventilated area and be sure not to have any open flames around.

I understand those who don't ballast their turnouts, it's just not for me. 

Jarrell, take this advice for what it's worth.  Just my two cents.

 

[bearman]

I'm ballasting right now and it is a pain.  I've painted under the turnout and that will be it although I am ballasting around the throw bar, just make sure that it works before it dries.  I don't spray to prewet.  I dribble 70% alchohol on with an Elmer's glue bottle that is barely open, then I use a 1:1 glue:water mixture dribbled on with another Elmer's glue bottle.  In both cases, I also add a couple of drops of dish detergent.  As for ballasting between the ties, I've tried brushes and found that the best tool to use is the human finger, and a jewelers screw driver to pry any ballast off of the rail.

[selector]

Hey Mike, that's not too shabby!! 

[fwright]

Jarell

May not be the answer you wanted to hear, but ballasting is much easier with handlaid track and turnouts.  Put the glue down on the roadbed, place the ties, and then ballast while the glue is still wet.  Sand the tie tops level, and vacuum the dust and excess ballast.  You are now ready to spike rail on your ballasted right of way.

Try it, you might just like it.

my thoughts, your choices

Fred W

[mls1621]

Hey Mike, that's not too shabby!! 

Thankyou, sir, we N scalers have to try harder.

[SilverSpike]

Ballasting is a Zen activity.

It need not be boring and tedious. All I have to do is see the difference between the unbalasted track and the track with the ballast. Throw a weed here or there and you have drama.

It is like waxing your car.

Chip,

 I like the idea of your approach to ballasting, care to elaborate on "Zen and the art of track maintenance"

- Ryan

[larak]

So I've come to a turnout and I know to keep ballast away from the the contact points and I'm wondering if others put any ballast at all in this area.

How do you handle ballasting turnouts?

Jarrell

It just takes practice, a steady hand and good eyes. I ballast my turnouts but use only a "half' portion near the points. I put very little near the throwbar but enough to cover the roadbed.

My preferance is a 5/8" stenciling brush to place the ballast and wetting with 70% isopropyl before dribbling on diluted matt medium with an old 4oz preshave bottle. (the bottle has a removable top insert with a small hole.) Clean out the spaces between rails and guard rails with a needle file or tweezers.

After the glue dries I check for stray grains in the rail webbing with a fingernail and a spare truck. This photo is the only one I have on my site showing ballast on a TO. Trains run fine through it although I still switch manually. Tortoise and switch stand come next winter. The small white knob is a dressmaker's pin.

 

The ballasting process gets easier with experience. Just do a couple of feet or one turnout at a time. 

Good luck. 

Karl 

[Dave-the-Train]

Ballasting is a Zen activity.

It need not be boring and tedious. All I have to do is see the difference between the unbalasted track and the track with the ballast. Throw a weed here or there and you have drama.

It is like waxing your car.

You have a hairy car?

[larak]

Ballasting is a Zen activity.  ...

It is like waxing your car.

You have a hairy car?

Very clever!

[selector]

JaRRell, I read the Classic Trains magazines, as well as their annual special editions...I like the archival images, the stories, etc.  One thing I have noticed is that many, and I do mean many, roads ballasted their turnouts very lightly.  Where you would normally see ballast even with the tops of the ties, and the tie tops nicely cleared, in so many photos the ties almost appear to be sitting on the ground with nothing between them.  I'm sure there is stuff there, but from some of the angles, it ain't much.  So, the tape idea sounds like a very good solution.

[fsm1000]

I make my own stub switches now so I can ballast alomost like regular track.

However, when I use to make regular turnouts [switches] i would paint on the contacts a tiny bit of oil like vegetable oil. I used a small brush.

Anyhow, the glue would not stick to the oil and I could then lay the ballast easily.

I would put oil where ever there was a moving part and also on the areas of the ties that the rails ran over.

I hope this helps :)