Putting down ballast on switches

[Anonymous]

Hello all,
I am in the process of building my first layout with my 8 year old son. We have secured all the track to a foam base (I did not use cork road bed) and have started to add ballast.
Last night I tried to put ballast on a switch and succeeded in jamming it up. I finally had to lift the section of tack and vacuum up all the ballast. Is there a trick for this that I am missing?
Thanks
Ed

[dave9999]

The trick is don't do it. Ballast up to the switch in each direction and STOP. If you really need to put
some ballast, make SURE not to get any around the moving parts of the switch. Best approach is to
skip the switch all together. Dave

[Anonymous]

I forgot to mention that we are using Atlas #4 manual turnouts.
Ed

[AntonioFP45]

Don't do it! If you're using the black foam roadbed material and you don't like the black showing through, spray the roadbed in that area with gray primer. If you don't have an airbrush, you can usually get a cheap can at WalMart or the Dollar Store.

I hope that you're using nickel silver track. If you're using brass, make sure you clean the rails with alcohol with a terry cloth towel before running trains on it. The plastic wheels on your cars deposit a black grime on the rails. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

I've ballasted Peco medium-radius code 100 switches with few problems. However, to me it's on a similar level to trips to the dentist - something you really don't want to have to do! I used pinches of ballast and carefully spread it between the ties, being careful not to get any in the flangeways or moving parts.

[michaelstevens]

Ed,

You don't mention whether or not you are gluing down (e.g. spraying diluted white glue) your ballast.

If that's your plan, here are two tips;

(i) lightly oil your railheads first, to prevent adhesion of glue mixture and facilitate clean-up.

(ii) pack the gaps between moving parts (of your turnouts) with plastic compatible grease, including the manual control stand.

Enjoy.

[Anonymous]

If you decide to bassast turnouts, be very careful, espically witht he Atolas turnouts. You might want to ballast them without glue. I have ballasted (and glued the ballast down) on Peco turnouts, but I worked very very carefully. The denstist analogy that was used earlier in this thread is a good one, but this is a lot more than a tooth cleaning.

[Anonymous]

You certainly can ballast turnouts.

Just be very careful not to get ballast or glue in the moving parts (i.e., the points). But don't leave the whole turnout unballasted--that looks silly and defeats the whole purpose of ballasting. With care, I've ballasted N-scale TO's, so i know it can be done.

If you used white glue, you can take your stuck turnout and get it good and wet so you can clean it off and re-use it.

[orsonroy]

I agree with everyone above; glueing ballast around switches is possibly the worst activity in model railroading. It's gotta get done, though, unless you don't mind the goofy look of non-ballasted switches. Painting switch rails is almost as big a pain...

I generally add just enough ballast to a switch to hide whatever's under it, oil the snot out of any moving parts (using LaBelle oils), shoot the ballast with 70% rubbing alcohol, and apply diluted white glue sparingly with an eyedropper. It's nowhere near as fast as glueing ballast to regular track, but it's the only way I've found to not ruin switches when ballasting. Working the switch back and forth a few times assures that no stray glue works it's way into it, freezing it up.

[Anonymous]

Ray:

Your technique is very similar to mine, except that I use Woodland Scenics scenic cenent diluted 50-50 with alcohol. I also soak the ballast with alcohol first. I hold the turnout in the midlle position while I am doing this and use a paper towel to wipe off any cement that gets on the points or moving parts of the turnout.

[mls1621]

You might try applying tape to the underside of the switches, avoiding the throw mechanism. Them sprinkle the ballast between the ties. the ballast can be pressed into the adhesive on the tape, and no glue needs to be added. Excess ballast can be brushed away.

I hope this helps.

Mike
St Louis

[orsonroy]

I've tried using various tapes to lay track, and nothing works. Double-sided carpet tape, even the "high strength" stuff, doesn't have enough tack to hold track down (it works great on skin, though...). I'm sure 3M makes a type of heavy-duty double-sided foam tape that would work (there's a type used in aircraft construction), but I'm sure it's cost outweighs any layout construction benefits.

[mls1621]

The adjacent track will hold the turnouts in place, the tape is just to hold the ballast between the ties of the turnout. I've used this technique in the past, and it works great.

Mike

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone,
I have since had success by being patient, and slowly adding the ballast one or two tie sections at a time.
Thanks again for the advice. It sure is nice to be back in this hobby!

I did have a small layout many years ago when I was 12 y.o. For that layout I used sand for ballast since I had zero money to spend on the layout.
Regards
Ed

[Anonymous]

I used the adhesive bituminous AMI Instant Roadbed for my N-scale track, and at the switches what I did was I discontinued the AMI. Instead, I super-glued thick cardstock (1/8" thick to match the depth of the AMI) to the underside of the turnout ties, just in the places where I knew I would not want to add ballast. The cardstock is the same basic concrete-gray color as my ballast, so when I add ballast I bring it just up to the edge of the cardstock then stop. At the switch points, there is still a grey color between the ties, but it is not ballast and it will never get into the workings. Of course, the full depth of the ties is visible, but if you look at real switches this is frequently the case anyways.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I cut the cardstock to match the width of the ties, which allows me to still ballast an outside shoulder against the edge of the cardstock. This must be done carefully, of course.