When you ballast the track, is there a prefered agent to use? I heard that 70% isophrophil alchohol will work great, but will water do as good? If there is another method, write it down! Is the alchohol the only one that works?
I have read on here that alcohol works, and water with a couple drops of liguid dish detergent. I tried it with water and dish detergent, and it work ok. Then i mixed white glue 50/50 with water to adhere. I have only done the area between the tracks so far. So far.....so good
Alcohol works better for me.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
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I wet my ballast a couple of ways:
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Unless your water is especially hard, tap water with a few drops of liquid dish detergent works fine. This question has been asked so many times, I've copied my method to a Word document (below) so that I can paste it in easily. There are other methods that work, too.
To ballast your track, I find that a small paper cup (such as those kitchen or bathroom Dixie cups) gives you great control over where the ballast goes. I usually move the cup along the centre of the track, tapping it as I go, to keep the ballast flowing. Less than you need is better than too much, although a soft 1/2" brush is useful for pushing around the excess or levelling what's in place. Then go back and do both roadbed shoulders in turn. Use the brush to level and re-arrange things as required, making sure to keep the ballast away from the throwbar area and the flangeways of the guardrails. To remove stray ballast from the tie tops, lightly grasp the metal ferrule of the brush between the thumb and forefingers of one hand, laying the handle across the rail tops, then, as you move the brush along the tracks, lightly and rapidly tap the brush handle with the fingers of your free hand. The stray ballast will "magically" bounce off the ties and into place between them.If you're also ballasting turnouts, make sure to keep the level of the ballast below the tops of the ties, and don't place any ballast between the ties surrounding the throw bar. To avoid gluing the points to the ties, place two drops of plastic-compatible oil atop each tie over which the point rails move, one next to each point rail, then flip the points back-and-forth several times to spread the oil. Parking the points in mid-throw will also help to ensure that they don't get glued to the stock rails, either.You can mist the contoured ballast using either water and alcohol, or water with a few drops of dish detergent added. Either should work, although I prefer the detergent, as it‘s cheaper and works just as well. (I prefer to save my alcohol - not the rubbing kind - for a nice drink after I’ve finished ballasting.) Use a sprayer that will allow you to spray a fine mist. To avoid having the force of the spray dislodge loose ballast all over the landscape, aim the first few spritzes upward, letting the droplets fall like rain. Once the surface has been wetted, you'll be able to spray it directly. Make sure to thoroughly wet the ballast right down to the base. Not doing so is probably the main reason that many people have trouble getting a decent-looking and durable ballasting job. To apply the glue/water mixture (white glue works just as well as matte medium and is way cheaper, especially if you buy it by the gallon. Those who claim that white glue dries shiny are not using sufficient wetting agent. The proportions should be about 50/50 water/glue, although a little heavier on the water will still work well). To apply the glue mixture, don't ruin a perfectly good spray bottle (and while doing so cover your rails and anything else nearby in glue, too): instead, use a dropper. An eyedropper will work, but a plastic squeeze bottle with a small nozzle will be much faster. Simply move along the track, as quickly as necessary, allowing the glue mixture to drip onto the ballast (or ties - you won't see it once it dries). You should be able to see it being drawn into the ballast, due to the wetting agent. I usually do the area between the rails first, then the sides in turn. The glue mixture will spread throughout the ballast and down to the roadbed, so make sure to apply enough to allow this to occur. The result will be ballast bonded solidly in place, yet with the appearance of loose, individual pieces.Where I have scenic areas adjacent to, but below the level of the track, I also apply the basic ground cover, which also helps to soak up the excess glue that spreads out from the ballast line. If you're applying ballast (or ground cover) to steeply sloped areas, use a suitable-width brush to apply undiluted white glue to the slope before applying the ballast or ground foam, which will help to hold everything in place while you apply the wetting agent and the dilute white glue (these steps help to bond the top layers of material to those in contact with the unthinned glue, and also help to draw that glue up into the top layers). In the photos below, the ballast, sub-ballast, and rock fill, along with the trackside weeds, was all applied and secured in the same step.
When I say soak the area with "wet" water, I mean soak:
Don't skimp on the glue/water mixture, either:
Once it dries, it'll stand up to vacuuming, yet still look loose:
Wayne
I use rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) straight from the bottle. I apply it with a "pipette," which is a plastic eyedropper available from hobby shops. The big bottle of alcohol is so cheap that it's not worth the trouble of diluting it, although some people will do that, too. I've tried the spray bottle, and that just makes a mess and gets most of the mixture where I don't want it, annoying and wasteful. I've tried the soap-in-water, and that doesn't work as well as the alcohol.
Another thing - alcohol evaporates much more readily than water. So, I've found that my ballast dries a lot faster when I use alcohol to wet it.
I use 1 part white glue to 3 parts water, both for ballasting and for applying scenic materials. I've got a few small Elmers bottles with the orange applicator top. I just re-fill these, and apply the glue right from this bottle. I have a gallon jug of off-brand white glue to refill the bottles when they run dry.
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There is good detailed advice above. I found that the "drop of dishwashing detergent in the diluted white glue" still resulted in some problems with fine ballast. In addition to that mix, I use an overspray of Windex glass cleaner before applying the glue. The light overspray of glass cleaner goes on without "glopping" up the ballast, and then the glue mix seems to flow in very nicely. The spray bottle that this stuff comes in is easy to use, control, and direct. I use a piece of cardboard to protect any structures or painted surfaces from the spray of glass cleaner. The glue still seems to adhere fine.
Bill
Andy Sperandeo MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
Good to know. That is one of my next steps. After aging the rails. Will only work on a small area at a time. I would think, but don't know for sure, that the alcohol will dry very quickly.
Bob
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I'm sure that the alcohol will dry faster than the water, although, what's the rush?
While I'm sure that the alcohol works well, I don't use it as I find the odour extremely irritating. The other parts of the procedure, which I outlined above, will work equally well with water or alcohol, though.
As for the amount you accomplish in a session, it's entirely up to you - with more turnouts in an area, a little more time is required, but with just track, progress can be fairly rapid. I usually do the lineside groundcover at the same time as the ballasting, taking advantage of the glue/water mixture's tendency to spread from the area to which it's applied.
I am a newbie to laying trackbed. I have it installed on my 4 x 8 Senior Twice Around Atlas Track Plan but now I am faced with the next step. In my Atlas Beginners Guide, they talk about avoiding ballast on tracks and painting the roadbed and ties instead, with spray paints of rust, light gray, and black. But, your photos of ballast look so good. Should I go the painting route? if so, how is it really done? Or, can I do paint on the track and roadbed and just add ballast along the sides of the track until I get my exeperience up to do it between the ties? Or, is there a Plan C I should follow to develop a good looking track roadbed? I just want to work within my limited experience. Your advice is soooo much needed and appreciated.
Mark
Mark, I painted the rails before ballasting, using PollyScale paint applied with a brush. There are a couple of advantages to using a brush over airbrushing for this task. First, there's no need for masking anything, as the brush puts the paint where it's needed. Also with spraying, either with a spray can or airbrush, there's lots of paint that dries in the air, then lands somewhere (track, buildings, scenery) as dust. You'll find a lot of it every time you clean your track. Got 10 or 15 minutes to spare? Paint some rail, or paint one turnout, put the cap on the paint, rinse out the brush and you're done. And before you know it, your rail-painting will be done, too. With an airbrush, 15 minutes isn't worth the effort of clean-up afterwards.
Surprisingly, painting rail in this manner can be a good way to unwind after a busy day, too: not complicated, no expensive tools or materials required, not even any real skill needed, but you'll be amazed at the "bang for your buck" you'll get from this simple task.
I use a fairly stiff 1/2" brush - the wider brush holds more paint, so you're not constantly refilling it, and the stiff bristles allow you to work the paint around the spike heads and tieplates moulded onto the ties. No need to be especially neat, either, as these areas got weathered just the same as the rail. If you get too much on a few of the ties, you can always touch them up later with a suitable colour. Even though my layout is an around-the-room style, I paint both sides of both rails, as I often place the camera directly on the layout, taking shots from angles not seen from the aisles. I usually paint 10' or 12' of track, then use a dry rag, stretched over my fingertip, to wipe the dry (but not hardened) paint from the railtops. Let the paint harden (usually 24 hours) before running trains or ballasting.
Here's some real track, for inspiration:
Thank you for the advice. I see where you have some ballast and plant material in between the ties and rails, which I will graduate to in later days. For now though, I will follow your paint method and simply add ballast to the sides of the track bed to cover it up and make it more natural looking. I will use sprayed on glue, ok? I also see where some ballast may have cement mixed in and you wet it after you sprinlke it on the roadbed. Is there a brand name for that ballast? Is it better than spraying, then sprinkling?
wingmanIn my Atlas Beginners Guide, they talk about avoiding ballast on tracks and painting the roadbed and ties instead, with spray paints of rust, light gray, and black. But, your photos of ballast look so good. Should I go the painting route? if so, how is it really done? Or, can I do paint on the track and roadbed and just add ballast along the sides of the track until I get my exeperience up to do it between the ties?
Both.
Paint the track and then ballast it.
Do a small portion, say, a spur, and learn what works and what doesn't, before you do the whole layout. There's nothing hard or dangerous about ballasting between the rails, either. Just take your time and make sure the ballast is brushed out of the flangeways before you glue.
And avoid glue or ballast near the switchpoints.
One tip--scenery first, ballast last, works best for me.
I'm not familiar with such ballast, Mark, but it sounds as if the ballast includes a powdered glue which is activated by water. Someone else may be able to comment on this, or you could try googling it.
I'd suggest ballasting the entire track, roadbed shoulders, and between the rails, all at the same time, as there's very little extra effort to do the centre of the track, too. By doing this in two separate operations, you're almost doubling the amount of work and you are doubling the clean-up required.
I would also strongly advise against spraying the glue mixture: while it may appear to be a faster method, you still need to apply sufficient glue to penetrate right to the bottom of the ballast: otherwise, you'll end-up with a crust of hardened ballast sitting atop loose, unglued material. This will require a lot of spraying. Another drawback to spraying the glue mixture is that it will get onto everything in the vicinity, especially the rail. While I do have to clean my rail after ballasting, it's only for appearance's sake, as the railtops become somewhat discoloured - I'm not sure why, although the trains will still run fine on them. However, spraying glue on the rails will definitely require them to be cleaned, and a lot of the removed residue will stay near the rails as dust, only to somehow migrate back to the rails, causing potential electrical contact problems. I have cleaned my track only once, and that was after ballasting. And finally, why would you want to plug up a good-quality sprayer with glue? Or spend the time needed to clean it properly?
Great Tip! Because I will also want to have grass and dirt near the tracks. Experience is a great teacher.
Thanks, Wayne. No spraying for me. I see your points. I will brush the mixture on the road bed and ties and try to stay off the rails as best as possible. I don't want a mess to clean up! I will also look at the tips on this board to help me out. The photos and instructions are fabulous. And, folks who respond to newbies like me are fantastic!
I just go with 70%. It's the easiest to find, and it's inexpensive. It has worked great for me in my past years. Go with it.
Peace