#722Since I probably won't be able to save much of the ballast, how do you clean off the rails and track. I would like to save that.
Since I probably won't be able to save much of the ballast, how do you clean off the rails and track. I would like to save that.
Just tried a little experiment today for exactly that. I'm sure this is nothing new but I took several old code 100 turnouts from the old layout that I intend to give to a friend who is going to build a new layout but being retired and on a fixed income he's watching the coin just like the rest of us. So I took the turnouts and just let them soak in a tub of water for a couple of hours. I ballast with 50/50 white glue and water so it's pretty much a no brainer eventually it will all come off. If you put the track down with yellow carpenters glue or anything like Liquid nails etc. Good luck I don't know of anything other then solvent that would get that stuff off and in tern it will melt the ties for sure.
CTValleyRRDoctor Wayne, you need to shop around some for your ballast -- or buy it in bulk instead of in the plastic shaker bottle. You should be paying more like $5-6 a bag, depending on brand and size of pack.
Doctor Wayne, you need to shop around some for your ballast -- or buy it in bulk instead of in the plastic shaker bottle. You should be paying more like $5-6 a bag, depending on brand and size of pack.
Not a lot of selection around here, and our prices are quite a bit higher than in the U.S. Still cheap enough, though, that I don't have to skimp on it.
Wayne
Seriously, though, trying to save ballast or make your own -- except in the case where you really have to match a specific color -- is a false economy. Now the track, that's different -- definately try to salvage that. You can buy about 6 bags of ballast (and I don't think I used that much on my 10 x 15 layout) for the price of a mere 15' of flextrack.
Unless your budget is measured in pennies and your free time in weeks, just chuck the stuff and use new.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Hi again!
I recall in the early '90s how I spent a lot of time reviving and recoloring old dry lichen for the HO layout I was building at that time. The results were poor, and the time/effort spent was wayyyy too much.
I also realize that not everyone can afford new roadbed/ballast/etc., when they are building a new layout, but if you can, recycling the old stuff is often just not worth it.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
The amount of work involved and wasted water makes attempts to salvage ballast a no-win situation.
Track can be salvaged by soaking in water and using an old toothbrush to scrape away the ballast and residual glue.
We once had an HO scale club member who wanted to salvage and reuse cork roadbed, but that turned out to be more wasted time and effort than the cost of new roadbed.
Hi!
I took down my 11x15 HO layout in January (rebuild now under construction) and thought I would recover some of the ballast. Well, it was mostly secured in place with glue/water mix, and when the track was removed some stayed with the track and the rest on the benchwork.
You could soak your track in a water bath (with a drop or two of detergent), but the results will be more a mess than something that is reusable. In my case, I quickly decided that recovery was a total waste of time and effort. I was much more concerned with recovering the track (Atlas flex 100) and took it outside and ran a stiff brush over it to remove the bulk of the ballast.
Frankly, I would not attempt to recover the ballast and start fresh with your new layout.
Ooops, there is one exception here..... If your ballast was just sprinkled onto the layout without adhesive, then get a vac with a clean bag and just vacuum the layout and recover what ends up in the bag.
locoi1sa My X father in law used to wash and bleach the paper coffee filters and hang them to dry. It cost more for the bleach than a pack of filters. I bought him a pack of 1000 filters for $1 for him. Talk about cheap. Pete
My X father in law used to wash and bleach the paper coffee filters and hang them to dry. It cost more for the bleach than a pack of filters. I bought him a pack of 1000 filters for $1 for him. Talk about cheap.
Pete
I had a now-deceased father-in-law who once drove 23 miles to another town because an auto parts store there informed him over the phone that they were only charging $2.29 for a speedometer cable; an auto parts store seven blocks from his house was charging $3.19. When he tried to install it he broke it so he made a second trip to purchase another one. "But I saved 90 cents" he said. Gasoline was only running about 29 cents a gallon in those days so presumably he saved in the vicinity of a quarter on his purchase.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
This seems like recycling the motor oil in your car. The work involved doesn't make it worth it.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
loathar I just tried coloring some ballast via the Aggro dirt coloring method. (used art sand and craft paint) Worked really well but was very time consuming. Needed to match a certain old Highball Ballast color.
I just tried coloring some ballast via the Aggro dirt coloring method. (used art sand and craft paint) Worked really well but was very time consuming. Needed to match a certain old Highball Ballast color.
Do you have a link or how-to on that process. That would save me so much money.
You could put the chunks of ballast between a couple layers of newspaper and run a rolling pin over it repeatedly. Then sift it through a stainer. I just tried coloring some ballast via the Aggro dirt coloring method. (used art sand and craft paint) Worked really well but was very time consuming. Needed to match a certain old Highball Ballast color.
I agree with not trying to salvage ballast, especially the woodland scenics stuff. It's made of crushed shells (I believe it's walnut). Says it on the side of the container. Getting the glue off might result in removing some of the coloring as well.
Springfield PA
#722 Is there an easy way to salvage ballast from my track. I would like to reuse it on my new layout and am trying to get as much as I can. It's glued down with the woodland scenics stuff. Thanks,Jacob
Is there an easy way to salvage ballast from my track. I would like to reuse it on my new layout and am trying to get as much as I can. It's glued down with the woodland scenics stuff.
Thanks,Jacob
Unless you glued your ballast down with air FORGET IT! One of my grandmother's favorite homilies was "Don't step over a dollar to pick up a dime!"
locoi1sa Jacob Reusing ballast is pretty much a lost cause. Reusing track on the other hand is doable. I have reused track by soaking it in wind shield washer fluid and it softens the glue. You don't have to bathe it just soak a rag and place it on the track and wait a few minutes. The track can then be peeled up and cleaned further if it was not nailed down. Pete
Jacob
Reusing ballast is pretty much a lost cause. Reusing track on the other hand is doable. I have reused track by soaking it in wind shield washer fluid and it softens the glue. You don't have to bathe it just soak a rag and place it on the track and wait a few minutes. The track can then be peeled up and cleaned further if it was not nailed down.
Only one little change, Pete. Instead of pre-mixed windshield washer fluid, just put a half-dozen squirts of dish detergent in a two-liter bottle of water. The result is the same - you can even use whatever's left in your vehicle's window squirt tank.
The last time I had to do the, "Get the ballast off the flex track," thing, I put the lifted but ballast-fouled flex in a trash bag, added the two liters of detergent water, squeezed out the air and left it in the bath tub overnight (my wife was afraid of leaks!) Next day, I spread the flex on the lawn and sprayed it with the garden hose. Viola! no ballast.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - partially with re-lay flex track)
In my opinion, Jacob, it's not worth the time involved - a container of ballast is only $10.00 or $12.00, and I'm pretty sure that it would take at least several hours of work to remove and clean the old ballast, if indeed it's even possible. At what hourly wage are you willing to work? (this task sounds more like true work, rather than the stuff we do when we "work" on our trains). Even if it took you only four hours (I suspect that it would take longer, though), you'd be working for the equivalent of about three bucks an hour.
You'd probably want to run any ballast you salvage through a sieve to remove the stuck together pieces. Frankly the entire process sounds like a heck of a lot of work with probably remarkably little usable good quality ballast to show for it.
Another approach, which I have managed once or twice, is to remove the entire subroadbed (I use plywood, with most screw heads visible in the middle of the double track mainline -- this might not work so well with homasote) plus track plus ballast in reusable lengths. Sort of like home-brewed Kato uni-track. I cut through the rails with a Dremel tool where I see the piece of plywood subroadbed ends.
But there are limits to the lengths of track that this will work without bending the rails. And even then at the end of the day -- it means putting relatively little value on my hobby time versus the cost of just starting over.
Dave Nelson
You may be able to scrape it up and soak it in water to soften the glue. Rinsing with lots of water will help wash off the glue. Might be possible to get ballast off the ties by soaking the rails.
I don't use WS cements, so I haven't tried this, but IIRC, WS cements are water soluable.
Hope it works.
Darrell, quiet...for now