Thanks guys. My length of track is skewed on the ends to match the angle it sits in the yard. The ballast also free-forms around the signal towers as well, so any kind of wood edging is out of the question.
Think I'll try an experiment with the powdered concrete and see how that works before I attempt the whole thing.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Sir Madog You could use sodium silicate as a "glue". Sodium silicate has long been used to bind loose materials, such as sand and crushed rock. Other than concrete, it does not change the "loose" look.
You could use sodium silicate as a "glue". Sodium silicate has long been used to bind loose materials, such as sand and crushed rock. Other than concrete, it does not change the "loose" look.
That stuff is not cheap though......25.00 to 30.00 for a gallon in the US, a lot more in Canada if you can get it. To do what He wants......that would really add up fast.
Take Care!
Frank
Mark,
You might consider ''Quikrete'', the kind you use for fence posts. You pour the powder over the ballast and mist it down with water until it liquifys. That might work for You. Try a sample......I do like Ed's way though.
Canada distributor:
https://www.quikrete.com/onthejob/locations.asp#Canada
Hi Mark
I used landscape timbers with treated 1 x 6 screwed to the bottom to act as "dead-man" stabilizers. IF I were to do it again I probably would have tied the landscape timbers together using several 2 x 4s stretched between the ties under the ballast. As it is, though, it has held up for a good five years now.
I'm not aware of anything that would permanently fix the ballast. Railroads used to use "grout" that was injected into the soil to stabilize it but that is a different animal.
Of course this doesn't help you much if your ballast is already in place unless you like to do some shoveling
Maybe others will have some better insights...
Regards, Ed
Ok .... so it's not really modelling, but there might be some cross-over ideas ....
I have some 1:1 scale track in my backyard. It's just a display of 30 feet of track with my rail car sitting on it, a crossing signal and a couple searchlight signals.
It's ballasted as it should be, but I have trouble keeping the edges of the ballast neat and tidy. Either from walking across it, animals or even from trimming the grass, stones get displaced and it looks messy. I'm getting tired of having to straighten the edges all the time.
Having just finished some ballasting on the layout the other night, a thought crossed my mind about how to "glue" the ballast in place on my display. My initial thought was to use powdered cement and mist it down with the hose. (?) Don't need to do the whole thing, maybe just the outer foot around the whole thing.
Anyone have any experience in fixing loose landscaping materials permanently in place ?