I really feel like ballasting my EZ track, but i dont know if it would turn out to be a total mess. I think it would make it alot more realistic, if I do it right. Any ideas about EZ track?
Quite a few of us do that/have done that. It takes some care to make it look good because the ties are not so deep as in flex track, and the profile outboard of the tie ends takes some care. If you then mist it with isopropyl alcohol and then dribble a bit of that water/alcohol mix onto the grains of ballast to help keep it put (and not wash it off the plastic!), you can then dribble a light glue mix and it should harden nicely. I didn't like the WS nutshell ballast for this application, but local beach sand was quite good due to the weight of the grains.
Another way is to lightly glue the ballast in short sections with an artist's brush and then sprinkle sand lightly on the glued parts. Let it dry, gently shake of the free sand, and see what you have. Then you can install it and fill any gaps. You can't do this with EZ-Track fixed in position though.
-Crandell
I have a rather large semi 'horseshoe' curve on my Yuba River Sub that I used the wide-radius (36") EZ track on, and it ballasted rather nicely after I had laid the rest of the scenery in.
I was able to use the WS 'fine' ballast on it, but only after wetting it throughly with a mist of water mixed with about 3-4 drops of liquid detergent. After it was thoroughly saturated, I used the thinned WS Scenic Cement to bond the ballast to the roadbed. The WS seems to have more 'flexibility' to it than regular thinned white glue. I did this about seven years ago, and have had very little trouble with it in my largely uninsulated garage. What spots have come loose over the years have been easily repaired using the same technique to originally ballast it.
Here's a shot of part of it, if this helps. I don't really have a photo showing the entire section.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Thanks! I am excited to ballast my track! Also, TJsingle, did you ballast when you had your track down in position?
TjsingleI ballasted my ez track, but ballast the joints and switchs carefully. Caused massive problems with rail conductivity. Now it looks good but be careful and take your time.
I actually just did this with my ez track and after cleaning it and using the bachmann track conductive solution, and now I have problem with electrical conductivity. What the easiest and best way to clean and fix?
I gave a clinic to my NMRA division some years ago about ballasting turnouts that touched on this subject - actually in that portion of the clinic I was showing how to integrate EZ Track turnouts into a flex track layout to AVOID having to ballast around turnout points. I was illustrating a bit of advice given by then MR editor Terry Thompson.
Among other things you have to beef up the subroadbed of the non-EZ Track portion to match the height of the Bachmann (or similar LifeLike) products
Anyway ...
What I showed was how to use Woodland Scenics gray ballast (a light gray comes closest to the Bachmann color as I recall) to extend outward and thus flatten out the side beveled profiles of the ballast to come closer to the prototype angle (cork roadbed and Pre-fab tracks have way too sharp a beveled angle). But I did not attempt to add ballast between the rails, either of the turnout or of normal EZ Track, just ballasting beyond the ends of the ties. I then unified the color of the EZ Track plastic ballast and the newly applied ballast using a spray mix of India Ink and 90% alcohol, mostly alcohol. It was rather effective actually and avoided ballasting between the points while still giving the track a fully ballasted appearance.
In my clinic I actually passed around an example of what I am talking about to the audience, mounted on a piece of plywood, and I suspect that made it all more clear than this explanation.
Dave Nelson
In ballast in the SIW I avoided ballast in the the turnout frogs which probably saved me a bunch of time as I had enough trouble with the turnouts (though I did get them to work finally. When the new SIW is built I will not be using EZ track but if I did use it again I would use fine ballast instead of medium.
I found that using full strength white glue on the sloped track shoulders held the initial pass of ballast on then it was a question of using wet water followed by a 50/50 water glue mix to hold the rest.
Joe Staten Island West
My Layout Photos- http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/ajwarshal/library/
I've been ballasting my layout of EZ track from the get-go, & it's turning out quite well.
my locos keep stalling in place all around the track, I have clean and put some of the conductive cleaner on it, and still having probs. I have used some warm soapy water to try and clean off the Scenic cement of the track and nothing seems to help . What else do I need to do? http://tinypic.com/r/2jcitxt/8
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If it's always in different spots & not the same one all the time, then your engine wheels have probably picked up some of the glue in their recent runs. Make sure the wheels are clean, then go over the rail top with a mild abrasive cleanser to remove the fine film you might not be able to see.
The guys at Modeltrainstuff.com did an interesting video where they ballasted some EZ track. Here's the link to it --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH0wM6ArkOk