I've seen these on you tube. It appears that ther not used with roadbed. Has anyone tried these spreaders? Do they work as good as they appear? Are there spreaders that work with roadbeds? I'am in HO scale. Where can I get one of these to try and which one would be the best to try.
honestly, i would not bother. i brought one off flea bay and whilst i used it at the start, i found it hard to control the flow. They tend to apply a lot of ballast.
Now i just spoon it on.
A spoon and a very soft paint brush works the best Jim.
Agree, tried one and had the same result. By the time you plow the mess w/ a small brush, you could place and brush it in place to satisfaction. I will paint straight white glue to the shoulder first and sprinkle on the ballast. This helps contain the outer ballast profile and makes the job easier. Fewer thin show throughs that have to be touched up later.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Use a small spice shaker/ jar to put the ballast down.. Easy to hold and easy to control
Eric97123 Use a small spice shaker/ jar to put the ballast down.. Easy to hold and easy to control
Have you ever tried the plastic spoon and small soft brush as mentioned? I have found it to work for me, sprinkling ballast all over seemed to be just too messy and not enough control.
I use an old piece of cork roadbed as the plow, repeatedly running back and forth over the track where the loose ballast has been poured so that the top of the ballast matches the top of the ties. Ditto for the sides, where I also use a foam brush to gather up ballast that strays.
Dave Nelson
I tried one of thoes MLR ones. Waste of time, it didn;t work very well, kept gettign jammed. ANd I still had to do finish alignment to get it right before applying the glue, so basically, don't bother. I've found the best thing to do is run 3 strips, one on each side and one down the middle, then use a foam paintbrush to shapeit and make it neat. You cna get a bag full of cheap foam brushes for a buck or so, I used the biggest ones to paint my tbletops (and just threw them out, no clean up!), the smallest ones actually fit betwene the rails, and the medium ones, if I need them, I cna cut them down to rail width.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Have you tried one of these?
I also had one of the MLR ballast spreaders and only tried it once and found it less than I'd hoped! I've found that a spoon and soft brush to be the best way to ballest my track.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
I've tried a couple of different ballast spreaders and none of them performed satisfactorily. A plastic spoon and cheap 1 inch paint brush work just as well, if not better, and don't leave as much mess to clean up.
I found a paper cup to be better than a spoon, as it requires re-loading less often. I just spread a heap between the rails, then use soft 1" brush to level it, with the excess being pushed over the rails and out to the area between the tie ends. If you need a little more here or there, squeeze the cup and tap it a couple of times with your finger. Once you have the ballast spread and mostly where it should be, lay the brush handle across the rails and, while holding the ferrule of the brush lightly between your fingers, rapidly tap the handle with the fingers of your free hand, while at the same time moving the brush along the track. The stray grains of ballast atop the ties will 'magically' bounce off and into the spaces between the ties.If you happen to dump too much ballast in one spot, lay the cup on its side, then squeeze down on it to flatten the rim at the bottom. The excess ballast can be swept back into the cup, using the brush, then use the brush to re-groom the edges of the ballast strip.
Wayne
I've seen the videos of the ballast spreaders and they appear to be impressive; however, I have not heard any "raving reviews".
I use a spoon and foam brush. I am in the process of constructing a ballast vacuum, we'll see how that works.
Inspired by Addiction
See more on my YouTube Channel
There is a very interesting article in the January 1978 issue of Model Railroader about building a ballast vacuum device. It will supposedly remove any excess ballast left after using a spreader, but will leave the desired ballust profile behind. The article says the device was developed by the Twin City Model Railroad Club for use on their large layout, and that it will give "consistent and satisfying results".
The design is simple enough that I will give it a try when I get to that stage. There is a method built into the design that allows the vacuum force to be adjusted but I suspect it will take some practise to get it to work right.
The article starts on page 108.
Dave
P.S. Now I know why I bought the 75 year DVD's!
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Here's the video.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r472H_eYmg
gondola1988 A spoon and a very soft paint brush works the best Jim.
Another vote for a spoon and a soft paint brush. I've heard the foam brushes work well, too. But, since I haven't laid any track lately, I haven't had the chance to try one.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
PennCentral99!
WOW! Thanks for sharing your video.
hon30critter PennCentral99! WOW! Thanks for sharing your video. Dave
Thanks!, but I didn't make the video. However, it is saved in my youtube account for reference because I will build one.