track ballast

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a non-messy way of laying ballast in and around tracks?? I've tried spray glue, glue droplets: both seem rather messy. Your thoughts please.

Tootles

[ericboone]

It is quite simple.  Lay the ballast down dry just how you like it.  Use a spray bottle containing water with a few drops of dish soap to wet the ballast.  You just need to get it all wet without forming any puddles of water.  (This water with dish soap is commonly referred to as "wet water".)  The dish soap lowers the surface tension of the water, allowing it to soak into the ballast rather than bead up, messing up your ballast.  Then follow by applying diluted matte medium or Elmers white glue with an eye dropper while the ballast is still wet from your "wet water".  The glue will flow nicely into your ballast without beading and creating balls of ballast.  (You may even want to add a drop or two of dish soap to your diluted glue mixture.)

[Sperandeo]

I use the same method as Eric but with a couple of differences. First, I wet the ballast with a spray of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol from the drugstore. It penetrates and soaks the ballast much better than "wet" water. Then I use a pint-size Elmer's glue bottle instead of an eyedropper to dribble on the dilute white glue (4 parts water to one part glue). The glue bottle can be manipulated to dispense drops of glue or a stream, and it makes the work go faster than with an eyedropper. Using a glue bottle to dispense glue, imagine that – it was a breakthrough for me!

So long,

Andy

[Anonymous]

I also use a rubbing alcohol and white glue mix and it works great.

[perry1060]

I was able to use a dust buster to suck up loose ballast after I finished a section and it dried. The dust buster never touched the surface, but had enough power to lift the loose stuff up and out. I think that ballasting track may be the messiest job of them all. I was VERY happy when I finished this part of my layout!

[E-L man tom]

If you want to be really lazy about it, you can use matte medium to glue your ballast down as well. That has worked for me but I think it might be a bit more expensive gthan the dilute glue 

[jbloch]

Other posts on ballasting threads, as I recall, have mentioned that matte medium tends to dry rock-hard and that one won't ever be able to loosen the track from it in the future should that ever be necessary.  With the white-glue method, since it's water-soluble, one can put a saturated hot-moist towel over the ballast and it will "loosen up" allowing removal of the ballast from the track.

Jim

[Medina1128]

I  use Andy's method, with one exception. I mix my diluted white glue in a mustard bottle (the kind with the twist to open/close cap. I've used wet water and rubbing alcohol, both with excellent results. The only difference that I've found is that with rubbing alcohol, it dries faster than with wet water.

[ham99]

I use 91% isopropl alcohol to wet the ballast, using an eyedropper.  Then I use an eyedropper to apply the glue/water/detergent mix.  I avoid the matte medium because I seem to regularly change track, and with the glue/water mix I can add water and remove the track after a few minutes.  The track will clean up completely by soaking it in detergent/water and brushing it with a toothbrush.  It is ready to reuse.

[sgtbean1]

I did the same as described before, with one exception: I didn't moisten the track before dropping the diluted matte medium on it. As long as you put dish soap in there (just two drop will do) and drop the same area until the top of the ballast rises a puny bit (you can just see it well up a tiny bit), this works fine as well. Save you the time to wet the ballast, but it is especially nice that you don't have to protect any scenery or other track / turnouts. The rails themselves stay dry as well. I've done this on a module layout a couple of years ago and despite extensive use, I've only had to make tiny repairs (the normal module edge problems). Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

I read every post on here looking for that magic bullet that would provide the "non-messy way of laying ballast" and, you know what, like bachelor's wives and old-maid's children, it just don't exist.  Everybody, I'm sure has horror stories to tell, but no matter how you cut it, laying ballast is inherently messy and I, for one, can't recall a ballasting session without a disaster; some minor and some major.  All you can really do is be careful and learn to live with it.

I tried sparendeo's bottle method and went back to eyedroppers, as time-consuming as it is.  I use a "wet" water solution as opposed to alcohol but I have never had any real problem using alcohol.  (Those of you laughing over that last sentence can pick yourself up off of the floor now!!!)  I used matte medium on one layout which I had anticipated being permanent; you guessed it - it wasn't and I went back to glue.  Salvaging track is not particularly difficult but it is a little time consuming and at least I don't stand around and weep as a hundred dollars plus worth of nickel silver goes to the local sanitary facility - or dump, if you prefer.

I guess there, tootles, if you want something that is not messy you will have to go to some of the "ready-track" from Kato or Bachmann.   That solution is not for me; I've learned to live with the mess. 

[cwaldman]

Use alcohol and white glue, add some detergent to the white glue also. Lay ballast, adjust it to the way you like, and then use a wheel set to make sure it does not affect wheel roll.

Then use an eye dropper to apply both liquids. Don't squeeze the dropper when applying too hard.

Apply the alcohol from OUTSIDE the rail and let it "wick" into the "between" track ballast. This way it will not float the ballast. Unless you squeeze the dropper TOO hard. Now apply the glue in the same fashion. From OUTSIDE the rails.

There is no way around getting the ballast down, but this way will insure that what you spend time laying down neatly and cleaning and not affecting wheels will not move around when the adhexives are put down.