Ballast glue

Martino

Martino

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I know there have been many posts asking how to hold ballast down. I always recommended diluting PVA glue as that worked perfectly for me on the South Bucks when in Florida. It coped with hurricanes, downpours - everything. It wasn’t that cheap though and had to be mixed.
This year I’ve become aware of what is being marketed as mulch glue or shingle glue. Not having a current outdoor railway, I haven’t tested it for that, but have got some to try on my mulch and garden rocks and gravel.
Just wondering if this may be a good ballast fix.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CQ...d_r=88a77b8a-683e-462c-ad37-6b15b58bf504&th=1
 
Asked the same question last year, if it outside SBR, it works really well:

JimmyB

Thread 'PVA vs SBR vs Easy Hold'

As my railway expands along paving, and wanting to add ballast, as the rest of my railway is ballasted, thoughts turn to holding it in place, and I have seen all three of these (PVA vs SBR vs Easy Hold) used by different railway builders on here, so my questions are:

1) What are the differences between the products: i.e. pros and cons.
2) How is each of these used, e.g. neat, diluted, prayed etc.

Any help in aiding me to make my mind up would be appreciated.

I have visited a number of manufacturers' websites that produce both, and they provide very little insight, of it is over to you...
 
Martino said:
I know there have been many posts asking how to hold ballast down. I always recommended diluting PVA glue as that worked perfectly for me on the South Bucks when in Florida. It coped with hurricanes, downpours - everything. It wasn’t that cheap though and had to be mixed.
This year I’ve become aware of what is being marketed as mulch glue or shingle glue. Not having a current outdoor railway, I haven’t tested it for that, but have got some to try on my mulch and garden rocks and gravel.
Just wondering if this may be a good ballast fix.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CQKPGSDH/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&hsa_cr_id=0&qid=1780003601&sr=1-2-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124&i=aps&aref=sksFbt9pMv&ref_=sbx__sbtcd_asin_1_img&pd_rd_w=Hdvf9&content-id=amzn1.sym.2fb72bc8-96ef-420d-b08f-c04b69f36507:amzn1.sym.2fb72bc8-96ef-420d-b08f-c04b69f36507&pf_rd_p=2fb72bc8-96ef-420d-b08f-c04b69f36507&pf_rd_r=KBDFR4QF5227JQ36PZF8&pd_rd_wg=4MlYl&pd_rd_r=88a77b8a-683e-462c-ad37-6b15b58bf504&th=1
Click to expand...
Have you watched the vid? Not sure about the benefit of this compared to watered down PVA, cartainly they appear to show spraying which in an indoor environment not the best plan. I would certainly not follow their mux with ballast and use ootion. I would also imagine it will be much more costly than PVA which mixed with water 50/50 and a small dab of washing up liquid will come out less than half the cost of that. I use a container like this with some even smaller to pour the mix. Also I have recently dismantled a 00 layout using this method of glue, a wallpaper striper did the job of disassembly perfectly with all the track suitable saved and reusable.
image.jpg
 
Martino said:
I know there have been many posts asking how to hold ballast down. I always recommended diluting PVA glue as that worked perfectly for me on the South Bucks when in Florida. It coped with hurricanes, downpours - everything. It wasn’t that cheap though and had to be mixed.
This year I’ve become aware of what is being marketed as mulch glue or shingle glue. Not having a current outdoor railway, I haven’t tested it for that, but have got some to try on my mulch and garden rocks and gravel.
Just wondering if this may be a good ballast fix.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CQKPGSDH/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&hsa_cr_id=0&qid=1780003601&sr=1-2-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124&i=aps&aref=sksFbt9pMv&ref_=sbx__sbtcd_asin_1_img&pd_rd_w=Hdvf9&content-id=amzn1.sym.2fb72bc8-96ef-420d-b08f-c04b69f36507:amzn1.sym.2fb72bc8-96ef-420d-b08f-c04b69f36507&pf_rd_p=2fb72bc8-96ef-420d-b08f-c04b69f36507&pf_rd_r=KBDFR4QF5227JQ36PZF8&pd_rd_wg=4MlYl&pd_rd_r=88a77b8a-683e-462c-ad37-6b15b58bf504&th=1
Click to expand...
See: Glued Ballast & Landscape:
This might be one of the most useful and practical “How to” garden railroad videos you’ll ever watch. Glued stone material has great potential for new and existing garden railroads, because it is so good, but rarely used. It drastically improves realism and durability, while decreasing maintenance time and costs. When you learn how to glue sand & gravel, you can use this technique all over your railroad for many things including track ballast, terrain and even mountains covered by different sizes of real rocks, gravel, sand and live plants. Its realistic appearance and low maintenance is why the most asked question at Cholla Patch Garden Railroad is: “How do you make your ballast”? This video is my detailed answer to such a great question.

Produced by John Carmichael: Email questions to: jlcarmichael@comcast.net Cholla Patch Garden Railroad, Tucson AZ on 6/28/26. Feel free to copy, use and modify any of the images or video clips you see here. Please help us spread this useful video with your Garden Railroading friends and organizations.

See more of my Design Construction videos at: Cholla Patch Garden Railroad: Cholla Patch Garden Railroad

And this: The Ultimate Guide to Glued Track Ballast for Garden Railroads
 
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