Ballast on patio

Mobi

Mobi

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After I moved house, my small railway tracks currently lie bare on paved patio.

For some real looks, I am going to pour some ballast.

Now the problem is, as the underside is paved slabs, it is going to wash away.

Is it good approach to put wooden strips [ example - http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Pine-Stripwood-Moulding-(PSE)-15-x-15-x-2400mm/p/121263 ] on two sides of the track and then fill the gap with ballasts?

Also, when I fill up with ballast, should be I cover the sleepers or those should be visible?
 
Mobi said:
After I moved house, my small railway tracks currently lie bare on paved patio.

For some real looks, I am going to pour some ballast.

Now the problem is, as the underside is paved slabs, it is going to wash away.

Is it good approach to put wooden strips [ example - http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Pine-Stripwood-Moulding-(PSE)-15-x-15-x-2400mm/p/121263 ] on two sides of the track and then fill the gap with ballasts?

Also, when I fill up with ballast, should be I cover the sleepers or those should be visible?
Click to expand...
The wood is going to rot quite quickly unless you treat it well. You might want to consider tanalised or other pressure treated timber. Also expect the track to rise as rain forces loose ballast under the track. I didn't believe this could happen but it did on my layout within a few months. Depending on the size of the ballast you may not be able to put ballast on top as the gap between bottom of locos and top of sleepers is not that great. For example alpine grit would catch on the bottom of the loco.
 
Personally I would not place the ballast on the track, in your situation. I would sooner use some form of PVC boards, like Azek. There is a fairly good variety of composite decking material out there that is basically PVC. It comes in colors and boards up to 12" wide. So it would be a rather simple task to cut curves from it.
 
Madman said:
Personally I would not place the ballast on the track, in your situation. I would sooner use some form of PVC boards, like Azek. There is a fairly good variety of composite decking material out there that is basically PVC. It comes in colors and boards up to 12" wide. So it would be a rather simple task to cut curves from it.
Click to expand...

The problem with all the 'plastics' boarding (both new and recycled) is the horrendous thermal expansion properties it has. Much greater than the track.
Here in the UK a recycled plastic is known as Filchris (this might just be the supplier, but a Google search finds it.. They used to supply pre-cut boards to 'R' curvature.. The 'wisdom' now is to use 'planks' cut and laid across the direction of the track.. Each piece expands a little, and with minor gaps between each the overall expansion is less.
 
PhilP said:
The problem with all the 'plastics' boarding (both new and recycled) is the horrendous thermal expansion properties it has. Much greater than the track.
Here in the UK a recycled plastic is known as Filchris (this might just be the supplier, but a Google search finds it.. They used to supply pre-cut boards to 'R' curvature.. The 'wisdom' now is to use 'planks' cut and laid across the direction of the track.. Each piece expands a little, and with minor gaps between each the overall expansion is less.
Click to expand...


Good point. I hadn't considered that the plastic planks might expand more if they were not fastened to framing, as in deck building.
 
Mobi said:
After I moved house, my small railway tracks currently lie bare on paved patio.

For some real looks, I am going to pour some ballast.

Now the problem is, as the underside is paved slabs, it is going to wash away.

Is it good approach to put wooden strips [ example - http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Pine-Stripwood-Moulding-(PSE)-15-x-15-x-2400mm/p/121263 ] on two sides of the track and then fill the gap with ballasts?

Also, when I fill up with ballast, should be I cover the sleepers or those should be visible?
Click to expand...
Mobi.
Whatever you use is likely to move a bit. The builders glue is sound advice perhaps put neat where track is to go (but not glueing the track). When dry put track on it then Ballast, not necessarily over the Sleepers. You can then think about Glue, use Builders PVA mixed 50/50 with water. Then use an old Spray Bottle to wet the ballast with water and some washing up liguid now pour your glue. Will go White but clear when dry. This is best done when weather warm and dry so you do not have much time this year to get it done.

For your ballast you could use the smallest Alpine Grit that you can find, but POSTCRETE is also a good bet, 1 bag goes quite a way. If you do use Postcrete you can do away with the Glue. If any breaks off over time it can be easily fresheden up. Just so long as it is stored in a sealed bag in a dry place it will last a good long time. The other thing that I find with Postcrete is that the original Spray will not set off all the Postctrete, so give it 20 or so minutes to seal the surface then use a Watering Can to give it another good soaking.

Oh and be very careful near points,whatever you do you do not need to gum up the works with Glue or Ballast. What can help here is a general spray around the moving bits with WD-40 perhaps using the little Red Tube. An old paint brush is also useful to tidy up the Ballast in between the sleepers and to get a good edge before you start the Adhesive/Wetting process.
JonD
 
I am thinking of using 20 mm gravel on track sides (as track boundary) and 6 mm gravel as ballast. Is that going to work? Want something heavy as track side boundary which is unlikely move too much.
 
I would use rope to hold it in. the sort of stuff from garden centres. someone on here from Spain did it and it looked really good, neat too. looks more natural and visually pleasing.
 
Thanks for the compliment Duncan. I posted at the top of the thread with a link to pictures of the rope in place.
 
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