Glue or not to Glue

[Paul M]

I've managed to scrounge some suitable granite chippings for ballasting. I know this has been asked and answered before, but any one got any good methods of sticking it down so it doesn't wash away, but isn't impossible to get up in future?

 

[Northsider]

Now that is the question! Answers?

• PVA works well but breaks down over time; and some versions turn white in damp conditions.
• use Rowlands Mix (sand/cement/peat -but you could add your chippings too) -it encourages moss to grow and will jetwash off lifted track.
• lay loose chippings and accept the need to re-ballast every now and then.
• One or two have experimented with the resin used to lay drives -I don't know how easy this is to remove, though.

 

[Fred Mills]

Do without the ballast; save having it get into switch points, and the need of constant grooming....save the worry, and labour, along with the cost....LIVE longer without worry or concern !!!!!....smile and fool everyone...!!!!

 

[Bill Barnwell]

I had good luck with granite chicken grit and held it down with concrete bonding liquid which looks and smells just like white Elmer's glue, live in central Florida with a lot of rain and had to touch up every year or so, Bill

 

[casey jones snr]

I use three grade of ballast, I don’t use glue and I just replace ballast as and when necessary (not very often). Loose ballast means I can adjust the cant of the track easily.

 

[dunnyrail]

I use granite ballast bought sieved 3-5mm. Tricky to get but it is available, as northsider says and does glued down with Waterproof PVA let down 50/50 with water and some washing up liquid. Track is also damped down before application. Yes glue does break down some outside over time but this gives the opportunity to freshen it all up with some tidyingifvthe loose stuff and some new ballast. I also like these days to have a little Black Wicks Concrete dye powder in the mix to tone things down some. Mixed into the ballast when dry before putting in place.

 

[trammayo]

I had good luck with granite chicken grit and held it down with concrete bonding liquid which looks and smells just like white Elmer's glue, live in central Florida with a lot of rain and had to touch up every year or so, Bill

Amazing - from chocolate to chicken grit, from coffe to cat food! Soylent green springs to mind

 

[Paul M]

Thanks for the replies folks, I must admit I didn't think of Rowlands Mix with grit. Obviously there's no rush, so I'll test run some options, although not sticking it down isn't really a good idea on my layout (I know it works well on others')

 

[JimmyB]

I leave mine loose and allow the track to float with the ballast, mine has only been down 18 months so still settling.

 

[Martino]

There have been a bunch of very valuable posts on this. I think it all depends on your local conditions and what you’re trying to achieve. Like Bill, I’m in Florida but in Northwest FL rather than Central. Here we have infrequent frosts, and they’re not sever. No snow of course, but humid and hot summers, Irrigation systems run from about April to November, so almost daily drenching. Also, some of the track can be in intense direct sun, other bits in deep humid shade. I’ve used chicken grit for the past few years (as has Bill). I tried using dilute PVA and it has worked, but as others say it does eventually degrade and wash away. I’ve been using concrete bonding adhesive, both diluted and neat. This does seem to stand the test of time. I lay track mostly on concrete blocks and in most cases the track is not screwed down. I may put in an occasional screw (into a rawlplug or wall anchor set into the block) more to avoid the the track being shifted by a rampant Collie than anything else. I tried an experiment with a block and bit track that was glued to the concrete and ballasted using the bonding adhesive. That test block has been outside for about three years now and has held up well.
Other areas have had different levels of success, but in general it’s doing very well.
Incidentally I don’t have too many issues with grit getting in the points/switches/turnouts. Yes, from time to time, but no worse than bits of twig and other garden detritu.
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[Paul M]

I spent some time doing test runs with my ballast yesterday, using a Rowland type mixture and just cement. Laying loose would be alright between the rails, but wouldn't last long on the edges, maybe a mixture of stuck and loose may be a way forward. Obviously the rain we had yesterday afternoon didn't help matters

 

[Paul M]

Over the past few days I've been continuing with my ballast project. I've decided that as I still want the track to have movement, to cement my a small line of ballast round the edge of the track, then filthy middle with loose stones, hopefully the cemented stuff will stop the loose stuff from wandering too much.