More ballast needed?

[The Devonian]

<p><font color="#000066"><font size="3"><font face="georgia,palatino">I expect, with a great deal of torrential rain descending on our railroads recently, many will require ballast renewal/replacement. Anyone hampered by lack of time might want to contact these people. Watch the vid, it is interesting.</font></font></font></p><font size="2">http://www.herzogcompanies.com/railroad_services_plus_train.php</font>

 

[CoggesRailway]

really interesting.... don't you need to reballast the centre of the track too?

 

[The Devonian]

<font color="#000099"><font size="3"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">With total ballast renewal the centre would have to be done as well i am certain. I guess that requires different machinery on those occasions. The process in the video seems to be replacing ballast on the shoulders of the track bed. Probably due the very heavy and lengthy trains that run in the States some of the shoulder ballast moves away from the track over a period of time. On some of my here that also happens as my track free floats. I run mainly 1:29 Aristo-craft which has reasonable weight.
</font></font></font>

 

[johnsaintjim]

My ballast washes out every winter. Haven't been out since the recent rains but I can expect some more reballasting to be required. I even bought some exterior waterproof PVA this year to dribble on it and try and stop it but haven't actually used much of it.

 

[Steve]

Dribbling on PVA does this help

 

[johnsaintjim]

<p>

Steve - 27/11/2009 8:33 AM Dribbling on PVA does this help

</p><p>Depends what you dribble Steve </p>

 

[CoggesRailway]

mine runs on decking. as i ballasted i ran a bead of clear silicone sealant along the edges, this forms a solid and invisible edge to the ballast as it gets stuck on top of it and hence stops the rest washing anywhere- so far and we have had some very heavy rain here

 

[Steve]

Mine is nearly all edged so again it does not go to far

 

[Bram]

I like the Davenport Steve

 

[Steve]

Cheers Bram , What about the £2.00 trucks

 

[johnsaintjim]

Yeah good ideas. Edging woudl be great but I need some retaining wall. Some as in lots of metres and I keep trying to think of a way of doing it that will look like MR stone walling and won't cost a bomb.

 

[Bram]

<p>

Steve - 27/11/2009 9:20 AM Cheers Bram , What about the &pound;2.00 trucks

</p><p>They look great behind the Davenport and at &pound;2.00 a peice you gotta love 'em to death. They look the muts nuts too:applause: :applause: </p>

 

[Bram]

<p>

CoggesRailway - 27/11/2009 9:09 AM mine runs on decking. as I ballasted I ran a bead of clear silicone sealant along the edges, this forms a solid and invisible edge to the ballast as it gets stuck on top of it and hence stops the rest washing anywhere- so far and we have had some very heavy rain here

</p><p>Yes, I have some decking on an incline and I will be using a bead of clear silicone sealant to hold the ballast in place so that it dose not run away down the slope when it rains</p><p>Have to wait until the dry warm weather comes tho 'cos the sealant won't stick to wet decking</p>

 

[The Devonian]

<p><font size="3"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">It depends on where your trackbed lies as to whether you apply pva to it or not. I don't use pva on my ballast mainly because my track ballast, whilst laid on baulks of timber, with masonry blocks on the curves, is at ground level. </font></font></p><p><font size="3"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Throughout a period of time dirt and seedlings do get amongst the ballast - just as it does on the BIG railways. After three to four of years in situ I have found that some areas of the ballast needs cleaning or replacing - just like the big fellas - and frequent removal of seedlings will prevent an overgrown trackbed: some plants can be quite invasive. (Unless you model a run down affair and prefer the weeds etc. ) Some I know may use weed killer/sprays but they are strictly taboo here. :thumbdown:
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[Bram]

No weed killer is used on my line, the CO would throw a wobberly, a real proper full blown wobberly:timeout: :timeout:

 

[Geoff the garden nav]

Weeding the track is part of 'maintaining' the boarders which is partly how I imagine that I have sold the idea of a garden railway to the powers that be. It was digging ground elder out of heavy midlands clay with a pick and spade that inspired me to say; I could be building that railway I have always wanted......She hasn't said no and at least it looks as though I am doing something useful, miniature civil engineering and operating trains is a lot more enjoyable than just plants. No doubt lots of fresh limestone chipping ballast will be needed in the spring.

 

[Pauly]

I like weeds on my track
<a href="http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll82/steammodel/woodrow/?action=view&current=007-10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll82/steammodel/woodrow/007-10.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[CoggesRailway]

pauly agreed looks lovely- is that a weed or a "proper" plant. if so what is it.
Mine winds through veg beds and it's hard to scale veg

 

[LNERGE]

Mind your own business.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/868.shtml

 

[Bram]

It is very vigorous and veeery invasive, so watch out