I'll look forward to watching your progress. I'm almost ready to rebuild mine so any inspiration will be great.
Suggestions on purchasing Ballast....where and what size/type
- Thread starter Thomas Lambo
- Start date
adverse camber
Registered
if you are planning a big layout I buy Granno by the ton in the big one ton bags from a local aggregate merchant. I think it is normally used for paths but it makes great ballast. I am on my 4th ton now. Locks the track in well but allows for some expansion. All my track is floating free, I don't fix any of it down. I suspect it is much the same stuff as the crushed granite . Last lot cost about £70 a ton delivered, should last me a few years.
I have been using some stuff that Andy Rush got from a supplier of Roofing Felt. I have now run out of it and am siking myself for a trip to Ipswich way for some of what I hope will be similar. This is Resin Bonded Daltex Silver 1-3mm Resin Bound looks like good stuff and was recommended by a guy on here. Also available 2-5mm which is why I need to visit them to see what is a good match to what Inhave size wise. Only £4.96 a bag which if not used as real ballast but glued into place on a pre made surface will go a longish way. Will probably buy 2 bags if it is suitable as I only need it for some short sections that have not been Ballasted yet and freshening up some that has. Pigeons appear to use it for their crop. Delivery costs make the trip a must as the Smart will probably do the journey for a quarter of the costs. But I will have to brave the A14........
JonD
JonD
Back in post #13, I posted a picture of some track we ballasted with crushed granite..
This came in small bags from B&M stores, but is not always available..
This is the stuff 'in the bag', and usefully has supplier details:
Sorry, best of a bad bunch of photo's!
This came in small bags from B&M stores, but is not always available..
This is the stuff 'in the bag', and usefully has supplier details:
Sorry, best of a bad bunch of photo's!
minimans
Trains, Planes, Automobiles & Shooting
Is the LAGRS (Los Angeles Garden railway society) still active? I was a member from the very start but lapsed when I moved up north. I used to do some work for Morgans Big trains in Huntington beach. I still have my anniversary set of freight cars that were produced for a few years.......
I am not a great shopper but do have a BM near BnQ and an Aldi that I use when in that part of Town. Will have to keep an eye out for this as it loo pretty well about what I need.
JonD
Thomas Lambo
RC, wood craftsmanship & culinary arts
Thanks to everyone for all the great input on this subject.
FYI, I did find crushed Granite at the landscape materials store where I've been purchasing fill dirt and stones/boulders....it will do nicely when the time comes (good color and size options available).
Also, a bit off topic but I believe LAGRS is still active in So Calif...and as a matter of fact one of their members Garden Railway was featured in the April 2017 issue of Garden Railways magazine (quite a unique layout, the "Too Much Fun Railroad")....give it a look if you get the chance
FYI, I did find crushed Granite at the landscape materials store where I've been purchasing fill dirt and stones/boulders....it will do nicely when the time comes (good color and size options available).
Also, a bit off topic but I believe LAGRS is still active in So Calif...and as a matter of fact one of their members Garden Railway was featured in the April 2017 issue of Garden Railways magazine (quite a unique layout, the "Too Much Fun Railroad")....give it a look if you get the chance
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AustrianNG
Director of my railway
I use a mixture of ballasts, some of my station track is bedded in "Postcrete"......
Doesn't Postcrete set too hard, or am I on the wrong track?
Does set fairly hard but is completely removable later if you need to. Just wallop track with a hammer that will loosen it. Then when lifted another few gentle taps with the hammer and a wash with a preasure washer and it will be pretty well all gone. If you are really picky a gentle application with a wire brush will finish off the cleaning up. That is how I removed Bird Doo from some recent second hand track that I had laying around.
JonD
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Cheers Jon, I'm scrounging knowledge here and hijacking someone else's thread (again) Trying to make up my mind the way forward. Do I go for blocks and \or concrete, (fairly permanent,) wood, (easy but may rot,) or Filcris, (easy won't rot but expensive) or a mixture of all of the above?
AustrianNG
Director of my railway
stockers
Trains, aircraft, models, walking, beer, travel
Guildford MES are abandoning their expensive Filcris elevated track bed due to constant expansion problems. They consider the advise to use it was poor.
Have a friend that has an 0 Gauge line made from Filcris and the expansion problems have been a real pain. He is swopping it out to something like Stockers has been using but a sheet form of Airiated Recycled Plastic that is a Grey Colour and does not have the Filcris Expansion issues. However if you use the Filcris Biards and do not Glue Ballast or Pin the Track in place allowing it to move around by securing with an undersized block between odd sleepers the expansion is less of a problem.
JonD
That's interesting, my last effort had no problems, mainly because the track wasn't fixed in any way. Also the curves were made of short bits which obviously left gaps. I'll bear this in mind. Thanks for the heads up
Steven M K
Registered
I am now where you were, are. I have purchased chicken grit here in SC from two different mfg. I also have purchased crushed oyster shell and pool filter sand and possibly will look for some other COLORS. As I know when you walk over or drive over a R/R track you see a definite sectional mix of colors, there is no R /R track in the world that is all one color. Near OH and PA there is a lot of black rock, it is because of the steel production in the area, slag rock coaked limestone. Here in the south a lot of pink rock reflecting rusty earth and quartz. Also I am purchasing "Mighty 109" it is a granite stabilizer among with a few bag's of Masons Cement. These will be used sparingly as I am not looking at making concrete, I am looking at stabilizing my top coat so a heavy rein wont wash it out. Now for clarity I am on benchwork however I have read in some posts that the same plan has a track record in traditional garden railways.
If you are on wood benchwork always worthwhile to have a track base of roofing felt. Where you get joins use black mastic to seal them then you will not get water pooling underneath the felt to cause wood rot. Finally if you screw or nail the track down a bit of black mastic where the screw/nail goes through will seal that small hole as well. But if you are solidly ballasting the track and have all the curves/straights defined with track clamps instead of fishplates no holding down really required.
Steven M K
Registered
Thank you you’re absolutely correct. I did put down rolled roofing. I haven’t sealed it yet, but I do have a gallon can of mastic to do that with. My benchwork is inspired by “Toy Man’s” videos on YouTube. It looks very similar to that.The track screws holes I haven’t considered. Thank you for that heads up. Because I’m in South Carolina. It gets hot here a lot of sunshine and joint expansion is a big fear. So what I’ve done to compensate that is I’ve installed 2 50 inch sections of flex track and mechanically joined them at the fish plate and then each of those sections I’ve installed normal fish plates between them. At that point I am soldering a jumper wire around the fishplate. I have also placed the width of a small electronic screwdriver tip as a gap hopefully to compensate for heat expansion. I also have placed one screw in each of the track segments. So 100 inches of track has two screws on it. any other tips of suggestions were greatly appreciated.
If you can arrange to enter tunnel portals and bridges on the straight, your life will be easier..
If you enter on a curve, the track will 'walk' over time, towards the outside of the curve.
To counter this, try to enter on the straight, and secure the approach with a couple of screws, about a foot apart.
You can let most the rest of the track 'float in the ballast.
Oh! Over a season, you will find all those expansion gaps, gang up and get together.. So some track ends up hard against the next section, and in places the gap gets huge! - Don't ask!
All part of the fun of looking after the 'permanent' way.
PhilP.
If you enter on a curve, the track will 'walk' over time, towards the outside of the curve.
To counter this, try to enter on the straight, and secure the approach with a couple of screws, about a foot apart.
You can let most the rest of the track 'float in the ballast.
Oh! Over a season, you will find all those expansion gaps, gang up and get together.. So some track ends up hard against the next section, and in places the gap gets huge! - Don't ask!
All part of the fun of looking after the 'permanent' way.
PhilP.