So I didn’t do a 50/50 Titebond mix to glue the ballast around the track and now the smaller bits of ballast which looked good against the track fell to the bottom under the larger pieces of ballast. And the track is on top of the ballast now instead of in it. (Sorry no picture, so darned cold outside…)
Any solutions would be much appreciated!
No need …you just need to spread what I call limestone crusher fines on top of the 1/4 minus bagged stuff you have down already. Then level the track all out and wet it down and allow to dry overnight. Repeat as necessary and if right perhaps 2 or 3 yrs later.
Like Roo said. Smaller crusher fines.
Glued down ballast may become a problem if you ever need to do any work on the track…
I agree with what Rooster and John have said. I use what they call locally Stone Dust.
And even with the fines, the track will work up above the ballast eventually. The hollow ties probably help that especially in frost regions.
I generally need to run a masonry trowel under the track every other spring to cut down the ballast and get the track back down where it belongs.
Max,
I’ll agree with the poobahs: crusher fines. However, I’ll add a couple more cents, for what they’re worth.
In a nutshell, the traditional ballast trapezoidal cross section needs serious help in a scale model outdoors application.
Since your gravel is already somewhat fine, you might try a bag of sand in one section to see if it holds out better or worse than the CF’s.
In the foreground, your gravel drops steeply off onto the landscape fabric. In my experience, that fabric tends to be slippery enough to let the gravel slide fairly easily – especially in heavy rain! I’ve had 4" thick 3/8" gravel totally wash out on that fabric.
So, you might consider holding that ballast back by using ridges in the soil, or spreading a lot more of it on additional adjacent fabric to make a flatter expanse of gravel.
Having said that, those flat rocks alongside the ballast should be doing that job fine, right?
Cliff
BTDT.
Here’s what I do. Get a flat blade, like a hacksaw blade, piece of brass, thin screwdriver, etc. and your shop vac.
Run the blade back and forth under the track while vacuuming up the rock/ballast from above to let the track settle back down to where it was originally. Put the ballast back on the ties and you’re done.
BTW, you need to be careful with some ballasts. I use #5 granite crusher fines, and it is magnetic continually sticking to the magnets mounted under the engines to run the accessories.
I am using what is called rice stone
Very small fines
In some places I have use the 50/50 tite bond mix on the outer edge like a dam to hold in the fines in a steep area
Max;
If you live near a store that sells farm supplies, chicken grit (for their gizzards - to help grind the grain) works well for ballast, as it is usually finely crushed granite. I used to mix mine dry as three parts chicken grit to one part dry mortar mix. After I had the desired profile, I would mist the ballast with a garden hose. This would set the profile, but not enough that it could not be easily broken up with a screwdriver or similar tool. That made maintenance around switches a bit less trouble.
Regards, David Meashey
