Starting permanent road bed.
Step one - clear route of vegetation, living and dead.
Step two - Tack down weed barrier. Used track to check position.
Step three - Spike edging in place.
Step four - fill edging with ballast. Leveling track will happen when I lay the track back in place.
Mr Collins
Just a hint …factor in extra ballast as it will magically disappear …others here know this to be a fact but if you are in disbelief you can always check out my website
The edging is filled to the top with ballast, and more can be added as needed.
I love the flexibility of ballast free floating… I ballast, then hit with a reasonable stream of water, washes the rock dust off and settles the ballast… need to go up? pull up the track and let it go and it will be about 1/2" higher. Ballast again.
Go down, stomp or tamp it down… if you need a lot, hit it with a pencil stream from a hose…
Greg
" Rooster " said:
Mr Collins…you can always check out my website
A Rooster Website? (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
Are those rocks crushed, or pea gravel?
They look like the stuff I get from Home Despot / Loews, not pea gravel with rounded edges, but relatively rough edges. Not as sharp edges as I would like to really lock in place, but readily available.
I know where your question is going, and you are right, the sharper the edges the better. I accidentally got the rounded pea gravel once, might have well put the track on a bed of ball bearings.
Greg
It’s crushed rock. It works quite well, actually.
When my layout was originally on the ground around the pond, I was using lime fines, and every year I would have to add a bit more because it does disappear through erosion and the weather dissolving it. Held the track well, almost like concrete.
More track work going on…
Switch going into the station area. Connects the main line with the future city street car line.
Approach to the Sprite Junction station. Main line is to the left iin this shot, with the long platform. To the right is the Sprite City Transit platform, which will handle traffic from the future street car line.
At the end of the brick patio, facing the station will be a small diner/cafe. Tables and chairs with umbrellas will go between the two buildings.
Where I ran out of ballast. I need about two hundred more pounds to finish the station area and the other switch area.
Greg Elmassian said:
I love the flexibility of ballast free floating… I ballast, then hit with a reasonable stream of water, washes the rock dust off and settles the ballast… need to go up? pull up the track and let it go and it will be about 1/2" higher. Ballast again.
Go down, stomp or tamp it down… if you need a lot, hit it with a pencil stream from a hose…
Greg
I do the same on mine, it has held up very well all the weather extremes I get.
Joe Zullo said:
" Rooster " said:
Mr Collins…you can always check out my website
A Rooster Website? (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
I checked it - Rooster.com is not in use, but registered and for sale.
