My experience ballasting Kato Unitrack is the same as PowerSteamGuy1790's. Takes time to get the ballast to lay right. I also can do about 1 hour's worth before I have to quit. Worth it in appearance big time!
John: I'm adding another 80 + feet of Unitrack to the JJJ&E. Just when I thought I was finished with the weathering and ballasting. Here I go again. Stay cool and run steam....
I don't like to do it, but once I start it never seems to be as boring as I remember it. And the results are almost alwaysworth the effort (and boredom, tediousness, etc.).
Cant stand it, so i cheated in my yard by using a textured paint called yard muck that already has fine grit in it, looks fine for an old small yard but would be no use on the mainline - mores the pity. paul
You guys are no fun. I love it!!! I call on my N-Scale maintenance of way crew and we get to work. I got to get to work on ballasting a 16 ft yard for a new N-Scale club that I just joined. Scott
Posted by Powersteamguy1790: "I'm adding another 80 + feet of Unitrack to the JJJ&E." Bob: Where did you put 80' of track? Are you going to post pictures? I can't get you track plan to equal 4' x 15'. Is the one in Railimages out of date? Al
Al: I've added to that original trackplan, in two additions prior to this one which is my last possible addition to this layout. The shape of the JJJ&E before this last addition is the letter "L" inverted. I'm adding a short line which will run around the perimeter of the original layout ("U" shaped")and a staging yard on some shelving to the right of the switching yard which is at right angles to the original trackplan. The JJJ&E will have the final configuration of the letter "U" inverted I will post some pictures when the construction is underway. Right now all the added benchwork is in position and half of it is sealed and painted. The staging yard, one arm of the "U" will be over eight feet long and spanned to some shelving already in place. It will have five tracks. (40') The switching yard and turntable area which was completed last year is at right angles to the main layout and new staging yard. The shortline will run around the perimeter of the original benchwork in a "U" pattern as well and connect to the staging area and the switching yard. There will be one long passing siding (9 feet) on the left hand side of the original layout. This was an early photo of part of the switching yard which is at right angles to the original trackplan. The turntable area is tothe far right of the switching yard. View of the turntable area from the switching yard: Stay cool and run steam.... [ February 09, 2006, 09:34 PM: Message edited by: Powersteamguy1790 ]
Perhaps I am sick, some have already suggested that distinct possibility, but I actually enjoy ballasting and assembling 1015s. That is, once I figured out how to control the ballast. I use an old toothbrush to spread the ballast, and it made all the difference. If you screw up, a vacumn cleaner can fix things real quick. Just be careful you don't get any of your N scale people like poor N Scale Norm into your vacumn cleaner... http://members.cox.net/smniner/smn-page-normvac-01.htm I have since painted my ballast gray to more closely imitate my prototype in the 40s and 50s, but here's an overall shot of one part of the main line:
Thanks, Mike. The best thing about N Scale Norm is he has a great attitude about life (and his job on my layout). He doesn't do much, but he always shows up for work!
Bob: I look forward to seeing photos of your new work. Guess you and I will have to go multi-level just to keep Pete in sight. Al
Al: The JJJ&E is multilevel with the original layout. I don't have the inclination or room to make it much larger as the third garage is used for storage on wire shelving besides being the train room. As you can see the original trackplan was 4x10' and the first additions made it 4x15'. Now the new "U" shape makes it a bit larger with some interesting operations available to me. I'll be able to run steam on an all level mainline and leave the diesels to the multilevel operations of the original layout. This will be the first time I have the opportunity to run steam on level track. Stay cool and run steam.....
I've got a tip or two. First off, start in the BACK of the layout. I didn't, and I started getting pretty good at it about the time I got to where it would be harder to see the bad spots. So the back looks much better than the front. I used WS fine ballast for my layout. What worked best for me(I discovered this about the time I was finished, but I have relayed some track so I'll do it this way) was to take a spoon and spread the ballast directly over the rails, but tilt it to the outside of the rails just a little bit, so that most of the excess runs down the side of the roadbed and not in the middle of the track. Then, I took a toothbrush and spread the ballst down the middle of the track, and by doing so, this would move most of the excess ballast out of the center of the track and down the sides of the roadbed. Spray with alcohol, then WS scenic cement. Let dry. Do NOT worry about thin spots at this point. Once dry, go back over your thin spots with a little scenic cement and ballast. I inspect my tracks with a drop light to see the thin spots. If you have ballast stuck to the rail sides, you can pick it off with a dental pick(the pencil was a great idea too), but for the most part, since you didn't use any glue while laying the ballast, this problem will most likely be kept to a bare minimum. You can knock out a ton of track in a very short amount of time this way. Also, ballast sticks better to ballast than it does to cork, so patching up the thin spots or bad spots is much easier this way. Try it out and see what you think. I hated this job too, until I found out a way to get decent at it, and once I figured it out, it's not that bad of a job anymore.
This is a very good tip. In fact, when doing any new task on the layout, scenery, ballast, building kits, etc. do the back (or least conspicuous) area first. You will get better as you go.
It happen's to be one thing that I enjoy doing it's almost a signature of the finishing of the module I have never had a big problem doing it I use 50/50 Water and Elmers Wood glue with an Eye drooper mold to finish with finger repeat the process about 3 days latter (cleaning the turnout's while wet) and about 3 days latter high dropping some more in sparatic places for detail, BrightBoy the Track and wah laah I have a finished product. to much fun! well than again if you don't enjoy it than what's the sense in prototypical modeling It's not just the trains it the Diarama that goe's with it But than agan I did use the word "Prototypical" whitch could be a fine line between Modeling and RailRoading, In any case it's all fun anyway just make the train go round.
Welcome BNSF...! This thread actually prompted me to take Friday afternoon off and re-ballast the south end of the main yard, and two sidings that had been embarassingly bare for almost three years. The south end of the yard is about 10 feet long, with seven classification tracks, three mainlines, and a long two-track yard to the harbor. That's a lot of track. It's about 30 square feet of yard and surroundings. (I'd done the north side a few weeks earlier.) It had been ballasted before, but thinly. And the ladder of switches and other switches in the area had not been ballasted. So this was mostly doing edge ballast, and the switches, about a dozen in all. It went very well--I must be getting better! I stuck only one switch with glue, and freed that up with a little more water, a dental pick, and a few drops of light oil. My only problems were in tight locations, where ballast on the outside of the rails piled up a bit too high. This was typically alongside platforms. Again, a little water and a dental pick cleaned it up quickly.
Ballast is Evil. Every thing used to rin fine. Now I have been cleaning and cleaning and still my trains run very slow with grining sound. I do not know what to do now!!!! What is the best way to clean the tracks after this evil thing? Mo
Sounds like you've got a lot of ballast on the inside of the rails, moshken. You can remove it with a small screwdriver, as I did for more than 30 years, or with a dental explorer, which I discovered about three years ago. You can usually find these explorers at an art supply store in the sculpting department. I got mine for about $3.00. It takes a little practice. You basically hold the tool at an angle and scrape along the inside of the rail, bumping along the tops of the molded spikes. It takes a fair bit of pressure, but it works for me.
I kept damaging the nibs (the little plastic thingies that hold the rails) that way. Assuming you used white glue, you can try this trick. It's so easy it should be illegal! Get some real hot water from the tap, and fill up the middle of the rails in the afflicted area. Wait 15 minutes. Use a toothpick to run along the edge of the inside rails. Clean the toothpick after every pass. When done, let the ballast dry for a day. That's it, no muss, no fuss.
