Ballasting pointwork - any tips?

[gordon s]

I seem to have got on top of ballasting plain track, but am struggling with ballasting point work. I've had some reasonable results spreading the area with PVA and then placing the turnout on the wet PVA and immediately sprinkling on the ballast, but this has raised two issues. The first is the depth of ballast which is very shallow which means the point work appears to float on top of the ballast rather than be set into it. The second is having masked off the tie bar area to avoid gumming this up, I can't seem to ballast this area afterwards without gluing the whole thing solid again.

 

I've tried the dilute PVA method, but it seems to flow everywhere and again gums up the moving blades.

 

My method of ballasting plain track is to paint neat PVA between the sleepers, but this process is very difficult with point work as there are numerous small areas as the rails cross over the sleepers which are difficult to access.

 

Are there any other methods I could try or is it just a case of practice, practice, practice until you get it right?

 

Grateful for any advice you can offer.

 

Should have said, this is all PCB point work with 1.06mm sleepers.

[HLT 0109]

Gordon,

 

I am not sure my comments will help much but you may find something useful in them. Like you, I was nearly always gumming up my points (Hornby set track) - as you say the dilute PVA gets everywhere. However, I use the standard method for plain track (ie spread the ballast carefully and then dribble dilute PVA over) and i find that I can complete most of each point in this way with care; I avoid putting ballast near the moving parts and try to dribble a minimum amount of PVA as I get close to those moving parts - indeed it usually seeps there on its own. Once dry, I then use your method of neat PVA between the sleepers under and close to the moving parts and press ballast into it. Sometimes I discover that the dilute PVA has gone too far and then I have to spend time dabbing it up while still wet (rather tedious). If you find that you want more ballast in those areas, you can always give another coat of PVA and press in more balalst. Next day, the points are sometimes stuck but easily pull apart. I find the problem area often is not the moving rails but the sliding tiebar A suggestion I have not tried but may be worth a try is to put some light grease on the moving parts before applying the PVA (probably needs doing before spreading the ballast) as it should prevent the PVA from sticking.

 

Harold.

[Baby Deltic]

I would definately put the ballast down first then add PVA gradually using a pipette or syringe. Make sure there is enough fairy liquid added to the dilute PVA to break the surface tension sufficiently that it flows into the ballast freely.

[Donw]

I found that painting the basboard a greyish colour helped particularly around the tie bar so you don't see bare baseboard where there is no or little ballast due to the works. In 0 gauge I found that using the dripping dilute PVA on the top didn't always soak down to the baseboard even if you flood it.(discovered by some lumps falling out of a section transport upside down to shows) I therefore try to sprinkle on a little ballast when laying the track. I use PVa to adhere the track and just sprinkle a little on at that time. When I complete the ballasting it seems to stick better. When ballasting using something like a small piece of rod to press/tamp the ballast in seems to help.

Don

[roundhouse]

I use cork underlay under the track.

 

I cut away the cork under the area of the movng tie bar of the point work so when spreading the ballast I take care to sue a minimal amount of ballast around the tie bar.

When the diluted PVA is appleid, any that gets around th tie bar will generally go below into the recess where the cork was cut away thus not settling around the tie bar.

 

I also do not intall the point motor till after ballasting.

 

Ian

[gordon s]

Thanks for all your tips, guys. Most helpful.

 

I will make another attempt this morning whilst I am fresh and alert. I suspect tiredness and fatigue last night made things ten times worse. Like most things practice makes perfect and as I have a whole stack of point work to do, I'll just have to keep practicing.... B)

[Silver Sidelines]

Good Morning Gordon,

 

Can I direct you to one of the entries on my Blog http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/880/entry-7400-fix-and-patch-more-on-maw-seed-ballasting/

 

You will see that I use wall paper paste and make a porridge. As far as I can see there are numerous benefits not least being that the technique is controlled. After six month's practice I got to the stage where I didn't even need to clean the rail head after ballasting.

 

 

 

May be some food for thought

 

Regards

 

Ray

[micklner]

I use Copydex just take care around the tie bar. It can also means the track can be lifted for reuse (with care)

[HLT 0109]

Good Morning Gordon,

 

Can I direct you to one of the entries on my Blog http://www.rmweb.co....eed-ballasting/

 

You will see that I use wall paper paste and make a porridge. As far as I can see there are numerous benefits not least being that the technique is controlled. After six month's practice I got to the stage where I didn't even need to clean the rail head after ballasting.

 

I tried this method before changing to the use of dilute PVA, having read some negative experiences with the PVA method. Whilst it worked, I found it was rather brittle once dry and prone to breaking up. Perhaps my wallpaper paste was too weak. I still have an area (with five points!) done with that method, where running is not reliable, so I plan to redo it but will use dilute PVA. I think I will follow ian's practice of cutting away the cork where the tiebar is.

 

Harold.

[darren01]

HI

I use Blue tack to stop glue from getting in on the point blades, open the point so the blades are in the middle and then pop a small bit of Blue tack in each side of the blades .

This stops the glue from getting in to the points ,once you have finnished use another bit of blue tack to pull it out.

Hope this helps

[Silver Sidelines]

I tried this method before changing to the use of dilute PVA, having read some negative experiences with the PVA method. Whilst it worked, I found it was rather brittle once dry and prone to breaking up. Perhaps my wallpaper paste was too weak. I still have an area (with five points!) done with that method, where running is not reliable, so I plan to redo it but will use dilute PVA. I think I will follow ian's practice of cutting away the cork where the tiebar is.

 

Harold.

Harold,

 

Yes some of my early attempts were rather brittle and I increased the amount of paste used. I also made sure that I followed the instructions for mixing the paste and waited, around three minutes, after mixing paste and water before adding the ballast. Although the track is ballasted with poppy seed I have also used the paste to successfully bond some Hornby fine gravel materials.

 

Ray

[RJL]

I use a piece of ballest on a roll to go under the points were the contacts are and ballest around it. It's probably the wrong way of doing it but it works for me and I have no trouble with the points.

[R A Watson]

Place the ballast dry and brush it into position until you are happy then drop plain water with a drop of washing up liquid onto the railhead (not directly on the ballast) the water will then spread through the ballast without disturbing it. Add any extra ballast and/or trim the appearance, once satisified then place the P V A diluted 50/50 with water, the ballast will not move but will look awful, hold your nerve and when it dries out the job is done.

 

Wally