Ron Heggs Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Come to stage where I need to start ballasting the track on Manchester Central Just a bit of confusion over the way ballast appears to be sold. Some is by volume, some by weight and the remainder by guess work. Don't have an idea of the volume to weight conversion Does anyone have an idea of a best buy for approx. 2000cm3 of fine (N gauge) grey ballast for 4mm scale trackwork? Posted to a UK address, to overcome high postal charges to Spain Ron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted October 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2014 Try Cheltenham Models Ron They bag up their own and I wouldn't mind betting they would do a good bulk price. DO you have a local contact? Happy to help if not Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Try Cheltenham Models Ron They bag up their own and I wouldn't mind betting they would do a good bulk price. DO you have a local contact? Happy to help if not Phil Hi, Phil Thanks for that info. Will make contact with them Cheers Ron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted October 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2014 Don't laugh, but Ikea have some interesting stone in their bottled plant, (or whatever it's called) department. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadlyduck Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Might depend on the colour of the ballast you are to use.as granulated cork might be an option david Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Holt Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Hi Ron, I've been following progress with your magnifcent model of Manchester Central for quite a while, although I haven't commented before. I have some vague memories of Central in the 1960's (including a trip back to Guide Bridge behind an Ivatt Flying Pig) and have recently visited the area during trips to manchester Science Museum and journeys on the Metro which bring home just what a teriffic effort you're making. I've recently ballasted the track on my own, somewhat smaller, layout (Delph/Holt, for which I have an occaisional blog on here). I used C&L 2 mm scale and ash ballast and am very pleased with the results. I believe their products are made from crushed nut shells and the granules are nice and angular, unlike some I've seen, and the colour was unaffected by the PVA glue (some products apparently turn green with this type of adhesive). I found that I used a lot less ballast than anticipated and had massively over bought. At a guess, there was about 8 m of the 2 mm ballast (the rest being ash) and it used up only about a quarter of a large tub, if that. As others have suggested, if you contact the supplier, they may be prepared to bag up in bulk rather than the standard tubs. Good luck with it all. I ballasted the track after it was all fixed down and the electrics sorted out. Some tests with various application methods convinced me the only practical way to avoid a mess was the paint the slightly diluted PVA into each sleeper bay with a small brush and then sprinkle on the ballast, tamp down and leave to dry. The over spill was vacuumed up and re-used. A length of about 150 mm was glued at a time, but long lengths could be done in succession. Coachman (and no doubt lots of others) lays his track and ballast in one go, but in my view, that makes alignment adjustments and wiring much more difficult although the ballasting is less laborious, I'm sure. Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 The proposal is to ballast only the short sections on the viaducts first, where there are no electrical supply droppers and no turnouts, and of course access is a trifle difficult, dodging between the overhead tie beams which are only 100mm apart. Laying the handbuilt track lengths has been a tricky job - with long straight edge and mirror to get the alignments correct Ron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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