Ballasting Switches

Hi,

I’m about to start ballasting my track and I'm concerned about ballasting the switches. I really don’t want to glue my switches in one position or jam them up with ballast. I’m looking for some advice/suggestions on how to ballast around the switches. If anyone has photos of ballasted switches that they can share, that too would be great.

I do have a few questions to start with

How much of the switch do you folks ballast?
Do you put any ballast in the area of the movable rails?
Has anyone tried this?

I've watched some You Tube videos and only one touched on ballasting the switches but it did not give much info on the area of the movable rails.

Thanks

Gary

 

Here are a few examples of ballasted switches on my layout.







How much of the switch do you folks ballast?

All of it. Rumor has it that the 1:1 scale guys have done it successfully.

Do you put any ballast in the area of the movable rails?

A little less than everywhere else to preclude the ballast from impeding motion of the points.

Has anyone tried this? Quote: Put a few drops of oil around moving parts of turnouts (switches). This will help keep the glue from adhering to the moving parts.

I haven't bothered with it.

I glue the ballast in the switches just like I do all other track. I use diluted matte medium ladled gently from a plastic spoon.

Advice:

1. Expect glue and ballast to get in your throw bar passages and points. Clean it out with a pick or exacto knife when it's dry.

2. While the glue is drying, operate the switch manually to move the wet ballast away from the ends of the throw bar. You may need to do it several times as the water evaporates from the wet ballast.

3. While the glue is drying, chase errant ballast granules from the insides of the rails and from the guardrails and frogs with a wood toothpick. Easier when wet than when dry.

4. If you need to remove ballast after it's hard, soak it with isopropyl alcohol and pick it out with a small probe of your choice. Then wet it sufficiently to make the ballast flowable for reshaping.

Ballast is not to be feared. Assert your authority and it will obey you. You're smarter than it is.

 

Unfortunately Gary there is no secret method that I know of except I suggest lots of patience. Todd's explanation describes it well. Keep the points moving from time to time while the glue is setting. There are few to no shortcuts here but if you use real stone rather than the walnut shells from WS you will have a much easier time. Also wet the ballast thoroughly with a pump sprayer before adding glue. Adding the glue is always the hard part but look for a hobby syringe that you can run along the rails while dispensing. $1.99, but saves a ton of time.
I never tried the oil, so if you do it let us know.

 

Todd
Thanks for the photos and the advice.

That is debatable.

John
Thanks for the followup.

I am using crushed Limestone from a quarry that my son in law works for as well as some darker stone that I requisitioned while living in NC. I have about 10.5 gallons left to sift. At this point I have about 3.5 cups of usable ballast.

I have been practicing using the method in this video including using syringes. I'm still debating using diluted white glue or diluted mate medium, I have both on hand. I believe that I have all the tools that I need other then the nerve to go ahead. The last time I did any ballasting was in the late 1980s on a 4 ft module. It turned out "good enough" but not great. I have some old switches that are junk, I'll practice with them.

Thanks again for the input.

Gary

 

Hi Gary,

Good question. I was pretty freaked out about slobbering glue/glue like substances around the moveable parts of a turnout. Trust me it can be done succesfully. What pachyderm217 says is great advice and basically what I did. I used 50/50 matte medium/water for the adhesive. 1st pic is with WS ballast.

My first whack at this job. 2nd is with my personal mixture of calcium sand and grout with a touch of paint to color.

I am only using points as electrical contact so had to do a bit of scraping between the points and the rail with a jewlers screw driver but I have no problems with electrical contact now. You are going to have to scrape the tops of all your rails anyway so picking a bit of goo at the points really isn't that much more work. My only recommendations are to go litely on the glue around the moveable parts. I use an old elmers glue bottle to apply my fixative so I get pretty good control of where the stuff goes. Also make sure all the bits of ballast are off the points after you soak them. Kind of a chore when you don't want to move the rest of the wet ballast around.
You can do it. Practicing a bit with your old turnouts is a great idea. After you do one or two you'll see it is a bit of work but very doable.

Brian

ps. It's amazing what pictures show you. I'll go back and pick some more at those stray bits of ballast on my points and rails. :tb-shocked:

 

It's a good idea to place a few drops of oil at the throw bar and moving parts.
You have to ballast your turnout carefully, very carefully. :angel:



You will find many more pictures at my website.

Wolfgang

 

I have just started ballasting a yard area during the past couple of nights and although having no prior experience or guidance, somehow have done what Pachyderm217 describes (maybe he transmitted these thoughts telepathically!) It works well especially the movement of the switch points while drying and removing as many strays as possible while still wet to keep the glue off the moving parts.

 

Thanks guys! This thread is very timely for me.

 

More "Ballasting switches"

Hi,

Tonight I am using an old switch and some short pieces of track and am practicing with ballasting a switch. As I type this I am waiting for the mate medium to dry.

I did find a couple other threads here on TrainBoard related to ballasting switches. Both of them have a lot of information. I should have done a search on this topic before starting this thread.

The two other threads are called Ballasting switches and Ballasting switches. A third thread I found called Ballasting started has some photos of switches that are ballasted

Getting back to this evenings practice session, when all is dry I'll take a few photos and post them for all to see along with my other practice sessions. Then please be gentle when critiquing my work. After looking at the pictures in this thread and the others that I found, I have a long ways to go.

Thank you for putting up this long ramble of nothing.

Gary

 

I've heard of that. You have to add the ballast before you install the switch, right? One of my problems is that I did not know what ballast I was going to use when laying the track. I guess I could slip some tape under the switch by lifting it a bit with a pick of some type and then press the ballast into the tape.

Gary

 

I did NOT glue the points in place

As promised here are a few photos of my practice ballasting

This one shows not only the ballasting attempt but also three different tests of using a mixture of different powered tempera paints and dry plaster for weathering effects along with some turf on the edges.

The next photo shows the switch that I did last night. I got a bit heavy on the outside edges, but that was not really the purpose of the practice session.
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Believe it or not I did NOT glue the points in place.

• The ballast is crushed Limestone from a local quarry, daughters husband works there
• The glue is diluted mate medium, I think it is 4 parts water and 1 part mate medium. Mixed it a while back for a different project.
• I use the method shown in this video

Thanks for looking.

Gary
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