Tehachapi, BC

[CRL]

Thumbtack holding the paper down. Also in red and yellow. (See first picture.) 

I don’t believe it... I think those are dots of paint that have a secret use he not ready to share with us yet. 😜

[MK]

Transponding towers!

[CRL]

For UFO landing pads!!!

🛸 🛸 🛸 🛸 🛸

[GaryHinshaw]

LOL.  Thumbtacks to hold down my "scenery."  It really does look like a dollop of paint though, no?

Looks great @GaryHinshaw !   Looks like I came back to CO too soon! 

What about glue? What do you use, and how do you apply it?

Ed

Come back anytime, Ed.  Seriously, if work travel ever bring you back to the PNW (= the Great Southwest, in Canada), try to carve out some time to stop by.

Nothing special about my gluing technique: first spray with alcohol (I use 99% diluted a bit with water), then apply diluted matte medium in a dropper bottle.  While the glue is drying, I clean the tie tops of stray ballast with a toothpick, especially the area around the Pandrol clips.  One other thing: when I drip glue on the second coat of ballast, I don't drip it directly on the central ballast ridge, but rather between it and one of the rails.  Then, it wicks into the ridge without disturbing it too much.

[C855B]

How do you ballast around throwbars, Gary? I will be biting that particular bullet shortly using the same technique, and fear affixing the throwbars to the ballast.

[basementcalling]

Thumbtack holding the paper down. Also in red and yellow. (See first picture.) 

I knew that.

[ednadolski]

Thanks Gary!   While we have no time frame yet, my wife and I are working on some travel plans for the Puget Sound area, and maybe an Alaska cruise (probably out of Vancouver)

I just got some samples of the Smith and Sons ballast, so I am happy to report that yes this still is obtainable (hooray!)    I'm going to try building another sample or two (you have set a high bar for me to try to follow... did someone say, "better modeling thru peer pressure? )

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

How do you ballast around throwbars, Gary? I will be biting that particular bullet shortly using the same technique, and fear affixing the throwbars to the ballast.

The glib - but honest - answer is: very carefully.  Here is a close-up of the point/throw-bar assembly after ballasting:



There are actually two throw-bars attached to the points: the obvious one between the head-block ties and the soldered one three ties to the right.  I studiously avoid getting ballast or glue in either of those slots, but I don't find that to be as difficult as you might imagine.  It is important to wick any wet glue off the tie tops and to occasionally move the points while the glue is setting, just to avoid gluing the points to the ties.

[Still need to paint the actuating wire, install one of my hoarded NZT switch motors, and weather the whole assembly.]

[CRL]

Personally, I hit the throw bar with some light oil, like Labelle or Whal clipper oil. That makes it easier to pop it loose if you get some glue in there.

[MK]

...and maybe an Alaska cruise (probably out of Vancouver)

Best cruise in my life and I've been on a few.  If you do go, don't do the ones that go half way up the Inside Passage and return back to Vancouver.  You're going to see the same scenery coming back.    Book the one where it goes all the way up to Seward/Anchorage.

And since airfare is expensive (I'm on the East coast), I should have stayed a few more days after the cruise and take Alaska Railroad up to Denali and stay at the various lodges operated by the cruise companies.  Yes, more money but you've already paid a lot to get there.  We didn't do this and I've regretted it every since.

[C855B]

The glib - but honest - answer is: very carefully. ...

I suspected as much, but tho't I'd ask anyway, already knowing you have double the pleasure because of the dual throwbars.

However, thanks for the confirmation, so it's a good thing I delayed this operation until I was sure to have movable points.

Looks great, so the extra effort is worth it. Where's the green-with-envy emoticon?   

[Cajonpassfan]

Best cruise in my life and I've been on a few.  If you do go, don't do the ones that go half way up the Inside Passage and return back to Vancouver.  You're going to see the same scenery coming back.    Book the one where it goes all the way up to Seward/Anchorage.

And since airfare is expensive (I'm on the East coast), I should have stayed a few more days after the cruise and take Alaska Railroad up to Denali and stay at the various lodges operated by the cruise companies.  Yes, more money but you've already paid a lot to get there.  We didn't do this and I've regretted it every since.

I second the recommendation. We did it one way, in reverse, Fairbanks to Seward with stops at Denali and Anchorage, by train, Seward to Vancouver by ship. At the very least, make sure you take the train between Seward and Anchorage, by far the most scenic part of the rail trip (and go 1st class if you can swing it!).
Otto K.

[robert3985]

Personally, I hit the throw bar with some light oil, like Labelle or Whal clipper oil. That makes it easier to pop it loose if you get some glue in there.

I do this too.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Angus Shops]

I agree completely with Gary’s advice to apply ballast in two passes. My current method is to apply the ballast between the rails as well as just enough outside the rails to ‘bed’ the ends of the ties. This is done for single track or multiple tracks (typically mainline plus siding). When this ballast is even and ready for glue I wet it with water/alcohol from a mister and then apply diluted white glue via a dropper. When dry I return and apply more ballast onto the shoulders of the cork and between the tracks if multiple tracks are involved, then repeat the gluing process. I found when I tried to ballast all at once it was too hard to control the placement of the loose ballast and I was always disturbing one area while attempting to shape another, or I ended up with too much ballast between the rails or between the tracks to achieve the desired profile. Two passes is more controllable.

The throw-bar/headblock is a issue for me as well. I have length (maybe 12”) of Evergreen styrene tube, the smallest diameter that is a tube and not a rod, that I use to blow through to move excess ballast out of this critical area. The small inside diameter restricts the air flow to a gentle puff that seems to move just enough without disturbing the adjacent areas. It’s also flexible enough that the tube can be bent to direct the airflow as needed. I also move the points periodically and finish up by checking for and removing any odd ballast grains between the point and stock rails.

I’m also fastidious about the placement of the ballast and spend a lot of time flicking individual grains of ballast off the top of ties and sides of the rails after the glue has dried. I then go back and repaint the ties with a variety of appropriate tie colours, particularly if there is a visible residue of glue or ballast residue I was not able to remove.

Where appropriate I also hand tint the ballast with thinned acrylic paint (current favourite 

....???? (you left us hanging here Geoff) -gfh

[Angus Shops]

“You left us hanging...”

Sorry, some sort of local wifi glitch.

...(current favourite is Vallejo) to represent aged or dirtied ballast. While most class 1 railroads feature clean, fresh ballast on the mainlines, ballast in terminal areas was/is more often stained/aged/dirtied. Even out on the main older ballast material would be found lower down the the ballast profile and away from the fresh ballast placed most recently. Freshly crushed rock usually darkens naturally over time as as the rock is exposed to air, so ballast typically darkens from higher and closer to the active track (lighter) to lower and closer to the ditch line (more weathered and darker).