Has anyone ever put down ballast and not secured it by gluing it so it is the loose so if you change your lay out it's easy to take the track up and sweep up the ballast
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i have mine not secured.....has yet to be a problem...
Run away as fast as you can from this idea. It will ultimately end up in the running gear of your locomotives.
Real Ballast doesn't end up in the running gear of locomotives because it's real heavy. Scale ballast is light and sometimes has dust that could get into the moving parts.
Loose ballast is not a big problem, as long as you sift your kitty litter so only the large uniform pieces are used. That said, a light dusting of cheap hairspray or dilute white glue will add to stability without undue permanence.
[N.B.: The "kitty litter" reference is a lighthearted joking tweak directed toward the expensive-ballast enthusiasts.]
I have always glued my ballast down. But I knew a person that was a real engineer and on his layout which I believe at the time was tinplate track he would periodically take a brush and sort of brush the ballast back to the track. His explanation to me was that in real railroading ballast eventually moves down with the passing of trains. To each their own my preference is to glue and I use rubber ballast just in case a piece may make it into the gears.......Paul
I glue my ballast as well. However I also have a good friend with a large layout who leaves his loose. It's real limestone ballast and he's been running for about 15 years now with loose ballast very close to the greasy gears on his diesel wheels yet does not have problems.
When I had temporary layouts, I used to use loose ballast all the time. Other than having to brush it back into place once in a while I never had any other issues. It would move from the vibration of the trains.
To answer your question at the top of this thread, No. And my reason is that I am not looking for a constant maintenance project. I would be up on the table maintaining loose ballast all the time, if I had it.
You can try it if you want, but I don't recommend it unless you have a very small layout. Also, I would not recommend kitty litter under any circumstance. Scale rock from Brennan's looks the best and is scale size. A lot of other products will give you ballast rocks the size of scale baseballs.
When I had a ballasted layout, I glued everything. Occasionally, there would be a loose piece and it would ALWAYS find it's way into the engine gears. Never again. I'll go indoor/outdoor carpet, stone spray paint, or plastic roadbed track.
I would never leave it loose, it will become a constant maintenance project.
Thanks everyone for your expertise
Number 90 posted:I would not recommend kitty litter under any circumstance.
Heh. I guess "ballast" threads are to model railroad sites as "oil" threads are to car enthusiast sites.
What Number90 said
Any thought or methods on removing ballast that has been glued down?
Funny, I had a modest size (14 x 16) layout and did not glue any of the ballast. Never had a problem. My maintenance consisted of using a small paintbrush every 6 months to keep it perfect. Took all of ten minutes.
The obvious advantages are NOT spending all that time gluing it down, and absolutely no mess or problem when changing track plans or packing it up. Serious time savings!
Paul
When ballasting time came, I had trouble getting "real" model ballast and began using kitty litter. I found the litter pretty satisfactory in every respect but one. It cracked a lot when put down in larger areas, like a yard. No big deal really.
After I was into it, I was able to procure Brennan's product. yes, much better although I am, in no way, unhappy with the "Kitty Litter Division" of my layout.
Glued down was my preference. No opinion on leaving it loose although definitely inappropriate for my hinged entry way gate! In fact I keep losing ballast there even though I glued it down.