Ballast Removal

Hey Steve. I have had similar situations. First suggestion is take your time. I would not flood the area but “saturate” the ballast with some “wet water” and let it soak in. Walk away for a while. Return and repeat the process. Maybe do this over the course of a day. The goal is to get that Elmers glue fully soaked and pliable. Obviously, take out any screws or nails in the track.

Soak it again and this time using a wide blade putty knife, gently push it under the ties. Keep the putty knife wet too. This will be a messy work area. Eventually, the track should come up. That is the good thing about Elmers. It will soften again when saturated.

Just take your time. Let the water do the work.

But you may have some track damage and that is going to happen. Scrap the gooey mess off the track and let it dry. Once it dries, whatever ballast is left on the track you can pick off.

Hope that helps.

Donald

One more thing I did already. Take a sharp utility knife and cut along the edge of the ties along the shoulders. The stone will dull the blade but you should be able to peel this area off while dry with a putty knife. Do this before soaking the ties.

Donald

When I make a change. I cut through the track rails a few inches before what I am saving. With track pins in place when you start the lifting process you don’t want to disturb what your going to reuse. When you’ve removed the track your changing out. You can slip the short cut off rails left straight out and you shouldn’t have any damage to the existing trackage.

Gargraves offers connectors just for this. A flat piece that slips in the hollow rail web. The new track slips in from above rather than wrestling with the track to get the pins lined up.

Thanks 3rail and Dave C.  Lots of good advice !  Do you thinK those Gargraves 910-4 connectors will work with Ross?

Yes they should work fine. I know Gunnrunner John used them with good results. I don’t know how electrically sound they are versus pins. I used the Gargraves one time. My changes of late I’ve soldered a piece of brass strip into the rail’s web to keep the rails in line.I just make sure I have a feeder on each side of the joint.

It may be just me. It seems there may be a whisker difference in height between Ross track and Gargraves. With the pins it just goes un noticed as the rails stay in alignment. You may have to place a shim or 2 under the Gargraves . Thin brass strips work well for this.

I ordered the Gargraves connectors.  These should save a lot of work.  I'ii just have to remove a section of 096 curve and install a turnout.  if continuity is an issue, I can install jumpers.

We needed to repair trackage up to our bridge…….I didn’t have to worry about connection…..saturated with 90% rubbing alcohol and it was loose in 5 minutes….

@Putnam Division posted:

We needed to repair trackage up to our bridge…….I didn’t have to worry about connection…..saturated with 90% rubbing alcohol and it was loose in 5 minutes….

plastic tie Atlas track makes a big difference. The glue does not stick much at all to plastic. Ross and Gargraves have wood ties and that makes the job 100% worse. 🙂

@shorling posted:

I ordered the Gargraves connectors.  These should save a lot of work.  I'ii just have to remove a section of 096 curve and install a turnout.  if continuity is an issue, I can install jumpers.

Sounds like a good plan Steve. I will have to order some too for a new project I have coming up. Thanks for the suggestion.

Don

@3rail posted:

Just take your time. Let the water do the work.

...and let it dry.

I have never had to do this, but I am suggesting you take the last four words very seriously.

Water is of necessity to move the bonded ballast.  You may find yourself using a lot of it to achieve satisfactory results.

HOWEVER, the soft pine wood ties and the hollow cold-rolled steel rail are water absorbers/traps.  You really should take extra time and effort to insure that the ties are thoroughly dried, and there is little chance of any remaining water trapped within the rails.  ANY residual moisture/dampness is a ticket to disaster...rusting, poor electrical qualities, poor appearance, etc., etc., blah, blah.

Ergo, during these hot, sunny, summer days, I'd suggest displaying your de-ballasted track in the sunniest area of your house...walkway, driveway, party deck, ...maybe not the roof.  Back long, long, LONG ago in my tubular O27/O era (I'm all Gargraves/Ross now), I could put a dozen or so pieces of washed track on a large baking pan, set the oven to, oh say,  175ºF, let 'em bake for an hour, turn off the oven, let 'em cool down slowly.   Oh, also I was careful to not have pins in both ends of the hollow rails that would otherwise inhibit the water vapor from getting out from within.  Lot of fussing, but it kept the rust away.

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Now, all that said, what you're faced with is why I've suggested...probably to little avail except myself...is NOT gluing the ballast down.  I've never really understood the rush to glue ballast...especially in the O3R realm.  I'm not there yet, but I don't plan to ballast the track until all the scenery up to the track right-of-way is complete.  There are some nifty ballast spreader devices that can deposit a nice run of ballast along and within the ties of the track.  A soft bristle brush can dress the edges and tie tops.  Gravity works wonders.  My benchwork is fastened to the wall, so there's little concern about Jabba the Hut Butt, causing a seismic shift and redistributing ballast...and everything else along with it!  Derailment messes of loose ballast??  Oh dear, I do believe the 1:1 guys are faced with the same problem...since they don't glue 1:1 ballast down, either!

My wife and I have worked with our LHS to assist local folks with the trains and layouts left behind in the passing of hubby, daddy, Uncle Floyd, ...whoever.  Salvaging track/switches to recover some value is sometimes a net zero effort.  The most recent inquiry is case in point.

Our communication with the potential client 60 miles away has, so far, been through phone calls and a nice collection of photos sent via email.  The layout clearly shows immaculate trackwork...Gargraves and Ross...crisply ballasted.  The client confirmed that the ballast had been glued to the baseboard.  It's somewhat heartbreaking because in one photo is seen what I consider (and have on my own layout) the crown jewel of Ross switches...the l-o-n-g double crossover.  Again, fully ballasted, bonded.  Lots of other switches, too.

We explained to the client that unfortunately we do not salvage ballasted track.  That double crossover would've returned a fair value had it been merely, cleanly removeable.  If the curves were of pre-formed construction, they and the sizeable number of straight pieces would also have returned a fair value...if unballasted.

I know that's not your situation, of course.  But I thought I'd share the alternative for others who might consider a different choice...no glue.  Changing the layout?  No problem.  Fresh filter in the shop vac or dust-buster will take care of the loose ballast...for re-use later.  Unfasten the track and replace as planned.  Reballast. Done.

FWIW, always.  And...TEHO.

KD

@3rail posted:

plastic tie Atlas track makes a big difference. The glue does not stick much at all to plastic. Ross and Gargraves have wood ties and that makes the job 100% worse. 🙂

Interesting and makes sense.....thank you, Don.

Peter

Soak in alcohol.  Then a putty knife or if you have one, and oscillating tool with a scraper blade.