Carpet ballast

Jim,

Your carpet ballast makes the track look a lot better!!

I'll bet that's nice and quiet, too.

what did the carpet layers charge ya for that job

While it does look good in your photos Jim, I'd be sure to keep an eye on your diesel (and some steam) spur-gear trains. Carpet fibers are really attracted to spur-gear systems, especially with any grease on them whatsoever.

It is relatively this outdoor carpet that is pretty tightly woven but will check for fibers in the gears. I run mostly steam. I finished the 4 longest outer loops with a total of 160 ft. of length. It does seem to dampen the track noise. Originally I thought to fill in with glued in place ballast but that seemed like a lot of work and permanent.  Any track change would have been a major job. This was relatively inexpensive and quick but the carpet cutting got a bit tedious. A nice big, fat table would have been nice. I think the looks could be enhanced  with coloring of the  "ballast" and the track. Rusty outer rails  and a dark gray center rail would work, I think. Plus if I ever want to, I can tear it out in about 7 minutes.

looks good, very nice layout keep up the good work hope you post more pics

Cutting those strips must have been a lot of fun.  Tell us how you did it.

What, me worry?

It wasn't too bad but there are better ways, I am sure. The carpet was 6 ft. wide so I bought 4 ft. It has ribbing in it and decided to cut with the ribbing. That gave me 4 ft.strips that worked out well. Long, but not too long to be cumbersome. Had a 4 1/2 ft. narrow piece of homosote for a cutting board. Scrounged a  3 ft - 1x2 inch strip of wood for a cutting guide. Had 4 nails through that. Lined the edge of the carpet along the top edge of the homosote , hammered the 4 nails in to hold the guide 1/2 " from the edge and ran the carpet knife down to cut it off. Used a small piece of homosote to measure the 1/2" of carpet. Also used the small piece of homosote as a straight edge at each end since the piece of wood wasn't long enough. A big, well lit table would have made it a lot easier. Took my time and changed blades when needed.  Maybe one of those round pizza cutters would be easier if sharp  enough. I worked off and on 3 days getting it done. A lighter gray might be better but that is what the local store had.

Jim,

  Nice layout. Can you share some more pictures including a couple of close-ups of the track/ballast? Also, what is the size of the layout and what brand/color paint did you use for the green on top? 

  Thanks,

     Tom 

I will try to take close up photos of the carpet ballast but it is just inexpensive outdoor sold at a local "discount" store called Trader Horn. The bench work is approximately 12 x 12 ft. It is made up of  2 long  modules and 2 shorter ones holding it all together. The paint is acrylic enamel with the trade name of "MAJIC" and made by the Yenkin-Majestic Paint Corp. of Columbus, Ohio. Sold at the same discount store. Great stuff. Goes on easy, covers, low odor, dries quickly and easy clean up. The color is "Machine Green". It is $5.89 a half pint and available in pint size, I know. I have used their white and have bought blue and red oxide but haven't used it yet. Fairly pleased with the ballast, wish I had painted the rails first and it does dampen the tinny rail noise caused by vibrations, I imagine.

Ah....Trader Horn - "Your favorite store"

Just about. The home store is about 7 mins. away and have most of what I need to exist. Actually I am a bit spoiled by having it so close.

I too used carpet strips as ballast on my Super O layout. It looks great, and does indeed quiet the rail noise. I used indoor "Burber" style carpet. I found that visiting local carpet stores, they had all sorts of reminents I could choose from. I selected a greyish, off white. The rough surface of the Burber weave really looks good for this application. As mentioned, it makes life much easier when you want to make a change. It's also reusable!!

Paul