No.3 Fix and Patch - more on maw seed ballasting

Mixing and pasting track ballast loomed large and I am attaching details of the procedure that works for me.  I prefer the small poppy seeds to gritty mineral sands.  I use wallpaper paste as the adhesive.  It should offer less resistance than PVA should there be a change of plan or track repairs needed.


I use simple tools, a small plastic bowl (ex Christmas Pudding basin), stainless steel spatula and a small screw driver:



I use a heavy duty wallpaper paste which has been chopped finer using the Kenwood liquidiser in the kitchen.  Hopefully the finer powder mixes more quickly and easily.  To make sure that the mix can be used well before it starts setting I only make a small batch at a time.  I use around 8ml of water (1/2 a tablespoon):



I add sufficient dry paste powder to make a stiff mix (around half a teaspoon full):


I then stir in sufficient dry seeds to make a stiff porridge.  In this example, just over 1/4 ounce or just under 10 gm:


The porridge is then spread between or along the tracks using the spatula:


For smaller places I use the screw driver:


For the sides of the track I make a wedge or fillet which extends about 1cm from the edge of the rail:


This is then flattened between the sleepers and smoothed into place:


Then depending on my patience I can use the small screw driver to clean out between individual sleepers:


Spare or left over material can then be placed between the rails using the small screw driver:


Experience suggests that it can be three or four days before the mix completely dries.

Prior to running trains the track is brushed gently with an old tooth brush and the surplus seed carefully removed with a vacuum cleaner.  The tops of the rails are then cleaned with a damp cloth. Too little paste or applying the porridge too long after mixing will result in a very fragile ballast which can disappear up the vacuum cleaner!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No.123 Chocolate and Cream and BR1s – the Replica Railways Restaurant Buffet

Image
This Post describes some modifications that I have made to a Replica Railways BR Mk1 RB. Previously i have modified the Mainline Maroon RB by fitting Finecast glazing, wire handrails and Bachmann close coupling mechanisms. I promised myself that I would do the same for the chocolate and cream Replica BR(WR) RB. Success! Replica Railways BR(WR) Restaurant Buffet on BR1 Bogies First task - find a suitable coach! Replica Railways Mk1 RB from around 1992 Models are bit like London buses. When I first started looking for a BR(WR) RB there didn’t seem to be any around and eventually my coach came from Australia. Then suddenly there were lots available here in the UK. On opening the box I was surprised to discover that Replica had painted the solebars chocolate to match the lower body panels – why? Was someone confused by the blue solebars ion the blue and grey version? They should be black and they can be over painted with new transfers added from the P
Read more

No. 163 Hornby’s new A2/2 and A2/3

Image
Coming from the North East of England I couldn’t let these new Hornby models pass me by.    Thane of Fife had already disappeared from my 1960 ABC books and I never got to see Cock o’ the North.   There is a big red line through the number in my book, confirming its imminent withdrawal.   I did see the two A2/3s, Steady Aim being a York engine whilst around the beginning of the sixties Sun Castle was based at New England and then Doncaster. Thane of Fife after some adjustment to sand boxes and running plate Steady Aim after some adjustment to the speedometer bracket I hadn’t pre-ordered any of these Hornby models and was initially only interested in the two Late Crest engines.    The two Early Emblem engines were bought as an afterthought with some surprise earnings. All the models I have handled have run very well.   With some notable exceptions the models are also very impressive.   This Post summarises various issues (and fixes) that I have come across with these models.  
Read more

No. 166 A tale of two Hornby Super Detail ‘Britannias’, plus a Clan (Postscript)

Image
This Post brings a closure to my last two Posts.   Those of you who have read my accounts of rebadging a Hornby Clan and Britannia will know that there was some unfinished business.   Hornby ‘Britannia’ alias ‘Morning Star’ still needed cut outs around its lubricators.   Hornby ‘Clan McLeod’ alias ‘Clan Stewart’ needed its top lamp iron repositioning.  / A reminder, as received TMC Morning Star alias Hornby Britannia R2562 Completed – my 1959 version of 70021 Morning Star with solid rods, lubricator access, large dome, raised sand box covers, front step and rear cab supports Lubricator Cut Outs, one with (right) and R2562 without (left) In the same way that Hornby have engineered the Britannia body shell to cater for different numbers of raised sand box lids, the body moulding has also been set up to make it easy to alter from an engine without lubricator access (the early 1950s engines) to engines with an access hole in through the side of the footplate.   With a sharp bl
Read more