# BALLISTING TRACK



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

ON MLK DAY in honor of his I have a dream speech I worked on my Dream. 


First I got a 5 gal bucket of ballast.











Put it in the mixer to brake up any clumps.










Add 4 of 5 heaping scoops of Portland Cement or Mortar/stucco mix to the mixer and let mix. Add color if it is too gray for you










Prepare base and track.











Using the scoop pour ballast from the 5 gal bucket to cover the track completely like this.











Custom made spreading tool 











Spread the ballast till the tracks are visible. I make it the width of the right of way. About one inch on each side of the track.

Put a level across the tracks and check for level. If there is a low spot. Rais the ties till the level reads level,  Tapping on the brass rail all the time. 

This will allow the ballast to sift down into the crack and crannies. Tap the track the whole length of the area you are ballasting.










In this close up you can see that some of the ballast has settle down into the ties.










With a paint brush or soft bristled brush, brush the excess ballast from inside and out side or the track. The inside excess ballast I brush/sweep towards the next section I am going to ballast.
The outside I brush away forming a berm on either side of the road right of way 

At this point some of the ballast will settle down between the ties. If it seems to much then you can do touch up the same way.












Next I wet it with a gentle rain from the garden hose.

It will cause more settling. 

If it appears that too much has settled for your liking you can touch it up later. Just wait for the ballast to dry before adding touch up


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Didn't realize you conducted courses re: LS track beds. This is very useful and particularly so with all the illustrations you provided. Thank you much, JJ !


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## Bob Pero (Jan 13, 2008)

Looks good JJ. I do mine the same way. I actually use a pump up sprayer on the last step. The mortar mix works great in our Florida Monsoon rains.


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

J.J. I never knew you were a turn it to dust and "let the rain settle it" Hah LOL Regal


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

JJ....in a few days...takes another picture so that we see the "after". Good pictorial and explanation.


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## Rod Fearnley (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks like a good job JJ. If you find the ballast too grey, get a garden spray pump mix in some iron sulphate powder(you can get it any garden supplies)spray it over the wet ballast, and it will react with the cement powder and change color. At first it looks slightly grey.green, but when it drys it looks rust colored.
Rod


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

You can ballist your track if you want too, but most people ballast theirs.







Sorry, I couldn't resist. What are the proportions of cement to ballast? Interesting article and pictures. In the long run, how does this method hold up? I have limited experience with it, but I found it eventually cracks up and falls away just like loose ballast. Except the portion between the ties, that seems to last. Also, isn't it a real mess if you have to do any track maintenance with the ballast cememted to the ties and rail? Just curious. I gave up on glue or cememt and just replace the ballast as the rain washes it away. Eventually you end up with so much ballast out there you can usually just scrape it up and push it back onto the track.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Where is your drainage? Did you put the concrete road bed under this track in the cut. Later RJD


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Purty in pink! 

If you make berms won't that funnel water down the rails?... better to make drainage ditches. Run ditch past plastic pipe under mountains to drain away. 

John


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By aceinspp on 18 Jan 2011 09:22 AM 
Where is your drainage? Did you put the concrete road bed under this track in the cut. Later RJD 
All of the NR&W road bed is concrete with back fill. There is an area where I dug a trench for correct a 9% grade. The bottom is solid concrete about max of 4 inches. It had become a raging torent washing away the sides making it more of a depression . I have re rouned the water. In that section I use to have to work on the ballast every two years or so depending on the amount of rain we got.

Drainage is all ways tanken into account when Ballasting. No always does it turn out as planed. I had to add a drain for Carter Canyon after the fact. After disrupting everything I thought it would be a good thing to show ballasting. 

Results may vary


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 18 Jan 2011 10:00 AM 
Purty in pink! 

If you make berms won't that funnel water down the rails?... better to make drainage ditches. Run ditch past plastic pipe under mountains to drain away. 

John 

John

Berms was a poor choise of words. The out side area is usually sloped away from the track. There is somewhat of a depression on the sides to carry the water off.

The slope is created with the paint brush when removing excess ballast to expose the rail.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, I think it might also look nice visually to have the ballast slope away from the track in that narrow cut... 

I do like the interest of the narrow canyon, I remember you wanted to duplicate that cut in the "mountain line" at Fairplex. 

Greg


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## chaingun (Jan 4, 2008)

Hey JJ,
Look-en - Muy Bueno Amigo!







I am giving serious thought to concrete road bed on the new layout. Especially sense I "feel" there could be a Big Boy in my, not to distant future.








Best, Ted


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

JJ great jod. The pictures and your explaination step by step were a great help. We will be redoing our layout this year and your ballasting tips will help us out. How is your tunnel project coming along.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By chaingun on 20 Jan 2011 07:14 AM 
Hey JJ,
Look-en - Muy Bueno Amigo!







I am giving serious thought to concrete road bed on the new layout. Especially sense I "feel" there could be a Big Boy in my, not to distant future.








Best, Ted 

Hey Ted

If you do concrete road bed right, Level it side to side, and set your grades ( if you have any) you really don't have to do it again ever. ( here in the desert that is) You may have to re do ballast every so often depending on the rain. But it sure takes a lot of Maintenance out of the equation and leaves more time for running.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Here is pic's of todays work. I replaced some track to make a curve a little more wider as the cars were catching on rocks. 


Drill a 1/4 inch hole with rotohammer










Insert Blue Anchor 










Bend a piced of re bar wire around a screw like so 










Screw it in the anchor










Bend wire over ties like so. 










More Ballasting different color 











Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel?


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

So .... where's the after shot...like when the ballast is dry?


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

The orginal ballast in the first shots tuned lighter Pink. Looks like heck


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