ballast on switches?

[keitaro]

so i have ballasted most of my layout now but i have left the swiches just wondering what you all do here as i really don't wanna stuff the switch.

[KenS]

The important part is not to gum up the moving parts with either ballast or glue.  When I did my HO layout, I ballasted the whole switch except for the gap between ties where the throwbar/tierod connected to the points was located. Then, after wetting all of the ballast with "wet water" (water containing a few drops of dish detergent to reduce surface tension), I used an eyedropper to apply the scenic cement in small quantities to the ballast, one section at a time.  Keep glue away from the hinges and the tie-bar (or whatever) that pulls on the ends of the point rails.

 

Keep the level of the ballast below the height of the moving point tracks as well (i.e., lightly balllasting between the ties is better than having excess).

 

Also make sure you don't get any ballast in between the protection rails and the track, where it would interfere with a wheel flange.

 

I've read that a drop of oil on the hinge can help keep glue out, although I didn't actually do that myself.  What I did do was operate the switch several times after the glue had started to set up, to make sure it wasn't sticking.  Don't do that while the glue is still flowing though, as it might pull glue into the moving parts.

[Bernard]

Ballasting switches I think is most modeler's nightmare. It is also the part of ballasting I leave for last.

Follow Ken's advice and good luck.

[Krackel Hopper]

Depending on the track you're using, you could use the tape method.

 

It only works with "regular" non-roadbed style track.  You lay your turnout on top of a piece of tape.  Carefully cut the tape around the moving parts.  Sprinkle ballast over the whole thing, then flip over to dump all the excess.  Now you've got a lightly ballasted turnout without the worry of glue gumming up your switch.

 

Now - if you're using Kato or Tomix track, this idea obviously will not work, as it already has a roadbed.  In which case, Ken's suggestion is about the only option.

[keitaro]

Thanks for reply all I think I'll leave till last still have a bit to do then when I have plenty of time to be patient I will have a go.

[Martijn Meerts]

I ballast them just like I do the rest of the track, except a bit more carefully. Haven't tried ballasting the Peco ones yet, but they look to be somewhat easier to do than the Minitrix ones, especially since I'll be switching mine using servo's, which means a lot of the mechanical bits and pieces have been removed already.

[marknewton]

I've never been a fan of ballasting track in the "time-honored way". I once saw a very skilled UK modeller - Norman Solomon - demonstrate an alternate method, which I thought was far superior. In a nutshell, he laid his track in a bed of glue applied to the roadbed material, and then applied the ballast, removing the excess when the glue had dried. Around the moving parts of points, he simply didn't apply any glue, so there wasn't anything to interfere with their operation. When I next had to lay track, I tried his method, it worked beautifully, and I've never gone back to the traditional method.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Barobutt]

After ruining my first 2 points with glue I become quite paranoid, but equally so I'm obsessed with my track looking perfect.  Ended up ballasting the outside of the turnout and simply painted my roadbed material a dirty light gray colour that more or less matches my ballast colour, works just fine.  Around the actual moving parts I didn't use watered down glue and soap, I used pure thick glue for better control and no capillary action spreading the glue up and around.  Like mentioned above, after an hour or so I jiggled the turnout to make sure nothing was sticking, and then every hour or so I jiggled it again but that's probably pure paranoia on my part.