how much ballast do i need

pelago, my question about the use of caps was directed to Hot Water's reply above,

and he replied to my question.

 

Pelago - A sincere and heartfelt THANK-YOU for your many years of service!

The same goes to everyone else who serves or has served.

We wouldn't be here arguing over the use of caps without it.

Best regards,

Greg

Given the level of testiness of this thread, I guess I shouldn't add my usual "kitty litter" comment here, huh?   

Dewey,

Where did you get that yellow ballast spreader and how can I get one ?

 

Mike 

Mike 

Bought that spreader off a New Jersey LH Shop counter about 1992. I haven't seen one since.

 

Ballasting:

I use the old fashion process of wet water "wet out" of the ballast followed by a liberal application of 50/50 mix of wet water and white glue. I dribble the water and mix on from $1 mustard and ketchup squeeze bottles.

 

I try to caulk wire holes, etc, to protect drip to the floor but have learned to use a drop cloth underneath when applying water and glue mix. There are good sized spring wire slot holes for operation of the switch "throw bar" above by the Tortoise motors down below. I keep glue mix away from the Ross switch points and moving parts.

 

I blot excess water or glue mix with paper towels and dress the edges of the ballast with the straight edge of the template. All of my track is Gargraves Flex but after the glue mix has cured I remove track screws,fill the wood tie holes and paint the tie with brown/black Sharpies. 

looks like getting one might not be the easiest task in the world, but wonder if a old piece of tupperware lid, or something like that and a exacto knife one might just make one

350 feet of Ross (Like Margraves) track took 2 1/2 pails of roofing granules. Each pail held 5 gallons or about 40 pounds worth. A word of caution! Roofing granules are MAGNETIC! They will be attracted by Lionel engines with Magna-Traction and they will get into gears. I only have one Magna-Traction engine which is now for sale since I can't use it on this railroad. All the rest are MTH, 3rd Rail and one Atlas, none of which has Magna-Traction. Roofing granules look great and are almost exactly the right size for O'scale. And they fight mildew, at least that's what a roofing buddy told me about the iron compound in the granule that accounts for its "magnetic personality". This is an advantage if you need to pull granules out of switch machines. Use a good, rare earth magnet and it will come right out. This picture shows the granules in place.

 

A 5 pound bag of my ballast will cover 22 feet of Atlas O or GarGraves track ballasted even with the tie tops and with a gentle slope along each side. This is measured on a flat surface without using any roadbed underneath. 

Dennis, how much would a 5 lb. bag cover if 3/16" flexxbed is used under Atlas track and it was even with the tie tops with a gentle slope on the sides ?  Also, I'm looking at around 75-90 lbs.  Is your ballast sold in larger than 5 lb. bags ? 

 

Mike     

I think you would get about 20 feet of coverage per 5 pound bag using the roadbed. I don't sell it in larger containers but when you order 10 or more bags, I offer a 15% discount which more than offsets the shipping. Please call me at 816-252-4605 and I can give you an exact quote.