 |
|
| Hobby Forum Index » Models - Railroad » Ballast question... |
|
Page 1 of 2 Goto page 1, 2 Next |
|
| Author |
Message |
| Jeff Stanton... |
 Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:08 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
My club has recently constructed a fairly large portable HO layout, and now
we have lots of track to ballast! Does anyone have any experience with how
much track can typically be ballasted with a pound of ballast? We are trying
to estimate how much to order.
Thanks
Jeff
--
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
Richard Feynman
Nobel Prize Physicist |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Bob May... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:00 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Depends upon what th materrial is. A ppund of rock ballast won't go anywhe
ner as far aas a pound of walnut ballast. Get a bit and see how it looks to
you and how far it goes. Calculate accordingly and remembeer that you can
be off by 100% eveen then. Besides, future work will also need more ballast
anyway.
--
Bob May
rmay at nethere.com
http: slash /nav.to slash bobmay
http: slash /bobmay dot astronomy.net |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Ray Haddad... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:16 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 09:08:25 -0400, "Jeff Stanton"
<jstanton at (no spam) hughes.net> wrote:
Quote: My club has recently constructed a fairly large portable HO layout, and now
we have lots of track to ballast! Does anyone have any experience with how
much track can typically be ballasted with a pound of ballast? We are trying
to estimate how much to order.
Jeff,
The last time I had a bazillion miles of scale ballasting to do I
purchased two spinning blade type coffee grinders and a bag of turkey
grit. Grinding the grit to scale sized pieces in the grinder cup was a
2 second job and the stuff went down like silk through a jig we made
for the job. Buying scale ballast was way too expensive and at the
time, turkey grit was about $4.00 for a bag of about 25 pounds.
--
Ray |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Christopher A. Lee... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:37 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 14:00:25 -0700, "Bob May" <bobmay at (no spam) nethere.com>
wrote:
Quote: Depends upon what th materrial is. A ppund of rock ballast won't go anywhe
ner as far aas a pound of walnut ballast. Get a bit and see how it looks to
you and how far it goes. Calculate accordingly and remembeer that you can
be off by 100% eveen then. Besides, future work will also need more ballast
anyway.
Most ballast is overscale.
I use Arizona Rock company HO ballast in O scale. The pieces are the
right size and shape.
If you look at the prototype the pieces are perhaps 2-3 inches long by
an inch by an inch with with points and sharp edges.
If you use Woodland Scenics crushed walnut shells these start off
round and also swell when you add the diluted glue. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Greg.Procter... |
| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:22 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:16:52 +1300, Ray Haddad <ray at (no spam) perthmagic.com> wrote:
Quote: On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 09:08:25 -0400, "Jeff Stanton"
jstanton at (no spam) hughes.net> wrote:
My club has recently constructed a fairly large portable HO layout, and
now
we have lots of track to ballast! Does anyone have any experience with
how
much track can typically be ballasted with a pound of ballast? We are
trying
to estimate how much to order.
Jeff,
The last time I had a bazillion miles of scale ballasting to do I
purchased two spinning blade type coffee grinders and a bag of turkey
grit. Grinding the grit to scale sized pieces in the grinder cup was a
2 second job and the stuff went down like silk through a jig we made
for the job. Buying scale ballast was way too expensive and at the
time, turkey grit was about $4.00 for a bag of about 25 pounds.
--
Ray
Last time I tried grinding cork pieces into ballast my wife grumbled
about the state of her kitchen whizz!
My local quarry has acres of "fines" which is totally useless to them.
I asked for a bucketful and they offered to deliver a truckload or two.
Suitable sieves can be quickly made out of loose fabric. Pantihose
stockings give the right sort of ballast size for old-time layouts.
Perhaps fly-screen wire mesh would do for HO modern?
The rest goes as filler for my garden railway.
Greg.P.
NZ |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Bernhard Agthe... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 9:15 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Hi,
Jeff Stanton wrote:
Quote: we have lots of track to ballast!
What I am considering for quite a while: is there any model railroad car
to dump ballast along the track while being pushed (driven) over it?
Neither do I mind modifying a car (or partially building one) nor do I
mind running it as "MOW car" when I'm done ballasting. But I would want
a tutorial for the modification/building as I'm currently quite busy and
out of creativity ;-)
Ciao... |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Steve Caple... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 9:33 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:15:34 +0200, Bernhard Agthe wrote:
Quote: Hi,
Jeff Stanton wrote:
we have lots of track to ballast!
What I am considering for quite a while: is there any model railroad car
to dump ballast along the track while being pushed (driven) over it?
Neither do I mind modifying a car (or partially building one) nor do I
mind running it as "MOW car" when I'm done ballasting. But I would want
a tutorial for the modification/building as I'm currently quite busy and
out of creativity 
The chances of that working without derailing over stray grains of ballast
are pretty slim. There are various plastic tubes to slide along the rails,
but notning beats a small spoon or scoop and a small foam paintbrush.
--
Steve |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| David Nebenzahl... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:47 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On 10/20/2009 8:33 AM Steve Caple spake thus:
Quote: On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:15:34 +0200, Bernhard Agthe wrote:
Jeff Stanton wrote:
we have lots of track to ballast!
What I am considering for quite a while: is there any model railroad car
to dump ballast along the track while being pushed (driven) over it?
Neither do I mind modifying a car (or partially building one) nor do I
mind running it as "MOW car" when I'm done ballasting. But I would want
a tutorial for the modification/building as I'm currently quite busy and
out of creativity ;-)
The chances of that working without derailing over stray grains of ballast
are pretty slim.
True, but that gets me to thinkin' (dangerous, I know): how about if a
guy were to build a ballasting car that discharged the ballast somehow
*behind* the car, so no interference with the wheels? Maybe with chutes
to spread the ballast evenly between and on either side of the rails. Or
is this just too ridiculous?
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Steve Caple... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:12 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:47:38 -0700, David Nebenzahl wrote:
Quote: On 10/20/2009 8:33 AM Steve Caple spake thus:
On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:15:34 +0200, Bernhard Agthe wrote:
Jeff Stanton wrote:
we have lots of track to ballast!
What I am considering for quite a while: is there any model railroad car
to dump ballast along the track while being pushed (driven) over it?
Neither do I mind modifying a car (or partially building one) nor do I
mind running it as "MOW car" when I'm done ballasting. But I would want
a tutorial for the modification/building as I'm currently quite busy and
out of creativity ;-)
The chances of that working without derailing over stray grains of ballast
are pretty slim.
True, but that gets me to thinkin' (dangerous, I know): how about if a
guy were to build a ballasting car that discharged the ballast somehow
*behind* the car, so no interference with the wheels? Maybe with chutes
to spread the ballast evenly between and on either side of the rails. Or
is this just too ridiculous?
Got it in one. I mean, you're going to have to go back and check for stray
grains, adjust the profile, and finally mist it and glue it down, so if
anything running a special car seems a waste of trucks (since the car would
probaly not look any more prototypcal than, say, a Lionel missile launcher
car, and thus useless otherwise). Better, in my mind, would be a ballast
dispenser with some effective flow control with a wide range of settings,
and perhaps even adjustable profiling wings. But it wouldn't be cheap, and
I'm not sure it could beat any number of other simple and ad hoc ways of
dispensing and spreading the ballast.
--
Steve |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Rick Jones... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 1:39 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
David Nebenzahl wrote:
Quote: On 10/20/2009 8:33 AM Steve Caple spake thus:
The chances of that working without derailing over stray grains of
ballast
are pretty slim.
True, but that gets me to thinkin' (dangerous, I know): how about if a
guy were to build a ballasting car that discharged the ballast somehow
*behind* the car, so no interference with the wheels? Maybe with chutes
to spread the ballast evenly between and on either side of the rails. Or
is this just too ridiculous?
Some of the old Ulrich cast metal hopper cars had operating bottom
doors. It might take some trial and error to make something workable.
Then you have to find some, of course.
--
Rick Jones
Remove the Extra Dot to e-mail me
Gun control is not about guns; it's about control. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| David Nebenzahl... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 1:47 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On 10/20/2009 12:39 PM Rick Jones spake thus:
Quote: David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 10/20/2009 8:33 AM Steve Caple spake thus:
The chances of that working without derailing over stray grains of
ballast are pretty slim.
True, but that gets me to thinkin' (dangerous, I know): how about if a
guy were to build a ballasting car that discharged the ballast somehow
*behind* the car, so no interference with the wheels? Maybe with chutes
to spread the ballast evenly between and on either side of the rails. Or
is this just too ridiculous?
Some of the old Ulrich cast metal hopper cars had operating bottom
doors. It might take some trial and error to make something workable.
Then you have to find some, of course.
Yabbut, then you're back to the same problem of the car derailing when
its hind wheels run over ballast grains.
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Puckdropper... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:03 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Bernhard Agthe <dark2star at (no spam) gmx.net> wrote in
news:hbkk6n$m3a$1 at (no spam) daniel-new.mch.sbs.de:
Quote: Hi,
Jeff Stanton wrote:
we have lots of track to ballast!
What I am considering for quite a while: is there any model railroad
car to dump ballast along the track while being pushed (driven) over
it? Neither do I mind modifying a car (or partially building one) nor
do I mind running it as "MOW car" when I'm done ballasting. But I
would want a tutorial for the modification/building as I'm currently
quite busy and out of creativity ;-)
Ciao...
In case you're interested, LORAM (MOW company) has some photos and
videos of MOW equipment designed to maintain prototypical railroad
ballast.
http://loram.com/Services/Default.aspx?id=244
Puckdropper
--
"The potential difference between the top and bottom of a tree is the
reason why all trees have to be grounded..." -- Bored Borg on
rec.woodworking
To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Steve Caple... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:24 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On 20 Oct 2009 20:03:23 GMT, Puckdropper wrote:
Nice reference - thanks.
--
Steve |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Bernhard Agthe... |
| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:39 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Hi,
Puckdropper wrote:
(MOW ballasting train)
That's actually quite close to what I was thinking of - a set of two or
three cars, heavily modified for the purpose, with extra handrails and
pipes added and painted yellow. If it looks "technical" enough, you can
run this as MOW train and most people will accept it ;-)
Well, my idea was revolving about a tank car with a small hole in the
bottom and a hatch on top, that could be filled with distilled water or
alcohol to pre-mist the track (probably run it again before glueing down
the ballast). The second car would be a modified hopper that dumps
ballast on the track and beside the track, with some kind of "plow" to
push the ballast of the rail tops.
Well, I tried to "open" the bottom hatches of a hopper car, but that
does not work out because the small grains of ballast will actually bind
- and not flow freely. But the idea with a behind-the-car-dump might
work, because one could use the complete width of the hopper - you only
have to make sure it doesn't drop all at once Now I do need two
bogies, a few couplers and an old tank car Plus some material to
build the thing with Oh, but I don't have the time right now 
I'll keep considering it and I'll report when I finally get it to work ;-)
Ciao... |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Greg.Procter... |
| Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:53 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:39:15 +1300, Bernhard Agthe <dark2star at (no spam) gmx.net>
wrote:
Quote: Hi,
Puckdropper wrote:
(MOW ballasting train)
In case you're interested, LORAM (MOW company) has some photos and
videos of MOW equipment designed to maintain prototypical railroad
ballast. http://loram.com/Services/Default.aspx?id=244
That's actually quite close to what I was thinking of - a set of two or
three cars, heavily modified for the purpose, with extra handrails and
pipes added and painted yellow. If it looks "technical" enough, you can
run this as MOW train and most people will accept it ;-)
Well, my idea was revolving about a tank car with a small hole in the
bottom and a hatch on top, that could be filled with distilled water or
alcohol to pre-mist the track (probably run it again before glueing down
the ballast). The second car would be a modified hopper that dumps
ballast on the track and beside the track, with some kind of "plow" to
push the ballast of the rail tops.
Well, I tried to "open" the bottom hatches of a hopper car, but that
does not work out because the small grains of ballast will actually bind
- and not flow freely. But the idea with a behind-the-car-dump might
work, because one could use the complete width of the hopper - you only
have to make sure it doesn't drop all at once Now I do need two
bogies, a few couplers and an old tank car Plus some material to
build the thing with Oh, but I don't have the time right now
I'll keep considering it and I'll report when I finally get it to work
;-)
Ciao...
I would tend to build a hopper within a gondola or box-car with a clip-on
roof. That way you could make the slot width and the slope variable so that
you could find a suitable discharge rate before finalizing it all.
It seems to me that a typical US hopper is intended to dump it's load
quickly.
I would think in terms of a vertically moving blade to open/close the slot,
but I wouldn't expect to get a perfect flow rate.
Definitely spread it dry and mist after!
Perhaps more useful in ballasting would be a wagon/car with brushes to move
the ballast so that the height and profile were reasonably constant.
That might need to be a finger powered vehicle so that it doesn't ride
over ballast accumulations.
Allowing the brain to wander further, what about a part way profiling board
mounted behind the ballast hopper and ahead of the trailing truck.
Perhaps it could be pivoted so that it controlled the opening of the
hopper.
Greg.P. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:29 pm
|
|