What wonderful food for thought tutorial, just what RUclips should be about. Sharing knowledge that benefits others - please take a big bow and have a glass/cup of your choice.
Thanks Peter! That’s exactly what I wanted to do with this channel and I think sharing ideas/techniques is a big part of the model railway community. I’ll go have that drink now 😉 Thanks for watching 👍
Great tutorial video, I always get nervous when I ballast points, but I never thought of painting in-between the sleepers first, so I'll definitely do that next time and I agree with taking your time with points as well 😀
Thanks Adam, yeah they grey paint definitely helps in my opinion. Not only will it help hide any obvious gaps in the ballast later on but it gives you a bit of practice before putting the PVA down later on too. Thanks for watching 😃
Wouldn’t painting below your point locations before setting them be even better? That way you need not tediously use such a fine brush and approach while avoiding painting the sleepers and track? -sorry made the comment right before you made the same point-pun intended.
I ballasted my numerous points on my shunting layout about a year and a half ago back when I knew nothing, so taking up the awful ballasting has been a very daunting task. I have certainly learned from my mistakes, and from this video which is really helpful. Keep up the great content 👍
We all have to start somewhere and part of getting better at something is learning from our mistakes. Really glad to hear this video has helped you though! I don't claim to be any kind of "expert" but it's always nice to hear when others find them useful. Thanks for watching 😃
I’ve been monitoring your progress 😜 I’m kidding of course but still great to hear that this has come along at the right time for you. Best of luck with your own layout and thanks for watching 👍
Thanks Nigel, it's good to know others find these sorts of videos useful. Generally I tend to do tutorials on things I previously found difficult myself on the basis that there may be others out there struggling with the same thing. Thanks for watching 😃
Thanks! It does look so much better with all the points ballasted now. It's a big step forward for the layout so I should be making more strides forward with the scenery in the near future! Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Thanks very much for replying to my comment. It's nice to see other people's work to get idea to improve my Channel. Take Care & Stay Safe.
Thanks Ken, I’ve had a lot of practice and of course I edit the video down to keep it short too which I suppose makes it seems easy 😂 Thanks for watching 👍
My pleasure Lois. Yes I think a lot of people worry about ballasting in general that they don’t specifically think about the points until it’s too late. Hopefully this video will help a few people like yourself who have yet to get to this stage. Thanks for watching 😃
Fantastic, hope it all went ok! The first few are a bit scary but, like anything, it get's easier the more you do it. Happy New Year to you too and thanks for watching 😃
Thanks! It’s one I’ve been wanting to make for a while as I think a lot of people worry about this when starting out - myself included! Thanks for watching 😃
Thanks Ben, I have to admit I was pretty nervous the first few times I did it too. Having figured out my little process though I figured I might as well share it in case there are others out there who also find it difficult. Thanks for watching 😃
Hi. The way I ballast points and track is to put gaffa tape on the underside of the track.then I trim it down. I then use a hair dryer to make the tape more tacky then apply the ballast. Looks neat when finished. I put this tip in railway magazine and won a 5 plank wagon
The easier way to do this would be to use double sided tape instead. You may enjoy this video which uses a similar technique: ruclips.net/video/JJ_PJMmb9Hk/видео.html Thanks for watching 😃
I'm building my first layout, so I'm learning as I go along, the thought had occurred to me about adding ballast to points, with much dread, however your clear video and instructions have alleviated most of my fears - thank you for sharing
Really glad to hear it helped you! It's always scary ballasting points for the first time and I've glued my fair share of them together but with a bit of patience and care it's not all that bad once you get a bit of practice in. Best of luck and thanks for watching 😃
Good tutorial 👍 By the way, I have ballasted all of the rails on my layout with this technique, not only the points. That’s because I have Trix C-rails, so I needed to add a very thin layer on top of the printed ballast that’s already integrated on the rail profile… Adding that thin layer of ballast was a very time consuming thing to do… 🙃 Greetings from Belgium, Erik 🙋♂️🇧🇪🚂
Oh wow, that's dedication! Knowing how long it takes to do just a single point I can imagine it took a while to do a whole layout. I bet it looks amazing now though, well done! Thanks for watching 😃
Oh no! Yeah it can very easily go wrong, thankfully I haven’t had that happen to me but there has been a few close calls. It seems to be a stumbling block for a lot of people so I figured I’d share my little technique in the hope that others find it useful. Thanks for watching 😃
Mi placer. Definitivamente da un poco de miedo la primera vez que lo haces, así que siempre es bueno ver a alguien más intentarlo primero. Gracias por ver 😃
Glad you found it useful Bob! I'd definitely be even more nervous about doing it in N Gauge to be honest. Putting the PVA down neat first does make it so much easier to control where the glue and ballast was going though. Thanks for watching 😃
I feel like a lot of us have learnt this lesson the hard way on our early layouts 😂 Glad you still found it interesting though, even if it was a bit late! Thanks for watching 👍
I was looking around what U-tubers are doing and I thought what about a display/addition siding for a layout. The display is fully scenic and is pointed to join a spot on the layout. Large enough for a whole train it can sit on shelf above the layout until you want to run the train. Attach the module to the layout, bring the train onto the layout and run it around. The good thing about this idea is that each module can suit the train you have and match the layout at the point it connects - its width can vary to cater for scenic details - platform or shed -- engine at one end with wagons on the other side of the point -- full train on a bay platform with small partly exposed wating rooms / mail sorting room / goods shed.
Cool idea George, it sounds similar to the Train-Safe cassettes but just a scenic version instead. The only issue I can see would be making sure the train didn't fall off sideways when moving between the shelf and the layout. Most cassettes usually combat this by having an enclosure around the train but obviously that wouldn't be ideal if you wanted it to be scenic. Food for thought though. Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy the scenery can be made to help -- outside fencing -- solid containers -- platform - stations other infrastructure. Width alone should help reduce risk and it can look good on the shelf.
Really helpful video! Will most definitley come in handy when I (eventually) get around to ballasting my points. Quick question. What DCC Chip did you fit in your Ruston 48DS/How did you do it? I've had a bit of trouble getting mine sorted out.
Glad it was helpful Harry! For the Ruston I used a Gaugemaster DCC93 Ruby Decoder. It’s a while since I did it but the decoder is so small that I don’t remember having any issues fitting it or getting the body back on afterwards. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃
PECO points are extremely difficult to use and have electrical contact issues into sidings, especially with N scale. On my new 00 scale layout I therefore decided to use the ready ballasted inbuilt point motor KATO points with KATO 00 track. This is also compatible with other OO/HO code 83 track especially when used with Woodland Scenics or other trackbed. Then it is an easy task to ballast the edges of the inbuilt KATO trackbed and integrate it into the scenery. Peco point motors are horrible and unneccesarily difficult to mount. KATO points also do no require a hole in the baseboard. I understand that the PECO points/switches is more realistic but KATO points are better for your nerves.
I’m glad that you found the Kato points much easier to work with. I know some people use the extra wires provided on the electrofrog PECO points to improve reliability (I’ve never had any problems myself personally) but if the Kato ones work for you and you’re happy with them that’s all that matters really. Thanks for watching 😃
Since I have ballasted my points, I seemed to have lost a power connection and the loco stalls when going from my circuit to the siding… Any tips? It’s doing my head in
Hi Gregory, my immediate thought is check the insides of the point blades and where they contact the rails. Sounds like some glue may have gotten in there by accident which is cutting off the power supply to your siding. You can try using some water to dissolve the glue but they’ll need a good clean anyway if that is what’s happened. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃
For the best running you want all of your track to be as flat/smooth as possible so laying directly on the baseboard is the best way of doing this - otherwise it creates more problems than it solves. It's also a more realistic to have the ballast coming up around the sides of the sleepers rather than having the track sit on top. There are ways of ballasting first then laying the track later but usually there are some pretty heavy compromises. Thanks for watching 😃
I've been ballasting for many years and have never done it this way. I always just ballast everything at once and have never (yes that is NEVER) glued the points or had anything get stuck up. he 50 - 50 delution I use of the white glue will not wick into the throw bar area, nor will it wick up on the points. It never has.
That’s great to hear that the standard technique has always worked for you David. That isn’t the case for a lot of people though which is why many prefer to be extra careful around the points, especially those ballasting their very first layout. Thanks for watching 😃
You can if you want but at some point you're going to have to ballast around the mechanism. Watered down PVA will find its way through any masking so you're still gonna need to use a more precision style technique like this at some point. Thanks for watching 😃
Yep, there's no reason why it wouldn't. You just need to be even more careful with where you put the glue and how much you use. I imagine a very fine brush would help too. Thanks for watching 😃
In an ideal world you'd put the grey paint down before you lay the point. I guess you could try mixing PVA into the paint but I've heard it can be problematic. Personally I wouldn't, it's all about patience with this process if you want to get the best and most reliable results. Thanks for watching 😃
If they already have moulded ballast then you can either leave them as is, or just put the glue in between the moulded sleepers for a thin layer of ballast. Thanks for watching 👍
What wonderful food for thought tutorial, just what RUclips should be about. Sharing knowledge that benefits others - please take a big bow and have a glass/cup of your choice.
Thanks Peter! That’s exactly what I wanted to do with this channel and I think sharing ideas/techniques is a big part of the model railway community. I’ll go have that drink now 😉 Thanks for watching 👍
Great tutorial video, I always get nervous when I ballast points, but I never thought of painting in-between the sleepers first, so I'll definitely do that next time and I agree with taking your time with points as well 😀
Thanks Adam, yeah they grey paint definitely helps in my opinion. Not only will it help hide any obvious gaps in the ballast later on but it gives you a bit of practice before putting the PVA down later on too. Thanks for watching 😃
Wouldn’t painting below your point locations before setting them be even better? That way you need not tediously use such a fine brush and approach while avoiding painting the sleepers and track? -sorry made the comment right before you made the same point-pun intended.
I ballasted my numerous points on my shunting layout about a year and a half ago back when I knew nothing, so taking up the awful ballasting has been a very daunting task. I have certainly learned from my mistakes, and from this video which is really helpful. Keep up the great content 👍
We all have to start somewhere and part of getting better at something is learning from our mistakes.
Really glad to hear this video has helped you though! I don't claim to be any kind of "expert" but it's always nice to hear when others find them useful. Thanks for watching 😃
Have just got to this stage after finishing all the point motors so this video is perfect timing 👌👌
I’ve been monitoring your progress 😜 I’m kidding of course but still great to hear that this has come along at the right time for you. Best of luck with your own layout and thanks for watching 👍
Thanks for another great video. Without great tips like this, the layout would be pointless
Thanks Nigel, it's good to know others find these sorts of videos useful. Generally I tend to do tutorials on things I previously found difficult myself on the basis that there may be others out there struggling with the same thing. Thanks for watching 😃
They are really good tips and great to be able to benefit from your experience
Great tutorial and very useful thanks for sharing looks so much better with the ballast in place 🙂
Thanks! It does look so much better with all the points ballasted now. It's a big step forward for the layout so I should be making more strides forward with the scenery in the near future! Thanks for watching 😃
Enjoyed the Railway Tutorial.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Thanks very much for replying to my comment. It's nice to see other people's work to get idea to improve my Channel. Take Care & Stay Safe.
Great video, a lot of tips and tricks. You make that look easy. It is awesome when done. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe. Ken
Thanks Ken, I’ve had a lot of practice and of course I edit the video down to keep it short too which I suppose makes it seems easy 😂 Thanks for watching 👍
This was very helpful thank you so much. I never thought about the care needed to do points on track I have never done it before.
GOD BLESS🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖
My pleasure Lois. Yes I think a lot of people worry about ballasting in general that they don’t specifically think about the points until it’s too late. Hopefully this video will help a few people like yourself who have yet to get to this stage. Thanks for watching 😃
Yet again another great video 👍
My pleasure Rob, hope you found it useful! Thanks for watching 😃
Just completed my first set of points earlier followed your tutorial text book thank you got two more to do Sunday Happy new year to you
Fantastic, hope it all went ok! The first few are a bit scary but, like anything, it get's easier the more you do it. Happy New Year to you too and thanks for watching 😃
Another great video with some useful tips. Thanks.
Thanks! It’s one I’ve been wanting to make for a while as I think a lot of people worry about this when starting out - myself included! Thanks for watching 😃
Enjoyed that how to vid. Gonna give your technique a try now that I am closing in on the balloting stage.
Thanks Tim, glad to hear this video had come along at the perfect time for you! Thanks for watching 😃
Great video! Its definetaly helpfull for people that have never done it
Thanks Ben, I have to admit I was pretty nervous the first few times I did it too. Having figured out my little process though I figured I might as well share it in case there are others out there who also find it difficult. Thanks for watching 😃
Hi. The way I ballast points and track is to put gaffa tape on the underside of the track.then I trim it down. I then use a hair dryer to make the tape more tacky then apply the ballast. Looks neat when finished. I put this tip in railway magazine and won a 5 plank wagon
The easier way to do this would be to use double sided tape instead. You may enjoy this video which uses a similar technique: ruclips.net/video/JJ_PJMmb9Hk/видео.html Thanks for watching 😃
I'm building my first layout, so I'm learning as I go along, the thought had occurred to me about adding ballast to points, with much dread, however your clear video and instructions have alleviated most of my fears - thank you for sharing
Really glad to hear it helped you! It's always scary ballasting points for the first time and I've glued my fair share of them together but with a bit of patience and care it's not all that bad once you get a bit of practice in. Best of luck and thanks for watching 😃
Thanks for that, it's given me the confidence to have a go!
Awesome, that's what I always like to hear! Best of luck and thanks for watching 😃
Thanks for another great tutorial!
My pleasure Will! Thanks for watching 😃
You make it look very easy. Good tutorial though, be putting it to use in the future.
Cheers
That’s because I edit out all the bits where I nearly mess it up 😉 Thanks for watching 👍
Thumbs up 👍 Have a great weekend 🖐️
You too! Thanks for watching 😃
Thank you for your great tutorial. Certainly going away with some valuable info from this. Keep up the good mate.
My pleasure, glad to hear you’ve found it helpful! Thanks for watching 😃
Good tutorial 👍 By the way, I have ballasted all of the rails on my layout with this technique, not only the points. That’s because I have Trix C-rails, so I needed to add a very thin layer on top of the printed ballast that’s already integrated on the rail profile… Adding that thin layer of ballast was a very time consuming thing to do… 🙃 Greetings from Belgium, Erik 🙋♂️🇧🇪🚂
Oh wow, that's dedication! Knowing how long it takes to do just a single point I can imagine it took a while to do a whole layout. I bet it looks amazing now though, well done! Thanks for watching 😃
Very neat work
Thanks Jade, I surprise even myself sometimes! Thanks for watching 😃
I remember accidentally screwing up a number of my points years ago by being too liberal with the PVA. Great video to prevent others doing the same.
Oh no! Yeah it can very easily go wrong, thankfully I haven’t had that happen to me but there has been a few close calls. It seems to be a stumbling block for a lot of people so I figured I’d share my little technique in the hope that others find it useful. Thanks for watching 😃
Wow, great work. This layout is developing a nice, professional look that's most attractive. And even the little Ruston runs well!
Thanks! Yeah it was a great test to use the Ruston at the end - if that made it over I knew nothing else would have a problem. Thanks for watching 😃
Delicate work pays off...
Takes a bit of practice but it does look good when they're done. Thanks for watching 👍
Muchas gracias por tus consejos del pegamento en el balasto sobre los desvíos. No sabía cómo hacerlo hasta que vi tu video.
Saludos desde Chile 🇨🇱
Mi placer. Definitivamente da un poco de miedo la primera vez que lo haces, así que siempre es bueno ver a alguien más intentarlo primero. Gracias por ver 😃
Thank you for that one,I model in 'n' so that is a great idea to put the glue in first.Always been a thing of nightmares for me.lol.
Glad you found it useful Bob! I'd definitely be even more nervous about doing it in N Gauge to be honest. Putting the PVA down neat first does make it so much easier to control where the glue and ballast was going though. Thanks for watching 😃
Great video and very informative. Can you tell me what ballast you have used, please?
Hey Andy, there’s a link to it in the description. Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy that will teach me not to look at the description first!! Thanks for the information.
I could have used this when I was 15 and laying my first proper layout 😂
You are about 10 years late!
Still amazing tutorial! Very informative!
I feel like a lot of us have learnt this lesson the hard way on our early layouts 😂 Glad you still found it interesting though, even if it was a bit late! Thanks for watching 👍
Very, very helpful
Glad hear that John! Best of luck with ballasting your own points and thanks for watching 😃
Not done any ballasting yet so whole new experience for me. Have been stressing about points so glad I watched you video.
Thankyou just about to build a diesel loco shed layout thanks again.
Awesome! Best of luck with it and thanks for watching 😃
I was looking around what U-tubers are doing and I thought what about a display/addition siding for a layout. The display is fully scenic and is pointed to join a spot on the layout. Large enough for a whole train it can sit on shelf above the layout until you want to run the train. Attach the module to the layout, bring the train onto the layout and run it around. The good thing about this idea is that each module can suit the train you have and match the layout at the point it connects - its width can vary to cater for scenic details - platform or shed -- engine at one end with wagons on the other side of the point -- full train on a bay platform with small partly exposed wating rooms / mail sorting room / goods shed.
Cool idea George, it sounds similar to the Train-Safe cassettes but just a scenic version instead. The only issue I can see would be making sure the train didn't fall off sideways when moving between the shelf and the layout. Most cassettes usually combat this by having an enclosure around the train but obviously that wouldn't be ideal if you wanted it to be scenic. Food for thought though. Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy the scenery can be made to help -- outside fencing -- solid containers -- platform - stations other infrastructure. Width alone should help reduce risk and it can look good on the shelf.
Really helpful video! Will most definitley come in handy when I (eventually) get around to ballasting my points. Quick question. What DCC Chip did you fit in your Ruston 48DS/How did you do it? I've had a bit of trouble getting mine sorted out.
Glad it was helpful Harry! For the Ruston I used a Gaugemaster DCC93 Ruby Decoder. It’s a while since I did it but the decoder is so small that I don’t remember having any issues fitting it or getting the body back on afterwards. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy thanks so much! I’ll endeavour to find one of those!! Thanks for your help as always!
[thank, you fore you're video and info]
My pleasure, hope you found it useful and thanks for watching 😃
PECO points are extremely difficult to use and have electrical contact issues into sidings, especially with N scale. On my new 00 scale layout I therefore decided to use the ready ballasted inbuilt point motor KATO points with KATO 00 track. This is also compatible with other OO/HO code 83 track especially when used with Woodland Scenics or other trackbed. Then it is an easy task to ballast the edges of the inbuilt KATO trackbed and integrate it into the scenery. Peco point motors are horrible and unneccesarily difficult to mount. KATO points also do no require a hole in the baseboard. I understand that the PECO points/switches is more realistic but KATO points are better for your nerves.
I’m glad that you found the Kato points much easier to work with. I know some people use the extra wires provided on the electrofrog PECO points to improve reliability (I’ve never had any problems myself personally) but if the Kato ones work for you and you’re happy with them that’s all that matters really. Thanks for watching 😃
Since I have ballasted my points, I seemed to have lost a power connection and the loco stalls when going from my circuit to the siding…
Any tips? It’s doing my head in
Hi Gregory, my immediate thought is check the insides of the point blades and where they contact the rails. Sounds like some glue may have gotten in there by accident which is cutting off the power supply to your siding. You can try using some water to dissolve the glue but they’ll need a good clean anyway if that is what’s happened. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy oh that’s great! I will try tomorrow - many thanks and keep up with the excellent Chanel
thanks
wouldnt it make sense to put down the ballast before laying the track?
For the best running you want all of your track to be as flat/smooth as possible so laying directly on the baseboard is the best way of doing this - otherwise it creates more problems than it solves. It's also a more realistic to have the ballast coming up around the sides of the sleepers rather than having the track sit on top. There are ways of ballasting first then laying the track later but usually there are some pretty heavy compromises. Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Thanks for the response!
I've been ballasting for many years and have never done it this way. I always just ballast everything at once and have never (yes that is NEVER) glued the points or had anything get stuck up. he 50 - 50 delution I use of the white glue will not wick into the throw bar area, nor will it wick up on the points. It never has.
That’s great to hear that the standard technique has always worked for you David. That isn’t the case for a lot of people though which is why many prefer to be extra careful around the points, especially those ballasting their very first layout. Thanks for watching 😃
Why not mask off the sensitive areas of the point using tape or some blu-tak? That way you can be sure that nothing gets in those gaps?
You can if you want but at some point you're going to have to ballast around the mechanism. Watered down PVA will find its way through any masking so you're still gonna need to use a more precision style technique like this at some point. Thanks for watching 😃
Does this also work with N gauge?
Yep, there's no reason why it wouldn't. You just need to be even more careful with where you put the glue and how much you use. I imagine a very fine brush would help too. Thanks for watching 😃
Hmm, why not mix grey paint into the PVA and save one step?
In an ideal world you'd put the grey paint down before you lay the point. I guess you could try mixing PVA into the paint but I've heard it can be problematic. Personally I wouldn't, it's all about patience with this process if you want to get the best and most reliable results. Thanks for watching 😃
A spray of IPA works much better than water, the PVA seems to get sucked into the ballast.
Hey Steve, I’ve tried both in the past and found it didn’t really make much difference which is why I go with water. Thanks for watching 😃
I use fleischmann points, but they dont have gaps between the ties-
If they already have moulded ballast then you can either leave them as is, or just put the glue in between the moulded sleepers for a thin layer of ballast. Thanks for watching 👍
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy il definitely try that, thanks.
Your videos are great by the way, keep up the good work!
"Caley" is pronounced "Cah-ley". Your "Cay-ley" is a whole different word (cèilidh). 😂
Good to know! I don't think I've ever heard it said out loud before but I try and remember to get it right in the future 😂 Thanks for watching 👍