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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Ballasting And Weathering Unitrack


   10/9/12    

In recent years Unitrack has become very popular with N scalers to use as their track of choice for permanent layouts. Unitrack is easy to use and modelers can set up and try many layouts before making a final decision on a track plan. Unitrack is relatively “bullet proof” as trains run flawlessly for hours at a time on a Unitrack layout.

Ballasting and weathering the Unitrack really makes the track look outstanding and makes it difficult to notice that it’s Unitrack.

Kato Unitrack is code 80 rail that sits on a plastic gray road bed. (Photo 1) The performance of locomotives, both steam and diesel on the track is outstanding and trouble free.      

Photo  # 1  N Scale Unitrack With Gray Plastic Roadbed
 Another interesting feature of the Unitrack is its ability to stay clean and free from dirt and debris. Unitrack rarely has to be cleaned when compared to other brands of N scale track. This is due to the alloy Kato uses in the track rails which no other company uses. On the "New" JJJ&E, the Unitrack hasn't been cleaned in over two years. The trains run beautifully every day. I try to run trains for at least an hour each day on the "New" JJJ&E. I followed the same practice on the "Original" JJJ&E for over nine years when that layout was in full operation.

Many modelers object to the appearance of the plastic gray roadbed of the Unitrack.  Weathering the rails, painting the road bed and applying ballast to the roadbed can dramatically improve the Unitrack. This takes quite a bit of time and is well worth the effort ( Photo's  # 2 & # 2A ).
                                           
Photo  # 2  Completely Weathered An Ballasted Unitrack On The "Original" JJJ&E
   Photo  # 2A   Completely Weathered And Ballasted Unitrack On The "New" JJJ&E. I Used Arizona Rock & Mineral Santa Fe "New" Hue Windsor Ballast On The Mainline. The Radii Are 30 Inches On This Part Of The Layout.

Photo  # 2B  Completely Weathered And Ballasted Unitrack On The "New" JJJ&E. I Used Arizona Rock & Mineral Black Cinder Yard Ballast On All Sidings.
Photo  # 3  Unitrack Roadbed Painted A Grimy Black. The Rails Were First Hand Painted With Neolube # 2 And Then With Polly Scale Mineral Red.
 Here is a close up of the weathered Unitrack. (Painted rails and roadbed)  ( See Photo  # 3 ).
I’ve been in model railroading for almost sixty years. I was first introduced to model railroading by my dad in 1947. After many layouts that included very large O scale and HO scale layouts, I decided to try my hand at N scale nine years ago in 2000. The track I chose to use was Kato Unitrack because of its bulletproof operation. So, the "Original" JJJ&E was born in an area 4x11’. Over the next few years, the layout grew in size to 10x15’ on multiple levels with four expansions.

Initially I accepted the way the track looked with the gray roadbed. I used red rock ballast that approached the base of the gray Unitrack roadbed initially. I then decided to hand paint all the gray roadbed a grimy black or dark gray. This improved the appearance of the Unitrack to some degree but I was still basically unhappy with its appearance. I then decided to hand paint and weather the rails of the Unitrack.  I was at first apprehensive to paint the rails as the "Original" JJJ&E was run by DCC, and I wasn’t sure what effect the hand painting of the rails would have on the electrical conductivity of the track. I tested a three-foot section of track and found that painting the rails to weather them has no effect on the performance of the DCC system. You must make sure that no paint finds its way on the tops of the rails when you do paint the rails (See Photo  #4 ). If paint does cake on the top of the rails, you can remove the excess paint with a Q-Tip dipped in Iso-Propyl Alcohol. Do not use any abrasive material on the top of Unitrack rails. Scratched rails will result which will accumulate dirt and debris.
                          
Photo  # 4  Painted Unitrack Rails With All Paint Removed From The Top Of The Rails
I developed a formula for weathering the rails of the Unitrack. You can first spray all the Unitrack dark gray or grimy black . Then wipe the paint off the tops of the rails before it completely dries. I weather the rails with Polly Scale mineral red, grimy black, dark gray, burnt umber and burnt sienna. The individual ties of the track were hand painted Rail Tie Brown. The spike heads were individually hand painted with the tip of an 18/0 sable brush raw sienna. As I said initially the gray roadbed of the Unitrack can first be painted a grimy black or SP dark gray. This dark roadbed will mask the light gray color of the roadbed if the final ballasting in certain areas is spread thinly (See Photo's # 4 and Photo # 5 ).

Photo  # 5 Unitrack On The "Original" JJJ&E Completely Weathered And Ballasted
 On the "New" JJJ&E I first used Neolube # 2 to blacken the rails of the Unitrack. I then hand painted Polly Scale Mineral Red to partially cover the Neolube # 2. This gave me the desired effect that I was looking for.

Photo  # 6  Unitrack On The "New" JJJ&E Completely Weathered And Ballasted
Photo  # 7  Unitrack On The "New" JJJ&E Completely Weathered And Ballasted
The "Original" JJJ&E was in operation for over nine years and operated flawlessly. In February 2009, I moved from Florida to Texas and the "Original" JJJ&E had to be completely dismantled. At the end of February 2009, the "New" JJJ&E was born. The "New" JJJ&E is a inverted "U" shaped around the room layout. Before all the Unitrack was in its final position, I started to weather the Unitrack. I first applied Neolube # 2 to all the rails. Then I applied a wash of mineral red on top of the Neolube # 2. I hand  painted all the ties with Rail Tie Brown. The track was held in place with small amounts of glue from a Hot Glue Gun in the four corners of each track section. I tested the layout for many weeks before I started to ballast the Unitrack with Arizona Rock & Mineral Natural Rock Ballast.

The beauty of Unitrack turnouts is that they operate flawlessly and there are no switch machines showing trackside. The wiring to the Unitrack can be hidden with ballast and fine ground foam. Each section of Unitrack on the "New" JJJ&E has feeders soldered to each rail using 22-gauge solid copper wire. Switches/turnouts have three pairs of feeders, one pair of feeders for each leg of the switch/turnouts. Double crossovers need four pair of feeders to operate flawlessly. One Pair of feeders for each arm of the double crossover. The same holds true for the 90 degree crossover and 15 degree crossover.                                      
Photo   # 8  All The Unitrack, 32 Switches/Turnouts And Two Double Crossovers Have Been Completely Weathered And Ballasted With Arizona Rock & Mineral Natural Rock N Scale Ballast. The Switching Yard Is 18 ' Long.

One can also use Color Canyon Materials or High Ball Ballast ( See Photo  # 9 ). These are very high quality natural rock ballasts as well. Below Is a photo of Color Canyon Materials Natural Rock ballast

Photo  # 9  Color Canyon Materials Natural Rock Ballast.
 To ballast Unitrack you’ll need the following materials; a ¼ inch flat brush to spread the ballast, a very fine 18/0 sable brush to paint the ties and spike heads, a mixture of white glue and distilled water (50% glue and 50% water), a medicine dropper, some dental instruments to remove excess ballast and a small jewelers screwdriver which also can be used to remove excess ballast ( See Photo  #10 ).
                                      
Photo  # 10 Instruments And Small Brushes Needed For Ballasting Unitrack
 Ballasting between the ties of the Unitrack isn’t difficult at all. It does take time and the end result is worth all the work involved.

I sprinkle small amounts of ballast on each section of the Unitrack. I usually work in three-foot sections. You must remember that the distance between the top of the ties and the roadbed is minute so very small amounts of ballast are necessary to fill in this space.. Arizona Rock & Mineral Ballast is small in size and this ballast works well for N scale layouts..

I then spread the ballast with a small ¼ inch flat brush. The ballast is spread so that it doesn’t cover the ties. The Arizona Rock & Mineral very fine N scale natural rock ballast makes this all happen due to the small size of each piece of natural rock ballast. When each three-foot section of track is ballasted, go over and fill in any areas that aren’t completely covered by the ballast. I use a mixture of 50% white craft glue and 50% water to the glue the ballast to the Unitrack roadbed using a small medicine dropper. You must be very careful not to flood the ballast with the glue/water mix. You must remember that the glue/water mixture will not seep through the solid plastic roadbed. If you happen to add to much glue/water mix to the ballast, the ballast might move slightly due to the fact that the glue can’t drain through the roadbed. Let the ballast dry for at least 24 hours. If some of the ballast is loose or misplaced after 24 hours you can apply more ballast and a second mixture of glue and water using the medicine dropper.  When the ballast is completely dry take a small instrument or a jewelers screwdriver and scrape off any ballast that has dried on the inner rails. If this step isn’t done, derailments will occur. So run some trains over each completed area that you ballast to make sure there are no pieces of ballast adhering to the inner side of the rails (Photo's # 11 & # 12 ).
                                    
Photo  # 11  Closeup Photo Of Newly Spread Ballast On The ":New" JJJ&E
Photo  # 12  Newly Spread Ballast On A Section Of The "New" JJJ&E
When ballasting the switch/turnout, you must be very careful not to place the ballast on any moving parts of the switch/turnout or near the points. Extreme care must be taken when ballasting the switch/turnout. The glue/water mix must be very carefully placed so that the glue doesn’t seep into the mechanism of the switch/turnout. If this happens the switch/turnout will bind up and you’ll have problems loosening up the mechanism of the switch/turnout.

Here are some photo’s of the completely ballasted Unitrack  on the "New" JJJ&E  (Photo’s # 13 – Photo's   # 15A ).

Photo  # 13  Completely Weathered & Ballasted Unitrack On The Switching Yard Side Of The "New" JJJ&E
Photo  # 14  Completely Weathered & Ballasted Unitrack On The "Mysterious" Middle Part Of The "New" JJJ&E
Photo  # 15  Completely Weathered & Ballasted Unitrack On The San Marino Side Of The "New" JJJ&E
Photo  # 15A  Completely Weathered & Ballasted Unitrack On The San Marino Side Of The "New" JJJ&E
The ballasting of Unitrack is easy to but it does take time to complete and finish properly. Over 240 feet of the "New" JJJ&E mainline track has been completely ballasted and weathered as well as all of the sidings. This was all done before any of the scenery of the scenery was in place on the layout. I would suggest that one should spray all the roadbed first and then hand paint the ties and spike heads en mass. Then paint the rails. When the track is laid and adhered in position to the sub roadbed (foam) with some hot glue, the track can be ballasted. You just place a small amount of hot glue in each corner of the track. That is all that is needed to keep the track in place. I used 57 bags Of Arizona Rock & Mineral  ATSF New Hue "Windsor" Ballast for the mainline track. For all the sidings And Yards I used 50 bags of Black Cinder Yard Ballast. There are over 1000 pieces of Unitrack and 76 switches/turnouts that required ballasting

Weathering the rails of Unitrack and ballasting the track with very fine natural rock ballast greatly enhances the appearance of the track. If you do have a Unitrack layout I suggest trying this technique out. You will be very pleasantly surprised and pleased with the results.

Stay cool and run steam….












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