Ballast Frustration

Ballasting track is a well-known method for stopping it from working any longer. Most of the track on Pembroke was ballasted before any rail went down. The exception was the parts that are most likely to fail after ballasting – turnouts, specifically the switch. Knowing the risks I faced, I took it slow and only […]

A little scatter around the roundhouse

I’m getting ready to show the turntable at Vancouver Train Expo this weekend, and so, I spent some time between working on my presentation to glue down some more ballast, basically covering the board. The gravel is my usual mix of light grey sanded grout and Pembroke dirt. The cinders are made from “Charcoal” sanded […]

Ballast Tests

The Canada Atlantic was ballasted with gravel quarried from various pits along the line, as were most railways of that period. So, it should be a simple matter to simply dig up some dirt from the right of way or from one of the quarries, sift out the big chunks and glue it down. Unfortunately […]