# Wiring vs Ballasting



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

I just spent the day wiring turnout motors, frog polarity switches signals etc. on a section of my layout. Gosh what fun! NOT! I wonder if anyone has an opinion on whether layout wiring, or ballasting track is the worst Pita of the hobby? Certainly they're both strong contenders. No one I know of really likes either of these rather miserable tasks. What do you think?

Traction Fan


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Whichever one I have to do next! If I could pay someone to do either or both tasks, I happily would.

At least the Tam Valley servos just involve plugging prefab wire sections together... One reason I like them so much.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Wiring is the worst for me, have big problems with my knees working under the layout.
Ballasting not so much, the way I do it isn't so bad just boring and takes a long time but I'm standing up.  

Magic


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I love wiring a layout. Oddly enough I seem to never get to the ballast phase, nor the scenic phase.


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## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

I prefer wiring over ballasting. With wiring, something moves or lights up afterwards which is gratifying to me.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Mark VerMurlen said:


> I prefer wiring over ballasting. With wiring, something moves or lights up afterwards which is gratifying to me.


Assuming you do it right, that is...


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I'd rather wire any day rather than ballast.

Ballasting is a PITA.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Magic said:


> Wiring is the worst for me, have big problems with my knees working under the layout.
> Ballasting not so much, the way I do it isn't so bad just boring and takes a long time but I'm standing up.
> 
> Magic


That's one of the many benefits of building a sectional layout. You can take one section at a time to the workbench and turn it upside down. You can sit in a comfortable chair while you work. I'm old and disabled, so crawling under the layout is not an option for me. 
I hear you about the knees! After crawling a lot at work, and destroying my knees in the process, I had to have both of mine replaced a few years ago. Take some knee-saving advice. 1) Wear knee pads, and/or use one of those thick foam pads, about the size of a door mat, on the floor. 2) Better than either, sit, don't kneel. Use a short rolling stool at its lowest height adjustment. In many cases you can roll, rather than crawl, under the layout and work sitting down. www.homedepot.,com sells them.
The remaining bad news is that you'll still be working over your head, which tires your arms out fast. Also soldering over your head isn't just a (miserable) job, it's an adventure! Ever had hot solder dribble down the inside of your arm? I have, and I wouldn't recommend it! Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from solder drips too.

Traction Fan 😊


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

They both are no fun but ballasting seems to be the worse of the two.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Wiring isn't so bad, but mine's not at all complicated.

Ballasting takes me forever. I put it down, push it around, fiddle with it some more, put a little more down... and _eventually_ I'll put some glue on it.


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## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

I used Kato Unitrack. Solves the ballasting issue because it's already "ballasted" (although a little to "cleanly applied" for some folks).

Also used the Unitrack "Unijoiners" for wiring (very clean), and their modular wiring connectors for track power and switch controls. Just snaps together, and very easy to undo for changes.

Works for me...


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

Wireing to me is simple. Have had a few electrical job building low voltage panel in the past. Come second nature to me. I divide everything into zones and due any area at a time. I have terminal strip where each meats under the table. This way I can divide an concur the task. Any break down are isolated to one area. Biggest help is writing the note of what is what by the wire on the table in marker. Also I set my table night at the distance from me lying on my back and placing my arms up comfortably.


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## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

I don't mind ballasting too much. Mind you it ain't no thrill. Wiring? Now that's another matter, don't like it. That is why all my wiring is color coded and runs in a certain direction and through several terminal strips. I like my wiring to be neat and clean. The one and done approach. No spaghetti bowls of wiring. Saves confusion. However, all is not as it seems. There is a lot of wiring that I knew where it was going when I first built the layout 14 years ago but made no schematic of it. Not a smart move. Memory fades so on the rare occasion I do have an issue, it can be traced after I study on it for a bit. My layout is high enough, 44", that I can sit on a rolling automotive shop seat and get fairly well under on the rare occasion I have to. My terminal strips are mounted on a fascia that is concealed by doors I made to cover the shelving that I added under the layout. I too have had both knees replaced and some body parts don't bend like they used to. When I built this layout, it was built looking toward the future as an "old man" operation and maintenance. Also why I added TMCC to this American Flyer layout. The future is now!! 

Kenny


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

tkruger said:


> Wireing to me is simple. Have had a few electrical job building low voltage panel in the past. Come second nature to me. I divide everything into zones and due any area at a time. I have terminal strip where each meats under the table. This way I can divide an concur the task. Any break down are isolated to one area. Biggest help is writing the note of what is what by the wire on the table in marker. Also I set my table night at the distance from me lying on my back and placing my arms up comfortably.


I never said it was hard... I said I hate doing it.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Was piddling around the train room last night with a tipple in-hand and spied something that needs to be done that I dislike more than wiring or ballasting. Weathering/painting track.


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## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

Ballast? "We don't need no stinking ballast mang!"
I got as far as ballasting once in my life. Hated it! 
I definately prefer wiring over ballast. 
On the subject of crawling underneath to wire things up. My knees and lower back are starting to give way like many others here. Returning to the hobby 2 years ago after a 10+ year hiatus, I put some thought into under the deck height. I settled on 40". 
To get underneath, I strapped 4 milk crates together side by side. Attached that to an automotive creeper dolley. Put a patio furniture lounge chair type cushion on it and lay back to work facing up. Arms stay well bent so they don't get tired too quickly. Works well for me. There is still the issue however that was mentioned about soldering. Barrier strips aleviate a major portion of that but still. Goggles and long sleeves are the norm...


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Leaving the ballast off is certainly one option. Unfortunately, I'm not willing to sacrifice the appearance by doing so. Therefore, ballast track I must.


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## flyboy2610 (Jan 20, 2010)

I really think that on the layout I'm building now, cork painted gray will be the closest I get to ballasting. Just have no desire to do it whatsoever. And that's OK! My layout, my rules!


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

CTValleyRR said:


> Leaving the ballast off is certainly one option. Unfortunately, I'm not willing to sacrifice the appearance by doing so. Therefore, ballast track I must.


As I must also. It's a bane of model railroading. I could never leave track naked. Soldering upside down is also an experience not to be missed.


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## 65446 (Sep 22, 2018)

I don't get it ! It's a hobby...There's no crying in baseball and there's no sying in hobby hall !
Every aspect of building a MRR is a treasure..
We design. We build. We power. We scenic. We maintain. We own. We run, a railroad... 🛤🚦🛤


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## cid (Jul 3, 2014)

*There's no crying in baseball and there's no sighing in hobby hall !* I like that!! 👍 
IBEW members I work around wear "*NO WHINING*" stickers on their hard hats!!  
And they often point it out for me...Can't imagine why...


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Yeah, well, kids are a treasure, too.... that doesn't mean I've never been fed up with mine, though!


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Good morning everyone, looking for tips or videos online, (not simple ones) about joining flex track and do you often see kinks when you try and join these tracks on the curves, do any of you have any good tricks or tips on how you lay your flex track, had to take a break this week as I didn’t like the kink at the joint I was getting?


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

BigGRacing said:


> Good morning everyone, looking for tips or videos online, (not simple ones) about joining flex track and do you often see kinks when you try and join these tracks on the curves, do any of you have any good tricks or tips on how you lay your flex track, had to take a break this week as I didn’t like the kink at the joint I was getting?


Hi BGR,

One method - solder 2 lengths of flex track together before laying it down. Hopefully it will be long enough to get through the curve. If not.....................

Another method - start laying and securing your flex track down into the beginning of the curve. When you get down to the last few inches of track, while it is still straight, trim the long rail to match the shorter one, remove any offending ties, and then solder on another piece of flex track. Continue laying through the curve. Lather, rinse, repeat as required until you're out of the curve.

That seems to be the standard method of laying flex track in any gauge and scale.


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Thanks Mixed Freight


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## Marv (Feb 8, 2011)

While I use KATO unitrack, I also ballast it. I pretty much finished ballasting last year. Last week I decided to add another siding for staging a longer train. Tearing up track, no problem, new switches and track, no problem. Wiring switches and track, no... OK a little problem with a broken wire to trouble shoot. Still looking at the unballasted track and the tedious work to be done with Elmers glue, ballast, brush work then scenic cement and lots of water to be sprayed, definitely not fun. However the sooner I start the sooner I can get back to gluing weeds and other stuff. Its all good in the end.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

BigGRacing said:


> Good morning everyone, looking for tips or videos online, (not simple ones) about joining flex track and do you often see kinks when you try and join these tracks on the curves, do any of you have any good tricks or tips on how you lay your flex track, had to take a break this week as I didn’t like the kink at the joint I was getting?


BigGracing;

I'm not sure what this is doing in a thread about whether wiring or ballasting is more vexing, but here goes. 
There are two common methods of joining flex track. Both typically involve NOT joining pieces of flex track after they have been glued, or nailed, down into a curve. It is possible to do that, but its quite a bit more difficult to do it that way, and far more likely to end up with the rails kinked, or out of gauge, or both. 

Much easier, and highly recommended, is to solder two lengths of flex track to each other while both are still straight, and laid out on a workbench or table. (Note: If your curve will require three pieces of flex, you will need a second person to help you transport, curve, and lay, the resulting nine foot long  piece of flex track.)

The joining process itself is where opinions vary. Some advise staggering the rail joints. To do this, slide one rail backward out of some of the plastic "spikes" of the tie strip. Then slide the matching rail of the other piece of flex track forward the same distance. Then thread the extended rail forward into the spikes recently vacated by the withdrawn rail in the first piece of track. You should now have the two rail joints (for what will become the inside, and outside, rails of the curve) in positions that are offset from each other. This means that each rail joint will have solid rail directly opposite it. The solid rail will be more stable, (as far as not kinking) and will help keep the rail with a joint in it more stable too.
To slide the rail joiners on, and fit them into place, you may have to remove a few ties, or at least cut the tops of them down enough to clear the joiners. When you solder the rail joiners, use wet paper towels on either side of the joint, and maybe slide an X-acto knife blade under the rail joiner, between it and the tie strip. The purpose here is to not melt the plastic ties.

At least that's the theory, and it makes mechanical sense. On a practical level, having tried it a few times, I personally, have never found it necessary to go through all that procedure, though others swear by it. I simply solder the two pieces of flex track together, with both still straight, but with the rail joiners directly opposite each other, and some spikes cut off near the joint. When you bend the flex track into a curve, the joints will naturally offset themselves as the outer & inner rails take up their positions.

Now I should point out that I use Micro Engineering's code 55, N-scale, flex track. Micro Engineering is a different animal from other brands of flex track. Its quite stiff, and harder to form into a smooth curve, than say, Atlas flex track. I don't know if it would even be possible to slide one rail of M-E flex track out of the spikes. M-E track has very small, rather delicate, spike detail. This is one of the features that make it look super-realistic, but it also makes it pretty easy to break those tiny little spikes too. So, If you're using another brand, you might try the first procedure, and see if you like it. If it proves to be too much hassle, you can always go back to the other way.

regards;

Traction Fan 🙂


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

Funnily I don't find ballast to be that bad. Then again I think my results are not that great. I do find that static grass is a pain. But I like painting some kinds of scenery (rocks or rocky areas)... Yet I'm not good at structures for painting and realistic detailing.. 

Basically it seems to all come down to length of time, attention to details, section at a time, patience. Practice.

Soldering...

Even though I think I'm a pretty good solderer I found track soldering to be hard. My results were poor. It took me awhile to realize my ME pre weathered track was most of the problem. I also got some better solder and iron but I needed it for other things as well.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I used a lot of ME preweathered rail. First thing I do is use some 300 grit sandpaper on flat surface and run the bottom of the rail across it to remove the weathering. It solders fine after that. Removing it from all the rails eliminates have to guess where it might be needed. If you are using weather flex track, I think the best you can do is to do this to the ends. I use PC ties to make my feeder connections. I solder the wires to either side of a center cut on the top and bottom of the PC time and drill a small hole that the feeder wire goes into and solder that. cut and file off the top so you can't see the wires. Then when I want to put a feeder in the track, I remove a tie, put hole thru the road bed and a little trench to hold for the wire and put the wire under the track in the trench and down thru the hole then pull the wire and slide the tie in place then solder to the rail. Little paint and its all well hidden! Even easier to do using CV ties and ME rail.


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Thanks Traction Fan, I wanted to squeeze my question in before the ballasting and soldering Started.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Severn said:


> Funnily I don't find ballast to be that bad. Then again I think my results are not that great. I do find that static grass is a pain. But I like painting some kinds of scenery (rocks or rocky areas)... Yet I'm not good at structures for painting and realistic detailing..
> 
> Basically it seems to all come down to length of time, attention to details, section at a time, patience. Practice.
> 
> ...



Severn;

Weathered rail won't accept solder. You need to scrape the weathering off the end areas where you plan to solder your rails. You can later paint the bare spots, or use M-E's weathering solution on them. The photo shows a jar of this in a wood holder that I made for it so it wouldn't tip over & spill. The stuff is expensive.

Traction Fan 🙂


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Uhh, maybe, but ballasting, the least fun. I said that seven years ago (see above) and still think that is the case,


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I'm with Traction Fan. I use MicroEngineering flex, so I don't have to worry about it kinking, just about getting it into a smooth curve.

Anecdotally, people have told me that they use a track radius template or Sweep Stix to keep the rails aligned while they solder the joints, but I have never done this myself.


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

On the weathered ME and soldering... Well I may have come about it slowly but eventually a light dawned and I figured it out and did exactly as suggested. I even threw in a little rosin and high quality solder...


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