Salvaging old track

Hello

I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just started
lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted areas is not
the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it is very hard to
lift the track without damaging it I find.

I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this before me
so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old track, abandon
it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the turnouts and crossings?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Alex

"Alex" <someone@somedomain.com> wrote in
news:46b8b490$0$31726$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk:

> Hello
>
> I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just
> started lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted
> areas is not the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it
> is very hard to lift the track without damaging it I find.
>
> I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this
> before me so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old
> track, abandon it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the
> turnouts and crossings?

Save the points if you can and scrap the rest.

Warm water with a little washing up liquid to loosen the glue - assuming
you have't used waterproof stuff.

--
All the best,

Chris Wilson

email to cwilson at britwar dor co dot uk, reply address is spamtrapped.
http://www.the-dormouse.org The Dormouse Line model railway

Alex wrote:
>
> Hello
>
> I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just started
> lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted areas is not
> the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it is very hard to
> lift the track without damaging it I find.
>
> I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this before me
> so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old track, abandon
> it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the turnouts and crossings?
>
> Thanks for your thoughts!
>
> Alex

I always ballast using diluted PVA glue. Spraying the track with a mist
of water at about 12 hour intervals for a couple of days softens the PVA
and ballast sufficiently to lift the rail and assorted sleepers using a
big wood chisel etc etc.
From there I have had many happy hours sorting rail lengths and cutting
and sliding sleepers to get like new (well, extremely used) lengths of
track. Two cartons hold 'over half' length and 'under half' length
sections of track and odd bits of rail. It's still amazing how often I
don't have a piece of track long enough to fill any given gap without
cutting a piece in half!

Greg.P.

In article <46b8b490$0$31726$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>,
someone@somedomain.com says...

> I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just started
> lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted areas is not
> the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it is very hard to
> lift the track without damaging it I find.
>
> I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this before me
> so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old track, abandon
> it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the turnouts and crossings?

I've always ballasted using wallpaper paste and tea leaves as it looks
nice and dirty. When I want to rip up the track, sliding a normal table
knife under the track releases it and the ballast can be poked out with a
screwdriver. The track rarely if ever gets damaged and the ballast holds
down well in normal use.

	#1
Alex	Salvaging old track Hello I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just started lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted areas is not the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it is very hard to lift the track without damaging it I find. I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this before me so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old track, abandon it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the turnouts and crossings? Thanks for your thoughts! Alex

	#2
Chris Wilson	Re: Salvaging old track "Alex" <someone@somedomain.com> wrote in news:46b8b490$0$31726$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk: > Hello > > I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just > started lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted > areas is not the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it > is very hard to lift the track without damaging it I find. > > I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this > before me so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old > track, abandon it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the > turnouts and crossings? Save the points if you can and scrap the rest. Warm water with a little washing up liquid to loosen the glue - assuming you have't used waterproof stuff. -- All the best, Chris Wilson email to cwilson at britwar dor co dot uk, reply address is spamtrapped. http://www.the-dormouse.org The Dormouse Line model railway

	#3
Greg Procter	Re: Salvaging old track Alex wrote: > > Hello > > I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just started > lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted areas is not > the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it is very hard to > lift the track without damaging it I find. > > I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this before me > so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old track, abandon > it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the turnouts and crossings? > > Thanks for your thoughts! > > Alex I always ballast using diluted PVA glue. Spraying the track with a mist of water at about 12 hour intervals for a couple of days softens the PVA and ballast sufficiently to lift the rail and assorted sleepers using a big wood chisel etc etc. From there I have had many happy hours sorting rail lengths and cutting and sliding sleepers to get like new (well, extremely used) lengths of track. Two cartons hold 'over half' length and 'under half' length sections of track and odd bits of rail. It's still amazing how often I don't have a piece of track long enough to fill any given gap without cutting a piece in half! Greg.P.

	#4
Gerald H	Re: Salvaging old track In article <46b8b490$0$31726$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>, someone@somedomain.com says... > I am about to move my old layout to a new location and have just started > lifting track. The track in the fiddle yard and unballasted areas is not > the problem but when I reach areas that are ballasted it is very hard to > lift the track without damaging it I find. > > I'm sure there are contributors here must have gone through this before me > so what do you do? Sweat away and try and lift all the old track, abandon > it all or somewhere in-between - e.g saving the turnouts and crossings? I've always ballasted using wallpaper paste and tea leaves as it looks nice and dirty. When I want to rip up the track, sliding a normal table knife under the track releases it and the ballast can be poked out with a screwdriver. The track rarely if ever gets damaged and the ballast holds down well in normal use.