Improving railroad track during Labor Day

[mymodeltrain]

I spent the long weekend immobilizing the track on the ground with mortar mix. It turned out very successful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzFaXReoKIM

[drewzero1]

Looks great! It was a good weekend for working on the railway here as well. I'm very interested in how the mortar mix works out over time as I've been considering a similar method of track placement.

[philipy]

15 or 20 years ago, there was quite a vogue for using "Rowlands Mix" to ballast track. Rowlands Mix consisted of cement powder mixed with peat/compost and a bit of sand to give, effectively, a weak concrete with built in organic matter to encourage the growth of moss. It also looked less like simple grey concrete than proper mortar mix.

Some people swore by it although I had limited success myself and eventually replaced it with 3mm granite chips held down with SBR, as has been written about many times on this forum.

[mymodeltrain]

Looks great! It was a good weekend for working on the railway here as well. I'm very interested in how the mortar mix works out over time as I've been considering a similar method of track placement.

In the past, I was indecisive, I covered the track with a light layer of mortar mix. After the Winter, with snow and rains the track shifted. I am more decisive this time since this is the final design of the railway (hopefully), I dug deeper before filling; 150 lbs of mortar mix covered a small area as shown in the video. In the past, derailment happened all the time when the train ran in reverse way.