04-14-2014, 11:36 AM
Bernhard, I am not sure I knew in advance what I was going to do when I look at my large blisters on both hands... 
Sunday was a trainings day at the east side. Monday was serious work at the west side and the center. I did run out of blades for the plane. Sand and ballast "eats" the blades like sweets.
The plaster covered street running track could be handled after I changed my paradigm from railroad modeling to construction/demolition labor work and got the large hammer from the cellar
I have a serious question to those of you with a chemical background:
I am using the same white glue (Ponal classic) since years. I observe the expected procedure when removing ballast. Soak with water, wait some time and remove. The glue will become soft and you get some kind of mud. That is not true for areas covered with sand. The fine white sand I use is intended to be used in bird cages. Is there a possibility "sand" interacts with the white glue and makes it water resistant? The glue-sand mix becomes like concrete. Only an extreme thin part at the surface (max 1/50") softens with water after hours of soaking. It looks to me like glue-ballast acts different to water than glue-sand after it has set for some month. Any explanation?
![[Image: IMG_3226_zps91d34868.jpg]](http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149/faraway52/FL2014-2/IMG_3226_zps91d34868.jpg)
Sunday was a trainings day at the east side. Monday was serious work at the west side and the center. I did run out of blades for the plane. Sand and ballast "eats" the blades like sweets.
The plaster covered street running track could be handled after I changed my paradigm from railroad modeling to construction/demolition labor work and got the large hammer from the cellar
I have a serious question to those of you with a chemical background:
I am using the same white glue (Ponal classic) since years. I observe the expected procedure when removing ballast. Soak with water, wait some time and remove. The glue will become soft and you get some kind of mud. That is not true for areas covered with sand. The fine white sand I use is intended to be used in bird cages. Is there a possibility "sand" interacts with the white glue and makes it water resistant? The glue-sand mix becomes like concrete. Only an extreme thin part at the surface (max 1/50") softens with water after hours of soaking. It looks to me like glue-ballast acts different to water than glue-sand after it has set for some month. Any explanation?
Reinhard