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[Fluesheet]

On the topic of ballast, I picked up some Scenic Express ( which sounds a lot like your Smith & Son's) light grey cinder ballast to try out. I like the product, however noticed that it needs to be whetted well before application of the glue and water mixture. Also, because it is so fine, I had to use it sparingly and be very careful around the critical parts of a turnout, frogs, guard rails, and points. It took some time before I finally got it all in place and was satisfied it wasn't going to impede the performance of the Wye I was ballasting.

Hi Tetters. I believe you're right about Scenic Express being a source for the Smith and Son's ballast. I got my bag from a local hobby shop that closed a couple years ago after the death of it's owner. When writing about this in the previous posts, I did some (brief) searches on the product and the only reference I could find to it were in the Scenic Express catalog.

In all honesty, the Woodland Scenic fine cinders ballast, didn't seem to take as much effort compared to this stuff.

I think your assessment on relative workability is not far off the mark. In the case of the cinder ballast, Smith and Son's fineness is one thing I like, visually - it's what I remember about cinder ballast from when I was a kid. That fineness is also makes wetting more difficult though. The WS fine cinders were easier to work with (I think mainly because of it's granule to granule consistency - S&S has a mix of larger particles and the very fine ones mentioned), but to me, it looks too much like black "rock" ballast!

I'm curious about using the floor polish to secure ballast. Is the application similar to applying the glue and water mixture, sans the whetting? Does it smell as chemical odors in the house make "The Boss" unhappy.

Good question, and no, there are no objectional odors to the acrylic floor polish. I'm sure this was one of the product requirements as otherwise "waxing" an entire room would have been unbearable! Dave mentioned earlier that it is like a varnish - but it's important to know that it is not actually a varnish. THAT would stink!

Otherwise, application is similar - I used a device whose name completely escapes me right now (plastic, functions like an eyedropper) to apply it. I didn't attempt to mist it.

Today I'll be wetted water and dilute white glue to another section for comparison - I'm curious if my issues and successes were due to my application method, or the adhesive used.