Roofing Felt as Ballast

[kedwards]

My railway is mainly laid on old paving slabs. I began adding loose ballast on top and I think it looked pretty good.



However, it's now covered in moss, leaves, soil and all other manner of detritus that the winter has thrown at it.

I'm toying with the idea of using roofing felt as a ballast substitute. I know it won't look as good, and I'm aware of all the negatives, like it not coming up to the top of the sleepers, but I think I might be willing to forgo this for ease of maintenance.

I've looked around a couple of DIY stores and cannot find grey roofing felt (only black and green), and the stuff they sell isn't like the stuff I seem to remember, the stone effect isn't ballast sized, or anywhere near it.

Has anyone got any recommendations, please? Photos would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Keith

 

[PhilP]

There are different grades of 'roofing felt' and the 'sheds' may not be the best place to source it from?

The cheapest, is 'shed felt':
This will tear, as soon as you look at it. Is quite thin, and has quite a short life. - At least on sheds!

A 'torch-on' felt is of a heavier grade, and designed to be 'stuck dow;' by melting the back of the felt with a blow-torch. - normally, the length of a walking-stick, so it can be done while standing..

You may be better looking at resin-bonded gravel?
This comes in a myriad range of colours, the resin 'glues' it to the substrate (your slabs) and is robust enough for paths and drives, so will stand sweeping, blowing / vacuuming, and pressure-washing.

You would need to get a contractor in, ideally. - I guess the right one would appreciate the novelty of the job?
You would also need to lift the track. - But would need to do this, to lay felt, anyway..
A contractor would want to do the job in one hit, whereas with felt, you could spread the job (and cost) over time.

I am sure others will also have thoughts?

PhilP

 

[dunnyrail]

My railway is mainly laid on old paving slabs. I began adding loose ballast on top and I think it looked pretty good.

View attachment 324690

However, it's now covered in moss, leaves, soil and all other manner of detritus that the winter has thrown at it.

I'm toying with the idea of using roofing felt as a ballast substitute. I know it won't look as good, and I'm aware of all the negatives, like it not coming up to the top of the sleepers, but I think I might be willing to forgo this for ease of maintenance.

I've looked around a couple of DIY stores and cannot find grey roofing felt (only black and green), and the stuff they sell isn't like the stuff I seem to remember, the stone effect isn't ballast sized, or anywhere near it.

Has anyone got any recommendations, please? Photos would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Keith

This is the black stuff I use from BnQ, the more expensive end but I think the ballast size while possibly a bit small is just fine.

As for loose ballast which yours looks fine, you could think about using it on the track just the track with the felt representing the track base where black as in ashes looks good, glued (external pva 50/50 water pva and a little washing up liquid but do it in warm dry weather) in place should help maintenance. As for the moss, tap water with a little washing up liquid is death to moss. My glued ballast is quite suitable to be brushed with little loss.

 

[JimmyB]

I still think loose ballast looks best, and regardless of what you use it will all require maintenance, even roofing felt. Loose ballast can be weeded racked and topped up, but roofing felt will just holt the moss.

 

[Martino]

I used loose chippings on the South Bucks, when it was in Florida. Bonded with dilute PVA, it pretty much stayed where it was. I was also pleased with its appearance. Now, I did encourage moss in some places as the line was supposed to be a bucolic narrow gauge line. Moss is actually VERY easy to grow in hot humid Florida, but equally it was easy to dissuade it from growing with a quick blast of vinegar weed killer (very eco friendly). I did try roofing felt (actually roof shingles) but was not happy with appearance as the track very obviously sat ON the material rather than in it. I found the vinegar weed killer spray very good at keeping the moss and weeds under control.

 

[ebay mike]

Layout's been gone a couple of years now, but here's a pic during construction over 12 years ago. Shed felt (the sanded type, not the finishing one) with loose laid ballast. I used a mixture of pea shingle and granite road chippings which I collected from the road outside when it was being resurfaced. Had to rush out with a broom, shovel and a couple of builders buckets before the road sweeper made an appearance to pick up the loose excess material. As i used rail clamps on every joint it allowed the track to float when it expanded, virtually eliminating formation of gaps.

 

[Paul M]

S

My railway is mainly laid on old paving slabs. I began adding loose ballast on top and I think it looked pretty good.

View attachment 324690

However, it's now covered in moss, leaves, soil and all other manner of detritus that the winter has thrown at it.

I'm toying with the idea of using roofing felt as a ballast substitute. I know it won't look as good, and I'm aware of all the negatives, like it not coing up to the top of the sleepers, but I think I might be willing to forgo this for ease of maintenance.

I've looked around a couple of DIY stores and cannot find grey roofing felt (only black and green), and the stuff they sell isn't like the stuff I seem to remember, the stone effect isn't ballast sized, or anywhere near it.

Has anyone got any recommendations, please? Photos would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Keith

The ballast you have looks so natural, it would be a shame to lose it. Before ripping it up, I would give Jon D's suggestions a try

 

[GAP]

I would not do a thing to that track it is very appealing to the eye and I think the moss adds character.
No matter what you put down there will always be a build up of litter especially as it is below ground level.
As for dirt washing onto the track have you considered covering the bare earth bank on the left hand side with a retaining wall?
For the loose ballast issue I solved that problem by mixing a 50/50 mix of external PVA and water with some dishwashing liquid added it is holding my ballast down really well it has been down for over 2 years and is surviving the Australian rain and heat. I just wet the ballast and poured the PVA mix over it.

5. 15 January 2022 Ballasting the Cane Line

I have started ballasting and laying artificial turf on the side of the track on the Cane Line. For ballast I used 7mm Blue Metal rock and ...

ringbalin-light-railway.blogspot.com

 

[PhilP]

For holding ballast..
Visit the builders merchant, and ask them to tell you all you need to know about SBR..

PhilP

 

[Rhinochugger]

My railway is mainly laid on old paving slabs. I began adding loose ballast on top and I think it looked pretty good.

View attachment 324690

However, it's now covered in moss, leaves, soil and all other manner of detritus that the winter has thrown at it.

I'm toying with the idea of using roofing felt as a ballast substitute. I know it won't look as good, and I'm aware of all the negatives, like it not coming up to the top of the sleepers, but I think I might be willing to forgo this for ease of maintenance.

I've looked around a couple of DIY stores and cannot find grey roofing felt (only black and green), and the stuff they sell isn't like the stuff I seem to remember, the stone effect isn't ballast sized, or anywhere near it.

Has anyone got any recommendations, please? Photos would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Keith

Sounds OK in principle, but what will you do for artificial moss in a few years' time?

The issue that you have is your close-up photography. Whereas most of us rely on the 10ft rule to hide our indiscretions, the camera never lies - well, not unless you read the newspapers

Have you thought of a moss killer?

 

[kedwards]

Thanks everyone for engaging in this thread, for your advice, suggestions and photos. I knew that I would get good advice. I always do.

I think that I will be keeping the ballast after all. I will get rid of excessive moss, but I agree that some does look fine, and I will be investigating PVA or SBR for binding the ballast.

I will be tackling the left-hand side of the embankment this year. As I've covered in another thread I intend to cut it back to a 45 degree slope and add a low retaining wall at the bottom. The whole thing will then be grass seeded and maintained with a strimmer. Well that's the plan - subject, as always, to change.

Thanks again, Keith

 

[justme igor]

I think that I will be keeping the ballast after all

perfect.
As @ge-rik did to his track, he got himself a bag of bricklaying cement.
He sprinkled this onto his ballast, run over a bit with a spray bottle, the result was really worth looking at.
He also did a experiment with bricklayer cement and big grain sand, also very appealing to look at.

I hope he will chime in

For coloring at wish, there are for cement various add ons, even if you want to have it pink or purple.

Best

 

[TempLayout]

This may be a terrible idea, but what if you tried sprinkling some Zinc granules across an area of ballast you want to be moss free? Zinc strips are commonly used in roofing for that explicit purpose. Depending on how densely you applied the granules, looking at the two possible extremes it may have little to no effect or it might work far too well and be detrimental to any surrounding plant life... There are probably a very large number of factors in play. Water drainage/runoff and where it goes is probably a big factor. I really have no idea how well it would work, if at all, nor if it's smart to do so. It's just a thought that popped up.

 

[justme igor]

Sorry to say, but with zinc you will not get rid of moss.
Zinc wil oxidize over time, and that oxidation will be small enough for plants to "digest" the oxide but will not kill them.
Some green plants need small amount of zinc iron and even copper oxide/traces.

However young fresh plants could "choke" in that.
Some rose spices will thrive on zinc and other oxides, every "metal" has his own color.
(ever tried to put some real hard real black stone coal in the dirt with some charcoal with a white rose? in a bucket ofcourse)

Even a old tree that will lose his leaves or will not go full green anymore could be cured with a iron and(or) a copper nail driven into the base.

With best regards Igor

 

[GAP]

This will take care of moss with no effort great for lichen and green algae as well.
I use it to keep the lichen off my solar panels.

Wet & Forget UK - Mould, Lichen & Algae Remover

Wet & Forget is the ideal cleaning product made from biodegradable solutions for removing Mould, Mildew and Lichen on interior and exterior surfaces.

www.wetandforget.co.uk

If you want to go the nuclear option pool chlorine mixed 50/50 with water will kill it as well it and will also stop weed seeds from germinating.
Great splashed over paved areas for weed control but be careful not to get it on the plants you want to keep.

 

[FatherMcD]

it looked pretty good.

Just to add my two cents at this point. I cringed when you talked about replacing that fine looking ballast with roofing felt. I applaud your decision to stay with the existing ballast, perhaps with a fixative to facilitate maintenance. It really does look too good to replace with felt unless maintenance becomes overwhelming.