And now for something completely different!

And now for something completely different! Those of a certain age and certain sense of humour will recall that phrase from the Monty Python Show. In this case though no humour, unless you think my YouTube videos should be classified as such, but a video I have been meaning to do for some weeks but not had the chance to do due to kitchen rebuilds, Norovirus, Rocks by Rail and Mrs. Woody's seemingly increasing jobs for me to do list! Anyway, today was the day so it was completely different! 

Ballasting model railway track usually involves the ballast itself and a means of adhering it to the baseboard. Usually that is done with a diluted glue which penetrates the layers of ballast and glues it in place. The problem comes near to points. Due to the dilute nature of the glue it can seep under the tie rod which operates the switching blades and in effect glues it in place. Depending on the strength of the glue it is sometimes possible to free the tie rod with some force, a tool such as a screwdriver or solvents or indeed a combination of these. If you are lucky it works without damaging the point but it is frustrating and time consuming. However you can end up damaging the point which means a new one is required. £15 buys a basic set track point with the larger points coming in with equally larger prices! So not only can a glued up point cause frustration, time but it can cost money too. 

Not sure how I came up with this idea but suspect it was some years ago reading a car magazine where petroleum jelly was rubbed on the rubber door seal to prevent the door freezing shut. My brain must have done its usual unconventional thinking and transposed that to model railways!  The thought was that if it stopped ice sticking to metal and rubber then petroleum jelly should stop glue sticking to the plastic tie rod of a point. 

It worked for me! Rubbing a small amount on the underside of the tie rod ended any problems I had with glued up points.

That hint is now in a short WMD YouTube video available for your visual delight! Now that really is something completely different compared to the last few weeks of blog posts!