Help - matte medium problem

[P5se Camelback]

I gotta weigh in with doctorwayne on this one Kevin. I have hand-laid track that I spiked down and ballasted back in 1974 and '75 that has lived in Philadelphia, PA, Los Gatos, CA, Redondo Beach, CA, as well as in a basement in Lansdale, PA (outside Philly) where I installed a dehumidifier which I had running 24/7 in the summer and until I finally ran a line to the sump pump, I emptied a quart or two a week from that thing. Books grew lovely mold and the walls developed an marvelous mildew down there before I put the dehumidifier in. No problems with the white glued ballast.

Those same sections of hand laid track/white glued ballast have been down here in Florida now since about 1991 or '92, at this point enjoying an air-conditioned house. But for about 12 or 13 years, the 6 foot long sections stood on end in an non-climate controlled storage space with no adverse effects to my wood ties, spiked rail, white glued ballast or the Homosote that everything is glued down on top of. The humidity here in the summer hovers in the 75% to 95% range ... actually, it just started pouring now as I type this - the "every afternoon, summer-time, 45 minute, one-and-a-half inch dump" ... and the humidty (outside) is at about 82%. I can barely see the houses on the other side of the canal behind my house, it's coming down that hard! Example ... I waited this one out in the cab of "Horace Dodge" ...



But, fear not ... in an hour or so the sun will be back out, and every thing will be dry - no evidence that it ever rained!

But through it all, the ballast on my track is as hard as a rock, and has been since I sprayed it with "wet water," soaked it with diluted Elmer's (purchased in the gallon container) and left to dry for about three or four days!

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Typed faster than I did again, Kevin!