well here is what I do.......I use a paintbrush and paint the sides with watered down glue......I do about a 1 foot section at a time, and Im generous with the glue, then I take a plastic cup with my ballast material, and a spoon, and I sprinkle the ballast onto the sides, it doesnt really matter if I use a little too much as Ill fix it in the next steps.....I do this till I have a good long section done, then I give it time to dry. when its dry I use a very small handheld vacuum, and a large very soft paintbrush, and I sweep and move the material shaping it into what I want, the layer that has been glued to the roadbed act as a bit of tooth to keep everything where I push it. when I have the sides where i like them, I pour some ballast in between the tracks, using the paintbrush to sweep it along, and the vacuum to suck up excess, once again the glued material holds evrything in place. when everything is where I want it, I take a spray bottle and wet down the ballast with a mix of alchohol, and water. (this not only holds it in place for gluing but acts as a medium to soak up the glue....very important step!). Then I take an old glue bottle with the same water glue mixture I used to paint the roadbed, and I dribble it all over the wet sections, it soaks right in, and when it dry (it takes overnight to dry) everything is locked in place.....vacuum off the extra and your done....most of this method was stolen from model rr magazine, but some of it I kinda modified to make it a bit easier.................added some more pics too...enjoy!