Ballasting Track On The PoorFork RR

Drew1125

Active Member
I thought I'd show how I'm doing the track ballast on my N scale layout...
I'm trying to get a specific look here, that of an Appalachian short line of the 1930's.
I didn't want the look of a well maintained Class 1 mainline.
I wanted the track to look as low-profile as possible (this is always a challenge in N scale) so I didn't use any sub roadbed...I just glued the track directly onto the foam scenic base.
I do the suttounding scenery first, & put masking tape over the track, so when I pull up the tape, there's a small area on either side of the track that's unscenicked.
 

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Drew1125

Active Member
I use a small paper cup as a ballast spreader, squeezing in the top to form a pouring spout.
Then I pour a small amount of ballast down the middle of the track.
I work in short sections, doing about 12" of track at a time.
 

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Drew1125

Active Member
Now I take a softl brush, & gently sweep the ballast off the tie tops...the excess ballast will be pushed over the sides.
I just keep adding small amounts of ballast until it looks right to me.
Now this looks OK, but is just a little too "new" looking for me, so the next step will take care of that.
 

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Drew1125

Active Member
I wet the ballast with a black wash of alcohol & India ink...
This gives the ballast a dirtier look, & to me, blends in better with the surrounding scenery.

(for the black wash, I used a small bottle from a free sample of liquid detergent...it works great as a "eyedropper" type applicator)
 

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Drew1125

Active Member
Next, I flow on a mixture of 50/50 white glue & water out of an old glue bottle...
 

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Xaniel

Member
Real cool. It gave me some Ideas, caus I'll be ballasting my RR soon, and I'll have to weather it. Thanks!!!

Awsome work.
 
Wow Charlie!
What a great idea to combine the ballast wetting with weathering! That cuts out that step down the road. :cool:
I will try this when I finally get some track put down. Thanks for sharing this idea and the pictures.

Eric
 

RailRon

Active Member
A fine tutorial, Charlie! Great modeling and excellent photography. :cool:

It's easy to do, and the result looks very convincing. From now on, nobody has an excuse to NOT ballast his track! :D

One question: What kind of ballast do you use?

Ron
 

jawatkins

Member
I haven't tried ballasting yet, but you have a great idea about weathering it before you glue it down. Regarding the ballast, have you ever tried using an old ketchup bottle with the squirt top or empty salad dressing bottles to put ballast down?

As always, enjoy seeing pictures of your work.
 

Drew1125

Active Member
Originally posted by RailRon
....One question: What kind of ballast do you use?....

Sorry I forgot to mention that Ron!:eek:
I use Woodland Scenics Fine Gray...
Also the track pictured here is Peco code 55 flex (N scale)

Judy,
No, I've never tried the ketchup, or dressing bottles...
When I first attempted to ballast HO track years ago, I just used my fingers...this was slow, & I wasted a lot of ballast. Later, I tried some little spice bottles with various types of lids for pouring, without much success...
Then I saw an article somewhere, where they used a Dixie cup, & voila! The best ballast spreader I've found!
I just put a very small amount of ballast in the cup at a time...like I said, I work in sections 8" - 12" at a time...
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Squirt top bottles

Judy:
I've found that, when ballasting, the last thing you want is any sort of puff of air, especially directed at the track. Even some of the spray bottles for glue/matte medium will scatter the scenery.
I've also found that when ballasting is complete, the house goes up for sale. :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
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