The easy track stuff (the plastic roadbed connected track), can you add ballast to these tracks or will it look bad?
Ballasts with plastic roadbed attached
- Thread starter prodigy2k7
- Start date
You can add ballast, but probably a thin layer only, as otherwise the ties will look buried. Not that it doesn't happen in real life...! 
You can also try painting and/or drybrushing the "ballast" to improve the appearance.
Andrew
You can also try painting and/or drybrushing the "ballast" to improve the appearance.
Andrew
If you like...please check out my NScale gallery pic's under Herc Driver (or use the link below my signature)...all my track is Bachmann EZ and has been painted/ballasted. If you like that "look", the ballasting can be done without too much fuss.
Herc's stuff looks fine.
That being said, even if it looks the same...it costs much more $$$ and gives you less flexibility than flex track
That being said, even if it looks the same...it costs much more $$$ and gives you less flexibility than flex track
I've ballasted Bachman EZ track so successfully that some people think it's snap track laid down on separate roadbed. It's not until they make a close inspection that they see it's the Bachmann product.
Fleischmann N scale tracks have a plastic roadbed .
That's what it looks like when painted and ballasted. The track in the middle hasn't been ballasted.
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=20564&highlight=ballast
That's what it looks like when painted and ballasted. The track in the middle hasn't been ballasted.
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=20564&highlight=ballast
I don't think you want to use anything but flex track with dcc. The dcc system we use in the modular club is very sensitive to bad connections. I would reccomend soldering a drop wire to a buss to every piece of rail on your layout. Those short sections of track will require a lot of soldering to work.
nkp174 - you're right about the cost and flexibility...if I had to do it all again, I'd used flex and a roadbed. (I thought the kids would loose interest in a simple oval running on a table...wooops they didn't loose interest and that simple table oval using EZ track with no scenery grew into our layout.)
IMHO...EZ track is a good product with some advantages that depend on when/how the layout will be used. It is more expensive, more restrictive on layout design, but you can still use it effectively and I feel ballast/scenic it well with no more effort than snap/flex track.
IMHO...EZ track is a good product with some advantages that depend on when/how the layout will be used. It is more expensive, more restrictive on layout design, but you can still use it effectively and I feel ballast/scenic it well with no more effort than snap/flex track.
A lot of my society colleagues would recommend using Roco-line. I'm not too sure about adding ballast to it, but I have looked at what can be done by the way of airbrushing in their catalogue and the end result does look good. Personally, I would stick to using Peco track as it's a lot less expensive!