trackwork Ballasting Your Layout
Ballasting your layout
By Scott Jay
As I mentioned, I'm currently working in Derwin's Drop on my layout - The Bayside & Tidewater. The ballasting is not completely done, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to do a series here at Scratchbuilder's Guild.
Every model railroader has his or her own method for laying ballast. I've used many of them over the years. The method I'll describe here is what I am currently using, and works well for me. You may find that some of the things I do don't seem to work for you. You should hunt around the internet and/or ask other model railroaders how they do ballast. Then experiment with several methods, to come up with your own ballasting technique.
So, get your shovel and gravel ready...
The Area
This is the area I will be ballasting for this series. It is a small section of Derwin's Drop. I chose it because it has regular track, a turnout and ground throws. Each of these have their own tricks and methods, so I'll be able to show you almost all the scenarios you'll come up against.
One other note. I used 1/4" ply for roadbed - that does not have a beveled edge. Therefore, I'll have to use a bit more ballast to get a nice grade. If you use a commercial roadbed that is already beveled, this method will work just as well, if not better.
(Note: click pictures to see a larger version)
Basic Supplies
The photo at the right shows some of the basic supplies and tools I use for laying ballast. I use white glue (full strength and a 50/50 mix of white glue and water), to hold the ballast in place. The bottle between the two glue bottles is straight rubbing alcohol. It is used as a wetting agent, to hold the ballast in place while the glue is applied, and to help the ballast absorb the glue faster.
(Hint: buy a 4 liter jug of white glue - it's cheaper and you'll use a lot of it during the construction of your model railroad)
The two plastic containers are just leftover food containers, for holding and mixing ballast.
Coffee is a necessity anytime I work on the layout. Actually, it is a necessity anytime I'm doing anything - driving, watching TV, breathing (but don't drink and breathe at the same time)...
I've only used Woodland Scenics ballast, but there are several brands available. Some companies have ballasts in colors that are such a close match to prototype colors that they name them according to the Railroad. Arizona Rock and Mineral, for example, has a Southern Pacific Cinder ballast and a Norfolk Southern and CSX ballast.
Most railroads used a variety of materials for ballast, depending on whether it is for a heavily used mainline or seldom used industrial tracks. Since I don't model a particular prototype, I use WS medium grey for mainline track, sometimes with a bit of fine grey mixed in. On sidings and industrial track, I use the fine grey or fine dark grey ballast. Sometimes I don't use any ballast at all, or very little, and let the weeds take over the right-of-way.
This picture shows the medium grey and fine dark grey ballast material. I sometimes blend these in various proportions to get a variety of ballast textures. I try to use just one texture for mainlines, and several colors and texture blends for sidings and industrial tracks.
Well, this is getting kind of long for one post. In part two I'll demonstrate my method for adding ballast.
Okay, you should have all your tools ready - pick, shovel, tamper - and your gravel is piled beside the rails. Put on your gloves and let's get to work.
In Part 1, I forgot to mention my ballast spreading tool. I use a small pill bottle to sprinkle ballast on my track. I've tried other tools in the past - a spoon, various containers, and a commercially available applicator that I borrowed from a friend of mine. You can safely assume how well those other things worked, since I am now using a pill bottle.
I am doing mainline here, so I am using the medium grey ballast. I dumped a bunch of it into a margarine container and scooped some into the pill bottle. I usually do the sides of the track first, so that if any ballast spills between the rails, it won't overfill that area. The trick is to apply enough ballast to cover the roadbed, but not cover the ties. I just tilt the pill bottle and tap the side to lightly sprinkle ballast where I want it.
Ballasting turnouts presents a bit of a challenge. You have to be careful around the point rails, that you don't apply too
much ballast. It will prevent them from moving freely. Guard rails are another area you should be careful of. You don't want any ballast in this area that can cause a wheel to jump and derail a car. I usually apply only a very light sprinkle of ballast to turnouts. Some people don't ballast turnouts at all, so free function is not affected. I prefer the look of a ballasted turnout.
After I've sprinkled a bit of ballast on, I run my finger between the rails and along the edge to spread the ballast out and clean it off the ties. You can use your finger to level off high spots along the edge, as well.
In tighter areas through turnouts, I'll use a small brush to move ballast around and clear flangeways and point rails. A small screwdriver works well, too.
Run a fingernail along the rail to move any ballast away from it. Ballast glued to the rail web looks very unnatural. It can catch a wheel flange causing a derailment, as well.
Next, drip on some rubbing alcohol and soak the ballast really well. It will help to hold the ballast in place and act as a wetting agent to soak the glue into the ballast. Another option is to use water - with a few drops of dish detergent in it. Both do the job equally well, but I find that the glue dries a bit faster with the alcohol.
Apply the glue in the same way, dripping it on the ballast. It will pool at first, but will slowly wick into the ballast. If you hadn't used a wetting agent, the glue would just ball up and run down the slope, taking ballast with it.
Again, you should be careful around the point rails of turnouts. Apply the glue sparingly, especially close to the throwbars. They will get glued anyway, but if you use only a drop of glue near them, they won't be too hard to free up. It will help if you periodically move the point rails or ground throws, as the glue dries.
Once you have completed the area you are working on, it's time to take a break and grab a coffee. I'll be back after the glue is dry, for some fine tuning and tips for making your ballast look even more realistic.
Well, now that things are beginning to settle down around here it's time I post the last in my series on ballasting. In this section, I'll step you through un-sticking those now well-glued turnouts (it's hard to avoid), and some final touchups that will make ho-hum model track stand out from the rest.
I got a little ahead of myself, I'm rather new to this tutorial thing, and messed up the order of things a bit. Please disregard the color of the ballast, for now.
Like I said in my introduction to this article, if you ballast turnouts, it is virtually impossible to avoid gluing them in place. The good thing is white glue does not take well to plastic and metal, so with a little bit of work you can have them moving freely in no time. These turnouts have long wires (throw rods) attached to the turnout on one end - and a Caboose Hobbies ground throw on the other end. To avoid damage to the ground throw, I removed the arm from the base before I worked at the turnout. Then, in this case, I used a pair of pliers to push/pull on the throw rod to loosen the turnout's point rails. After I broke the glue bond, the turnout was still a little stiff to move, so I applied a few drops of rubbing alcohol to further 
loosen the glue. After a few push/pulls with the pliers, I re-installed the arm of the ground throw. The turnout may be stuck again after the alcohol dries, so you might have to repeat this process. Eventually, after two or three tries, you will not have to apply alcohol and the turnout will not stick again. So don't ballast track just before an operating session.
I've been told that nail heads in a tie can ruin an otherwise great picture and look like doggie-do between the rails. So, if you don't have a large pack of wild railfanning dogs on your layout, now is a good time to remove those track nails. The glue and ballast is more than enough to hold your track in place.
I use a pair of needle nose, or small wire cutters, to remove nails. Use whatever you are comfortable with to grab the nail
head and pull up the nail.
The next step will help define the ties. You're going to think I'm crazy for even suggesting this, but it's time to paint the ties. It really doesn't take very long, a few minutes really, since all we're doing is highlighting them.
Remember the coffee I had when I started this series? It was still sitting there two days later. The cover makes a very good palette. Put on a few drops of your favorite tie-weathering colors. I used a rust, grey, and off-white. I didn't use much of the rust color. I dipped a stiff brush in the grey, brushed most of it off and then quickly wiped the brush along the ties, not
being fussy about the coverage. After I finished with the grey, I cleaned and dried the brush, dipped it in the white, and wiped off most of the paint. The technique I used is called dry-brushing - I just brushed the high spots and ends of the ties.
Finally, if the area you are working on hasn't seen much maintenance, there will be a lot of oil and grease on the ballast, especially around turnouts. I tried a new method in this area - black acrylic paint thinned with windshield washer fluid. The fluid works great for thinning acrylic paint for airbrushing, so I figured I'd give it a try.
I used an old contact lens cleaner bottle to mix and apply the thinned paint. Have a look at photos of real track to see how much blackening and where to put it.
So, in the end you'll have something that looks like this. Yours will likely look a whole lot better than mine.
My next posts on scenery will deal with grass and bushes. I'll use this area for those posts. You'll see how the area will change over time and how everything blends together.
Until then - happy modeling!
Scott
