A simple and effective way to ballast...

[doctorwayne]

I keep seeing comments about people dreading having to ballast their tracks, or, from people who've tried and not had success, what a crummy task it is.  What follows is my procedure for ballasting - there are others that work as well, but this one uses tools and materials which are cheap and readily available.
The choice of ballast is up to you - I use Woodland Scenics Fine Ballast on much of my HO scale layout, but used real limestone "fines" on much of the upper level.

To ballast your track, I find that a small paper cup (such as those kitchen or bathroom Dixie cups) gives you great control over where the ballast goes. I usually move the cup along the centre of the track, tapping it as I go, to keep the ballast flowing. Less than you need is better than too much, although a soft 1/2" brush is useful for pushing around the excess or levelling what's in place. Then go back and do both roadbed shoulders in turn. Use the brush to level and re-arrange things as required, making sure to keep the ballast away from the throwbar area and the flangeways of the guardrails.  When using the brush, drag it over the ballast with the handle almost parallel to the track - this gives more control over where the ballast goes.  If you use the brush as you would a paintbrush, the ballast will scatter when the bent bristles flex.

To remove stray ballast from the tie tops, lightly grasp the metal ferrule of the brush between the thumb and forefingers of one hand, laying the handle across the rail tops, then, as you move the brush along the tracks, lightly and rapidly tap the brush handle with the fingers of your free hand. The stray ballast will "magically" bounce off the ties and into place between them.

If you're also ballasting turnouts, make sure to keep the level of the ballast below the tops of the ties, and don't place any ballast between the ties surrounding the throw bar.

To avoid gluing the points to the ties, place two drops of plastic-compatible oil atop each tie over which the point rails move, one next to each point rail, then flip the points back-and-forth several times to spread the oil. Parking the points in mid-throw will also help to ensure that they don't get glued to the stock rails, either.

You can mist the contoured ballast using either water and alcohol, or water with a few drops of dish detergent added. Either should work, although I prefer the detergent, as it's cheaper and works just as well. (I save my alcohol - not the denatured kind -  for a nice drink after I've completed the ballasting.)     Use a sprayer that will allow you to spray a fine mist. To avoid having the force of the spray dislodge loose ballast all over the landscape, aim the first few spritzes upward, letting the droplets fall like rain. Once the surface has been wetted, you'll be able to spray it directly. Make sure to thoroughly wet the ballast right down to the base. Not doing so is probably the main reason that many people have trouble getting a decent-looking and durable ballasting job.

To apply the glue/water mixture (white glue works just as well as matte medium and is way cheaper, especially if you buy it by the gallon. Those who claim that white glue dries shiny are not using sufficient wetting agent. The proportions should be about 50/50 water/glue, although a little heavier on the water will still work well).  To apply the glue mixture, don't ruin a perfectly good spray bottle (and while doing so cover your rails and anything else nearby in glue, too):  instead, use a dropper. An eyedropper will work, but a plastic squeeze bottle with a small nozzle will be much faster. Simply move along the track, as quickly as necessary, allowing the glue mixture to drip onto the ballast (or ties - you won't see it once it dries). You should be able to see it being drawn into the ballast, due to the wetting agent. I usually do the area between the rails first, then the sides in turn. The glue mixture will spread throughout the ballast and down to the roadbed, so make sure to apply enough to allow this to occur. The result will be ballast bonded solidly in place, yet with the appearance of loose, individual pieces.

Where I have scenic areas adjacent to, but below the level of the track, I also apply the basic ground cover, which also helps to soak up the excess glue that spreads out from the ballast line.  If you're applying ballast (or ground cover) to steeply sloped areas, use a suitable-width brush to apply undiluted white glue to the slope before applying the ballast or ground foam, which will help to hold everything in place while you apply the wetting agent and the dilute white glue (these steps help to bond the top layers of material to those in contact with the unthinned glue, and also help to draw that glue up into the top layers).  In the photo below, the ballast, sub-ballast, and rock fill, along with the trackside weeds, was all applied and secured in the same step.

   

The pictures below show the sequence of operations to ballast your track.

First, add the ballast.  Here it's been generously applied from a paper cup...

   

Here's the ballast after it's been groomed....

   

The area has been sprayed liberally with wet water.....

   

Don't be stingy with the glue/water mixture either:

   

   


When it's dry (it may take several days), the ballast will appear loose, but will withstand most non-contact vacuuming...

   

Wayne

[LynnB]

Good one Wayne , I got over my fear of ballasting last year, I agree most problems occur when the ballast hasn't been completely soaked before adding wet glue.

[Trucklover]

Wayne, thats an excellent tutorial on ballasting and laying down ground cover, thanks for posting and sharing!!

I always thought that you didnt need to soak the ground cover that much, and not to over due the glueing, but seing how you did it, and seeing the outcome, it looks just as great and will prolly stand up to more "handling" then when i do mine

Thanks again for the tips and the great tutorial

[Sarge]

Thanks for the tutorial Doc!! Now that I have tried weathering, this will be next

[Steve]

Wayne...great job!
Those pics are worth a thousand words. You would never think anything that completely soaked would ever dry or look good....but as you have shown, it not only looks good, it looks GREAT!

[Biased turkey]

Well done ( as usual ) Wayne.
As you mentioned, the most important is to wet the ballast completely before applying the glue/water mixture.

I'm modeling N scale, so there is some variation here:
I use an old film canister to distribute the N scale fine ballast, it's perfectly made for 9mm gauge.
I use a finger to distribute the ballast on the track. I found that using a paintbrush makes the N scale ballast fly everywhere.

About ballasting the turnouts: just use enough ballast to cover the cork roadbed, apply the alcohol and then the glue/water mixture from the sides.
I like to apply a very thin mixture of glue/water ( 1 part glue, 4 to 6 parts water ) and repeat the operation a few days after the ballast is dry.

Jacques

[foulrift]

Nice description Wayne.Very helpful.I have a question.I sort of put the cart before the horse and have all my buildings in place.In there another method of applying the wet water without spraying it? I am almost ready to start ballasting and would rather not use a spray because everything would get wet. Bob

[doctorwayne]

As long as your buildings aren't wood and are relatively dust-free, the wet water won't hurt them. In any of my pictures, if there's a building in the photo and the scenery around it has ballast or ground cover in place, the building was in place when that scenic material was applied. That's the best way to make your structures look as if they're built into the ground, rather than on top of it. It also serves to hold the structure in place - still removeable with some effort, but not knocked out of position every time you happen to touch it.
For wood structures, a temporary "mask" of waxed paper or plastic food wrap would probably suffice to shield it from the worst of the spray. You could apply the "wet" water with a dropper around such structures, but there's a chance that the sudden influx of so much water at one time could cause the scenic material (ground foam or ballast) to "ball" around the water - even with the reduced surface tension afforded by the detergent, this will really disrupt the appearance, and trying to smooth it while wet is a recipe for further disaster.
If there's dust on your structures, the water can cause out-of-scale streaks, especially on roofs - take dusty structures out of the layout room, then use a soft brush to clean them before putting them back in place.
In all of the scenes below, the structures were in place while the nearby ground cover and ballast was applied - water was literally dripping from the eaves:

   

   

   

   

In this photo, the ballast has not yet been applied on the upper tracks, as I need to lift out both Languay's and the station in order to add some detail to the backdrop. Once that's done, the buildings will be positioned, then the ballast and ground cover will be applied.

   

This view is along the same tracks as shown in the previous photo. The parts of National Grocers on both sides of the tracks are still removeable, for the same reason as Languay's and the station. I'll need to remove all of the stuff that's stored on the shelf under the layout, too, when I ballast, as there's nothing but open benchwork under all of these large structures. Some of the glue is bound to run under the "foundations" and drip onto the shelf:

   

Coffield Washer, at left, and Wilkinson-Kompass, centre, are both held in place by ballast and ground cover, applied while they were in place, while the lower part of National Grocers, at right, has an un-ballasted siding, and is still removeable:

   

Things that should be removed before ballasting or applying ground cover are trains, vehicles, LPBs, and small details such as piles of junk, details on loading docks, and anything else that you may wish to move around from time to time. It's fine to show different trains passing by the same structure again and again, but if the same car or person is always in the same spot on every photo, eventually someone will notice. I'm guilty of this last one :oops: : even though almost all of my details remain "loose", I often forget to move some of them occasionally. This poor guy has been trying to get into his car for ages - I've change the car several times, but he doesn't seem to notice.

   

Wayne

[Trucklover]

Wayne Great Series of photos and thanks for the added tips for spraying when buildings are in place. That makes sense and i really like how they look like they are really in the scenery instead of just sitting ontop lol

[MasonJar]

You could apply the "wet" water with a dropper around such structures, but there's a chance that the sudden influx of so much water at one time could cause the scenic material (ground foam or ballast) to "ball" around the water - even with the reduced surface tension afforded by the detergent,

You can use isopropyl alcohol, available in a 50% mix at the Dollar Store.,as the wetting agent for this type of situation. Surface tension is almost non-existant, and it will make sure that the glue mix goes where it needs to without oversoaking.

Andrew

[foulrift]

Doc-Thanks for the additional information. That's just what I wanted to know. Now that I think of it I might even be able to cover most of the buildings to protect them.
Andrew- That 50% IPA that you use is it sold in that %? If so did you use it as is or did you have to add any detergent to it?
Bob

[MasonJar]

Andrew- That 50% IPA that you use is it sold in that %? If so did you use it as is or did you have to add any detergent to it?
Bob

Yes - sold as is... You can get a 90%+ solution at the drug store, but it is not necessary. The 50% solution is identified as such, and is (I believe) a mix of alcohol and distilled water, so can be used as is.

The alcohol replaces the need for the detergent, so no, no soap required... I sometimes make my glue mix with it too, but if the initial application wets the scenic materials enough, this is not necessary and you can mix the glue with regular water.

Andrew

[doctorwayne]

I should have mentioned that if your water is especially hard, an alcohol/water mix may be preferable. I like the water /detergent because it's cheaper, and I find the vapours given-off by the alcohol irritating. I'm curious, though: does the alcohol have any effect on the dyes used to colour most scenery products? And does it break-down the oil that I suggest using to keep switch points from getting glued in place?

Wayne

[MasonJar]

I have not seen any damage/changes caused by using the 50% solution. Stronger stuff might be problematic...?

Andrew

[doctorwayne]

That's good to know, Andrew. I hope everyone notes that this thread is entitled "A simple and effective way...", not "The simple and effective way...."

Wayne