Ballast

[invercloy]

I use chinchilla dust for ballast*

If you want to go down this route be careful which version you buy as there's one that's finely ground stone, and one that's clay based. If you use the clay based on it swells as you add the adhesive, then cracks as it dries.

I fix it in position with a 70/30 mix of Matte Medium and Isopropyl Alcohol. It has a slight effect on the colour, but only darkens it slightly.

*no chichillas were harmed in the construction of my layout, it is the dust used in the base of their cages :)

[Stephen Clulow]

Thanks for this useful information. I am about to start ballasting for the first time - there's lots of tips here that I will use.

[DeadHorse]

When ballasting is done right it will not be noticed on your layout.
If it is done badly it grates on the eye - much like everything else really.
So it is worth doing well, whichever method you use.
It is rarely uniform in appearance either. Little used sidings and out of the way stretches will look a lot different to 'main line' track.
Some layouts I have seen dont use ballast at all, but sink the track into the mud, muck & weeds which perfectly represents the run down appearance of a neglected railway that has seen better days. That is rather more dificult to achieve I think, and will not suit all layouts.
Take a close look at pics of railways that are similar in style & of the same period to the one you are modelling.

[jimowers]

I also use a teaspoon and small brush to locate the ballast but by far the biggest innovation in a long time is Deluxe Ballast Bond. It comes as a liquid in a bottle together with a very fine nozzle for application. No prior wetting is needed and the nozzle allows you to control exactly where to apply the liquid. It sets very quickly compared to PVA and I have found it the best product so far.
I do not have any connection with the company but, as with a lot of their other products, I have found it does exactly what they say it should.

[Doug Dickson]

Thinking obliquely, I see the main problem as getting sufficient liquid through the ballast layer to reach the surface to which the track is secured....

Like the majority I've previously used the traditional method of dripping fluid onto the ballasted track until I can be sure it is so, sometime inadvertently washing away, or shifting ballast by over-enthusiastic application.

I wonder [never having tried it...] if laying the track over blotting paper or the like would help, by 'wicking' the fluid evenly underneath the track before this happens?

As it will be a long time before I shall again be ballasting anything, is there anyone who would be willing to try it, at least on a small stretch of track?

Doug

[jimowers]

That is the great thing about Ballast Bond. It reaches the parts others cannot reach! It also sets like glue because it is.
Since the liquid is quite thin it gets down to the bottom of the ballast layer and yet it does not need any added wettener, like washing liquid.

[gastwo]

If I may add my two pence worth - on our Cardi-Bach Layouts (3mm) and on the present 009 under construction, we have used beach sand from above high-water (one of our local beaches has grey sand) and on another occasion scrounged a bag of granite dust from a local quarry.
50% PVA and 50/50 water & meths applied with a syringe. Ballast sprinkled in, and prodded with finger. Final mist with meths from a little plastic spray bottle. Obviously this has to be done before any buildings/scenics are in place. Vacuum the residue and clean track with a dental pick.
Not everybody's cup of tea, but it works for us...

Shaun.

[Hugh Norwood]

Thinking obliquely, I see the main problem as getting sufficient liquid through the ballast layer to reach the surface to which the track is secured....
Doug

use a spray mister to wet the track and ballast before doing the eye-dropper thing.

[Graeme Dunbar]

Thinking obliquely, I see the main problem as getting sufficient liquid through the ballast layer to reach the surface to which the track is secured....
Doug

use a spray mister to wet the track and ballast before doing the eye-dropper thing.

and it should be self evident, but don't point the sprayer at the track, but mist the air above it or the ballast may go all over the place! There's no need to ask how I know that!

[gastwo]

Whichever method of ballasting is used, I can recommend this Hoover rechargeable. The small nozzle adapter is ideal, and the fine mesh covering the fan stops even the finest dust. I liberated it from household management, as they objected to the colour...