Model Forum / General / Railroads / February 2009

I have used Woodland Scenics's ballast
(http://www.cchobbies.com/scenery/wsbalast.htm).  I have a H0 ballast
spreader tool (see
http://www.internettrains.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ML
R-5008&Category_Code=).

Once the ballast has been spread (you might want to use a brush to even
things up), I use a mix of 50-50 'white glue' (eg Elmer's or similar)
and water, with a drop or so a 'dish soap' (any random cheap liquid dish
soap meant for hand washing dishes -- NOT the stuff meant for an
automatic dishwasher machine).  I use an oral syringe (see
http://img.nextag.com/image/Apex-Small-Oral-Syringe/1/000/005/308/193/530819387.jpg
 -- get this at your local drug store) to apply the glue mixture.
Apply enough to completely saturate the ballast.  You might want to
lightly spray a mix of water with a drop or so a dish soap first to
'wet' the ballast.  You'll need to wait for the glue to dry (can take a
few days), then you can wipe the rails with a damp cloth to remove any
glue residue from the rail heads (although with careful application this
should not be really needed).

The 50-50 'white glue' and water, with a drop or so a 'dish soap' works
for just about all of your scenery needs: ballast, ground foam, etc.  As
was noted in another thread, it can be cost effective to buy the Elmer's by
the gallon.

wayne <wayne.deloach@gmail.com> wrote in news:0221e276-ffeb-4cbe-ad4f-
bb43b2099520@u39g2000prn.googlegroups.com:

Take a look at the most recent Model Railroader magazines.  Their
coverage of this topic is like the Arkansas River, wide but not very
deep.  It should be good for a beginner.

There are natural sources of ballast available, but getting the stuff
from the hobby shop is probably going to be more cost and time effective.  
A standard size bag goes a long way.  The "shaker" buckets have quite a
bit more, but it wasn't cheaper per ounce than the bags at my LHS.

Puckdropper

Even the text is in danish, pictures are said to be worth more than a
1000 words:
http://home6.inet.tele.dk/moppe/skaerv.html

The sand is "brake sand" from real trains.

Spred it out over the tracks, wipe it with a brush to get the correct
outline and then spray (use a spraybottle) with 1/3 white "woodglue" (in
danish called trælim - Erik correct me) and 2/3 water with at drop of
"dish soap".

Clean the track and let the whole thing harden for a day.

Klaus

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill Carl has an excellent ballasting tutorial with pictures....

http://www.fcsme.org/bcarl/basic_scenery.htm

Good luck with your ballasting!

Bill
Bill's Railroad Empire
N Scale Model Railroad:
http://www.billsrailroad.net
Brief History of N Scale:
http://www.billsrailroad.net/history/n-scale
Bill's Store--Books, Trains, and Toys:
http://www.billsrailroad.net/bookstore
Resources--Links to 1,200 sites:
http://www.billsrailroad.net/bills-favorite-links

A lot of folks use Woodland Scenics ballast.  It works, but it's made
from crushed walnut shells and has a tendency to float when the fixative
is applied if you're not careful.  There's not much color choice either.

Arizona Rock and Mineral has real rock ballast in lots of different
colors.  I haven't yet used it myself, but I've heard a lot of good
comments about it.  Take a look at:

http://rrscenery.com/azrock3.html

Wayne,
as far as the actual ballast goes, Arizona Rock & Mineral sells
excellent quality ballast and ground-cover powders.  They are very
realistic and they look wonderful!  They ship internationally.

Their website: http://www.rrscenery.com/

Peteski

Depending on the size of your latout, you might want to get some very
fine sifters from a new buddy in the sand business.

I coat the shoulders of the cork with straight white glue applier with
a very small brush.   I apply the ballast between the ties with a 35
mm film container. I then use one of those " all hairs cut on a slant"
make up brush to even things out.   I then WET the ballast with some
water, india ink and soap mixture before using a "toni" hair style
bottle of 30% white glue and 70% water with a few drops of soap.

When we get to the bottom 1/3rd of a gallon glue bottle, we mix a
whole batch so we don't have to worry about stopping to "mix" in the
middle of a project.

Beffore yopu start, practice on a section that is not on the layout.

All above posts offer good suggestions, take them all and find what
works for you.

I model in N scale,
and it's been a long time since I last ballasted any track.
However, I did basically what most people here suggested.
I forget what ballast material I used, but probably Woodland Scenics.

One thing I would suggest is to avoid white glue and wood glue,
as they tend to dry stiff or brittle or hard,
with the result that cars rolling along the track make an out-of-scale
amount of noise.  (See previous discussions of roadbed and subroadbed.)
Instead, try Aleene's Tacky Glue, which is kinda like white glue but
dries less stiff.  Better yet, try "matte medium", which dries to a
fairly spongy consistency *and* has a matte finish
so your ballast won't look all shiny.
(These two are the ones with which I have some experience --
others have suggested some other non-white-glue materials
that may be even better and/or cheaper.)
Again, mix 1:1 or 1:2 with water and add a drop of detergent or equivalent.

Also, my brush of choice (again, for N scale) was a 1"-wide flat paint brush,
of the sort used for interior house finish painting or staining.

Oh -- if you use natural materials from around the yard, beach, or gravel pit,
as some have suggested, you might want to go through it (after sifting it down
to size) with a magnet to remove any magnetic metal particles that could work
loose and cause horrible engine failures later.

HTH