Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Trying out a new ballasting technique

With the track on the Wesso module all done and tested it was time for ballast.  I plan to finish the module as much as possible up to about 6 inches of the ends before installing it permanently in place on the layout.

I normally like to use HO ballast for track to have a contrast of texture with the N scale ballast I use for such things as gravel roads.

For this layout I have selected the Arizona Rock & Mineral products shown in this photo.  The eastbound and westbound lines will use different color ballast representing two different railroads.

On the back of the labels on the bags of ballast it was suggested that first placing black cinder ballast along the lower edges would result in a more realistic looking roadbed.  I used N scale black cinder for this part.  This photo shows a section of track with only that ballast applied along the edges.

Before starting the ballast on the layout I had tried out this technique on a diorama. A section of the finished track on the diorama is shown in this photo.  Any bare spots show the underlying smaller, darker ballast and not the cork.




Also I noticed that having the N scale ballast secured along the lower edges of the road bed help keep the main ballast from eroding when applying the 50 / 50 white glue and water solution.  So I would have to say that I do like this technique and plan to use it on this layout.

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