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Track Ballasting Tutorial
Tools and Supplies
1. 1 inch foam brush
2. 1/4 inch stiff bristle brush
3. small container for ballast
4. small mixing dish for glue
The Process
Mix glue with water, just enough to make it slightly soupy, but not too much or it will dry too quickly.
Using your stick bristle brush, apply the glue on both the roadbed and the foundation, but mostly on the foundation. The purpose being that you want the ballast to form a nice clean edge for the next steps.
Once you are finished with applying the glue mixture, pour the ballast on the glued roadbed. What we expect to happen is that the glue on the foundation will capture the ballast as it is flowing down the roadbed. You want to apply just enough ballast that will cover the end ties as shown in the photo. Once you complete applying the ballast to the edges, then pour a small amount of ballast between the rails, just enough to cover the rails but not too much as indicated in the following photos.
Using the foam brush, start with the brush at an angle between the rails, dragging it along until you start seeing the excess ballast start pouting out onto the edges of the track. Once you are finished with your first pass, then take the brush, covering both rails and the center ties, pull it along until you see the ballast off the ties. Then once you finish this part, remove any ballast still on the ties in between which if you do this right, there should be very little.
Now to the tie ends, using the foam brush’s edge with the handle sloped over the rails, push the ballast into the spaces between the ties; the purpose of this is to reduce those voids between ties and underneath the rail which makes the rails seem like they are floating in space. You want to cover the tie ends but not so much that you end up with ballast between the rails, leading to another cleaning.
Again, using the foam brush’s edge in the outer web between the top of the rail and tie, and the brush’s handle pointing away from the track at a slight angle, pull it along, but keeping the sloped edge of the brush horizontal with ties. We want to remove any ballast from the top of the tie ends. You should start seeing a very clean looking ballasting job.
Then using the foam brush, pull any remaining ballast scattered on the foundation towards the ballasted roadbed, shaping it to slope.
Now we move to the next step, cementing the ballast permanently.
I like using small spray applicator bottles for their misting capabilities as well as to prevent children from taking a full scale spray bottle and dangerously spraying each other in the eyes or on other important things.
Starting about a foot above the ballasted track, spray the 50/50 wet water on the ballast. Make a few passes until you can start seeing the ballast changing color. Then keep spraying but get closer to the ballast until you start seeing the wet water pool between the rails. Once this is finished, move to applying the Scenic Cement. I am sorry that I couldn’t take a photo for this step but it is very self-explanatory. Start by keeping your misting applicator high, then gradually with each pass, start getting closer.
With your small applicator as shown earlier, drip the cement in between the rails until you start seeing it pool, then move on to the tie ends. Starting at the edge of the ballast and foundation, drip the cement, what you want to see is the cement wick into the ballast, provided you’ve applied enough wet water. Once you are finished, move your cement applicator to the tie end, again dripping the cement onto the ballast, you should see the cement vanish during the first few drips, then start to pool, then you can continue on until you are finished.
Then that’s it, you are finished with that part.
If you should accidentally squeeze your cement applicator and it knocks some of your ballast away, use the wooden handle to gently tap some ballast back into place. Another tip is not to touch the ballast for 24 hours or more, then when you do, do some gently, you want to feel whether the glue solidified, if it is mushy, it is still wet; allow it to dry completely.
Just finished completing construction of new model grain elevator and hand-painted it Tamiya Flat Aluminum; I know it is very shiny but that is caused by the fluorescent lighting. Once I weather it with Floquil Rust, that should tone it down a bit. But before I weather it, I’ll apply the cool looking decals.
As you can see, my layout is getting slightly crowded. I still have several spots left for a grain silo and barn, perhaps a church and a bank or something like that. I’ll have to spread out my trees a bit to add some green here and there.
Every Railroad Empire Needs A Grain Elevator And Water Tower
After weeks of staring at this wonderful grain elevator, I finally bought it. Assembly only took a couple of days and was a very interesting learning experience. What I learned from this model assembly will help during my next construction project coming down the rail.
The model Walthers HO 3022 ADM Grain Elevator Kit 933-3022 was bought on sale for $24.99 from Model Train Stuff and arrived within a week after ordering.
Water Tower
Walthers HO 2826 City Water Tower Silver Built-Up 933-2826
Fortunately the water tower was pre-assembled and looks awesome.
I am almost finished with my layout. I plan on adding some foundation material (sifted sand) after making some roads and sidewalks. Then round and round we go, having fun.
My Layout: Croxton Terminal on 48" X 89.5" plywood →
A link to a forum that I’ve been posting my layout progress and other interesting items. Click on the title My Layout: Croxton Terminal on 48” X 89.5” plywood
My wife’s favorite rolling stock
And, of course, it had to be hot pink:
This speaks for itself. This metal reefer car is vintage Tyco, modified to roll on my layout with Kadee trucks and wheelsets.
Ballasting Track
Latest Update on My Ballasting Project
While ballasting my track, I noticed that ballast color was slightly brighter. I looked at the packaging, both were the same except the new ballast came in a bottle and the former in a bag. Hopefully it’ll fade with time.
Ice Cream Shop and Burlington Northern Locomotives
The engineers are getting some soft serve.
Ballasting and GP50 BN Tiger
Here is my layout replete with its mini forest in the bacgrouind. In the foreground is my new GP50 Burlington Northern Phase II Tiger. Also being featured is my current track ballasting project; afterwards I’ll continue, adding more terrain features to break up the flat surface.
A close-up of my Athearn GP50
Burlington Northern Mode
The few Athearn diesel locomotives I started collecting over the passed few months to keep me from going postal. After discovering just how intriguingly complicated constructing the above layout was, I knew I found something even more fun than gardening and rock hounding. After all the troubles and Youtube tutorials and the extreme penny-pinching and sacrifices I had at first during the first phases of this incomplete layout: random derailments caused by improper track alignment, manufacturing issues with one of the locomotives, getting garage sale vintage Tyco, Mantua and kit box cars, I can proudly say that I have trains on the brain!
From top right to lower left corners, Athearn diesels: (1) SD45 Burlington Northern #6416; (2) SD45 Great Northern #417; (3)SD45 Milwaukee Road #8; (4) GP38-2 Burlington Norther #2076; Gp38-2 Union Pacific #625.
The layout:
And of course, I just had to include a slightly dated video showing off my Milwaukee Road SD45 #8 in action.
And I have since added several more boxcars, hoppers and cabooses I have yet photograph and upload. But that is for next time. Right now I am in the middle of upgrading their stock McHenry couplers to Kadee so that I can uncouple the cars on the track without using my hand.
Today I went to Milbrae and bought a kit tree set from Tom’s Trackside Trains; I know I’ll go over there for more stuff to feed my new addiction.
Interesting Distraction from the Rage
OFF THE RAILS
Not too long ago, a great friend of mine wanted help setting up his Lionel O Gauge train set which, in many ways, just fascinated me. He has a Santa Fe Chief which I Youtubed for you. This adventure led me to starting my own small train set, pictured above. Now, for many people, their idea of a model train is that train that Grandpa set up to circle the Christmas tree or that just went round and round, driving the cats and dogs crazy; I shared that idea for a bit but now see just how interesting the hobby is.
For instance, I grew up near the Milwaukee Road in South Dakota. This train was extremely orange with many assorted colored box cars. Then 20 years ago or so, the railroad changed to Burlington Northern, gone were the colorful, dazzling box cars, replaced by mile long brown coal cars. At least the locomotives were awesome, painted bright green, bordered black. One benefit was that sometimes if we’d pass a heavy train, we could wave at the engineer, and he’d blow his horn. Awesome! On calm nights, you could even hear the train rolling by 12 miles away.
After buying Athearn diesel locomotive SD45 Great Northern and some track, the first thing I learned about it is that crossing wires is not a good thing nor is having a loose track, which also causes derailments and causes the train to move slowly in the loose parts and faster in others. Patience is needed for these slight problems. Wiring the track was another learning experience. I taught myself to solder wires together for a better electrical connection as well as learning that soldering irons are very hot as I burnt myself badly on my finger.
Eventually I’ll upgrade the train layout to Digital Command and Control, equip the locomotives with sound and enjoy more of this fascinating hobby. If it wasn’t for this hobby at this time, I’d have gone postal and that is a bad thing.
10 Search Engines to Explore the Deep End of the Invisible Web →
Interesting link for several search engines that delve deeper into the Internet than Google does as its search engine is based on popularity than on content.
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