Ballasting

The next major step for my layout will be laying ballast. Does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions please?

From my personal experience these are the steps that I have taken. First, I take a plastic medicine measuring cup or something similar and drill a 1/8” hole in the bottom. This allows the ballast to flow nice and smooth. Similar to an hour glass. You can place your finger over the hole to start and stop flow. Once the ballast is spread, I take a stiff bristle brush and spread between the ties and get the taper on the edges. When you get the ballast to your liking, wet it down with alcohol, then follow with a 50/50 blend of white glue and water. I used a large eyedropper to apply. Let dry overnight, then clean any ballast that washed on the rails.

I have used the WS ballast in the past and was not happy with the appearance. I recently was turned onto ballast from Arizona Rock. It is really nice. It doesn’t float as bad when wetting and gluing down.

Once again, this is what works for me.

I use a squeeze katsup bottle like you find in the diners. Need a bigger hole?, clip off a little of the tip. Also ad a few drops of dish detergent in your 50/50 mix. It helps the glue settle in the balast.

After ballast dispensing, you can also just wet it with water (distilled preferred, to keep any white mineral stains when it dries). Just add a few drops of dish soap, per quart of water. Spray until moist, not shiny wet. Then, drown in the 50/50 white glue.

I use a dispensing bottle with a pointed tip, like you can find in a hair/beauty supply store for $1. I prefer the ones with the spot angled and mounted at the top edge, rather than the middle. Just hold this tip against the inside rail and let it flood out (the rail will cause capillary action, drawing the liquid out smoothly). Make sure the ballast is completely wet, flooded. It will look really ugly but trust us, it will be dry and not a trace of glue after 12 hours. Preferably 24 hours before you go and move the module (twisting the surface) or working on the track, just to make sure it is comepletely dry.

Jeff
SF Bay Area Z

Gary,

I'm using WS ballast and didn't like the size or texture of it so I crushed it. I made a short video of the most effective crushing process .

Thanks everyone for the useful advice!