Charlie Duckworth points out that even with the wide variety
of commercial ballast available, it rarely matches well enough
to satisfy people modeling from photos of the real thing.
“The Mopac branchline I model was originally ballasted with
cinders,” Charlie said. “When I first started putting them down I
didn’t like the stark blackness so I did two things. I added a lit-
tle brown and gray ballast, and I add a few drops of my acrylic
dirt color in the glue mix, which tones down the black cin-
ders and blends with the surrounding dirt color on the layout.
Last step is to sprinkle a little ground foam over the ballast to
denote a few weeds growing up between the ties.”
Charlie’s central Missouri Ozarks can be seen at
and in “Model Railroad Planning 2010” from Kalmbach.
For people who don’t want to deal with the fumes from alco-
hol, Cajon Pass John reports good results dampening the dry
ballast with just water and the Super Wet additive from Scenic
Express in a dollar shop hairspray mister. Peter F. uses Rain-X
for the same purpose.
You can read the original Model Railroad Hobbyist Forum
thread on ballasting techniques at:
.
– MRH
Q.
Out railfanning, I saw a square sign with yellow and red
diamond shapes stuck into the roadbed. What are these for?
A.
The yellow-red sign is one of several temporary or perma-
nent signs that instruct train and engine crews. Yellow-red is
covered by Rule 12A (in the Union Pacific’s May 1, 1972 rule-
book and many others), which says:
Questions, Answers & Tips - 3
Rio Grande Dan brought up a couple more good points.
Ballasting is tedious and labor-intensive. Only work on about
18-24 inches of track at a time. Prepare your glue and wetting
solutions in quantity so you don’t have to stop mid-project. Stir
the mixtures to blend them; shaking introduces air bubbles that
will cause gaps in coverage.
Carefully apply ballast to the desired profile with a spoon or small
scoop, then shape it with a 1” paint brush, foam brush, paint-
ing pad, or a modified toothbrush. Use a mister (sold for misting
plants, or spraying olive oil) to dampen the ballast with a 50/50
mix of isopropyl alcohol and water. The key word is “damp.”
Soaking the ballast will wash it away. Apply the glue mixture with
an eyedropper or syringe. Thin glue mixtures can also be applied
with a hand-pump spray bottle, or a reused contact lens solu-
tion bottle. (Dan likes to build up the angled side profiles and glue
them before attempting to apply ballast between the rails).
Go light with everything when ballasting around switch points
and drip in a compatible oil on all moving parts to keep the glue
from fouling up your turnouts. While the ballast is drying, keep
moving the switch points and keep the area where the tracks
move clear of glue and ballast. The edge of a paper towel can be
used to wick moisture away from pivot points and throw bars.
The wetting agent and glue have to be applied gently or they
will wash away your carefully arranged ballast. Big spray bottles
are too powerful. Glue should be dribbled in slowly and allowed
to flow through the ballast, not poured or dropped.
Resist the temptation to fiddle with the ballast until it is com-
pletely dry. Messing with wet, sticky ballast will only cause prob-
lems. A Dustbuster or a low-power vacuum cleaner with a clean
filter bag can pick up the excess for reuse, after the ballast dries.
MRH-Jan 2013
