Ballast

Model ballast and track doesn't have the weight to be used "just like the prototype".  It won't stay put.

I'm not sure exactluy what your ? is.

Once my train room is cleaned up enough to begin the model railroad, I will be modeling the Los Angeles Junction Rwy (LAJ).  I spent 2 Saturdays last year with a couple of other LAJ fans exploring the right of way, and never saw any evidence of ballast anywhere on the railroad!  My plan is to fasten my track directly to the top of the bench work and then "ballast" with "dirt and weeds."

If you are talking about building up a ballast profile for your track entirely with ballast, you will probably find that the ballast doesn't hold the track well at all.  The other problem is that to build up a ballast profile with ballast only and no cork or other suitable base will require a lot of ballast material, most of which won't be visible anyway. 

If you are concerned that the commercial road bed materials are too expensive, you could cut road bed out of plywood of the correct thickness, and mount your track to that, and then just use the ballast material between the ties and along the edges to build up your prototypical ballast shoulders.  Just remember that if you cut your roadbed base out of plywood, that you need to cut your curves and don't forget to cut spiral easements for smooth transitions from straights into curves.

depends

I have found that ballasting track and then gluing it down fills in the gaps like real ballast so I don't have to be so critical when smoothing roadbed before laying track.  The track, its appearance and performance is quite good. 

I have seen good running N scale track that has good appearance and performance with gaps of greater than a quarter inch under the track.  The example is a display layout in the 1994 NMRA convention.

I tend to use dirt from the yard or cinders from the road as the main filler and covering that with a thin layer of commercial ballast--something about cost.

Terry

I'm not using any cork or

I'm not using any cork or foam roadbed on my industrial switching layout. The flex track and turnouts are glued to the foam base, painted with Floquil Roof Brown (spray), and then ballasted. I use a product called Mod-Podge full-strength to glue the track down and diluted to secure the ballast. Works fine for me.

laying track with ballist

Thanks guys for all the input.  After fosting the original post i decided to experiment. I first layed the track on the my foam bench work.(which I had covered with papertowels socked in hydrocal gives a more realistic ground look i think).  I then laied the ballast,as Terry and Len suggested.  I foun the same thing I did not have to have the track perfectly level the ballast filled in all the gaps.  After wetting the ballast with wet water I soaked it with a solution of wite glue and waer.  After everthing was dry the tracked looked good and is not going anywhere.  This will be my method of laying track from now on.  Thanks to all for all the great info.

I can now continue on rebuilding my N scale version of the Union pacific in Ellis Kansas (my home town)

John Weichert

building minitures of Union Pacific buildings

no roadbed

Thanks Terry In my experiments I have found the same results that you have described.

Again thanks and happy railroading.

John

I would do both...

...roadbed and directly on foam. When I started my current shelf layout. I did what I knew and used Homasote and cork roadbed. Today I would use some kind of roadbed to elevate the "main" and put everything else directly on the foam.

I hope you got my email on the Manhattan and McPherson building drawings. 

any pictures?

Would love to see the pictures of the end result...I have thought about using cork with a thin layer of ballast then apply the track and back fill in as I go.