First Welcome to MRH forums

First Welcome to MRH forums and second click on Discussion forums on the upper right hand side of this page and find track work section as well as electrical section for links to some great instruction on Track laying and Ballasting

Allen this video link is probably the best how to ballast track video on this site check it out, it explains to you step by step how to ballast and this works for any scale not just "N".

Dan

No need to paint

Now that you have the cork fastened down with caulk you can do the same thing with the track.  Spread the caulk in a thin even layer on the cork where the track will sit and then press the track down in the caulk.  Placing some weight on the track will hold it while the caulk sets.  Once the track is fastened with the caulk you can ballast.

Spread the ballast between the ties and off the sides of the track to form a nive ballast profile.  Once you are happy with the look, use a dropper or a glue bottle etc, that will allow some quantity control to apply a white glue/water mix to the ballast.  A little dish soap in the mix will help it to "flow" through and over the ballast.  Make sure the ballast is well wet with glue mixture.  Any spots that are not wet with glue will not stick.  Once it drys the ballast will be firmly glued in place.  If I remember correctly the glue/water mix is about 50/50.

The video linked above is very good too.

Ballast is definitely glued down

There are a few techniques about this, most involve pouring on the ballast in short (1 foot or so) runs, shaping it (and getting it off the ties), soaking it with a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water, then hitting it with "wet glue" - basically Elmers white glue that's diluted with water and a bit of dishwashing detergent to break down the surface tension.

However, since I haven't gotten that far on most of my layout, I decided to do something that might be considered a bit odd - Krylon has some rock texture paints in a variety of base colors. I picked out the one that most matched the gray ballast I'll be using (probably charcoal sand based on the webpage) and painted my cork with it. I did have a bit of a motive though - I discovered that on a section of track I ballasted that when I glued the ballast down the water/alcohol/glue pulled the brown paint that I'd covered my pink styrofoam with up into the ballast, giving it a rather off color. I'm hoping that the ballast colored paint will help me avoid that when I get back to ballasting stuff.

I really ought to test out a section...

A few photos:

My normal ballast color:

The "muddy brown" ballast where it soaked up paint:

Another photo - look in the middle left and you'll see where the transition occurred. That was an unpleasant surprise:

Here is the spraypainted cork - I was cutting a new switch in for an industry I'm adding (click photo for higer res):

Wetting agents

It has been over ten years since I glued any ballast down so I may have forgotten but I don't remember using the 50/50 alcohol/water before the glue.  As I recall I just used the water/white glue with dishsoap and it worked very well.  I would likely wager that it was the alcohol that caused the lifting of the paint color that leeched into your ballast pile...

Anyway, I am wondering if the pre-wetting is crucial or if it is a step that can be left out and still get good results?

Jeff, I have to say that painted cork looks pretty good in the pictures,,,better than cork alone for sure.

The purpose of using wet water

If you don't pre wet the ballast with wet water the glue mixture will puddle on top of the Ballast and then cause it to lump up, get uneven adhesion and when you run a vacuum over the ballast it will suck up 40-60% of your ballast leaving a big mess of crap. It has always been advised that you wet the ballast before you add the 50/50 glue mixture. about 20 years ago some modelers started using the alcohol/water mixture known as wet water before adding the 50/50 glue and it helps tremendously at reducing the clumping, channeling and gully running that ballast will do without the wet water method

The purpose of using the dish soap

This is all from memory of course but I can't recall ever using the alcohol/water mix.  It's not a new idea or anything, I have heard of it and understand the notion of pre-wetting.  As I recall I used the dish soap to help break the surface tension of the water/glue mix so it would flow into the ballast pile.  When I applied my mix it settled into the ballast immediately and did not puddle or clump as you described.  Maybe I was just lucky but I did not have issues with vacuuming up loose ballast after the glue had set unless I was stingy with the application of the water/glue in the first place.

I'm not saying the pre-wetting is a bad thing, not at all.  I just don't remember doing it before.

I need to get going on layout construction so I have some track top ballst again.  Then I can figure out what I did and didn't do.

I painted

Wherever I placed a turnout I made sure I painted that area a close color to my ballast since the ballast will be thinner in these areas.  The whole yard got painted.  The rest was left the unpainted cork.

Painting Cork

That's a good idea!  Maybe that stone fleck paint Jeff used would be especially good for this?

Stone paint

I went out and grabbed a can of it that I have left over - it's not Krylon, it's Plasti-Kote "Stone Touch" (so it has "stone" texture as well as appearance) and the color is called "Gotham Gray."

It's basically a strong gray color with liberal white flecks and the occasional black one as well.

My first thought was that it would do well on turnouts where I don't want to ballast around the points.

I wonder how well it would look like, say, a gravel yard or parking lot?

Stone Paint

Yes, I agree, around points etc.

I think particularly if the gravel lot was not flat, had some texture and the paint was the right mix of colors...it might look pretty good.  Maybe some fine ground foam applied with some ruts and the odd "hillock" or pot hole and then sprayed with the stone paint...?

Ballast under Turnouts ! For

Ballast under Turnouts ! For as long as I remember when ballasting Before I lay the Turnout I have always taken full strength white wood workers glue and painted the Roadbed and then coated the roadbed with a heavy layer of ballast and allowed it to dry over night and vacuum up the excess the next day , and yes it puts a fine even coat on the roadbed and the rails set on top of the ballast but it looks good. Then when I glue down ties for hand laid track & turnouts before adding the rails I glue and ballast between the ties and then sand the ties and Vacuum up the dust .

After it dries I lay down the rails and thus avoid having problems with having ballast in the turnout mechanism. once the rails are in place I ballast the outside edge of the rails and roadbed to give that finished look.

Dan