Ballast

[station master]

Morning gents, been doing some looking at some of the images the community has been posting and looking towards eventually what to do about ballasting the track, to be honest I am quiet a mind changer and move or alter track a lot, can never make my mind up what looks good lol, so is there anything that can be put down on the boards to simulate balllasted track rather than go through the process of actually ballasting track?

Was wondering is there like a mat or such that the track can sit on to give the impression of being done, or am wrong

[Walkingthedog]

If you tend to regularly change things I would suggest you just lay the track straight on the board and not bother with ballast or just ballast parts that aren’t going to be moved.
I glue ballast down with a very weak water/pva mix, 80/20 ish. Then it doesn’t dry like concrete, more like toffee, and can be removed easily.

[Brian]

Hi Javis produce "Ballast rolls" i.e. a sheet of pre ballasted material that you simply cut to size and place under the track then pin the track down. There are probably other makes available too?
Then there is Foam inlay which is supposed to represent the ballast shoulder and ballast under the track. Careful choice is needed here, as some foams begin to crumble quite early in their life!
Otherwise, as suggested by WTD, using real stone or another medium to represent ballast. There is plenty of choice in 'sprinkle on' and glue down ballast.

[Steve M]

As has been said, it's not that difficult to change things after ballasting and, imho, substitutes are never going to look right.
Here's one I changed earlier - originally ballasted about four years ago.

[station master]

Thanks all, looks possible will just have to make my mind up a stick to it for a while................

[glencairn]

Here is my twopenceworth.

I lay my track down. Pin it. Ballast it, but do not glue it down. Never have. Never will.

If I have to alter the trackwork or replace track, simply unpin the track. Remove old ballast to use again. Relay new track. Pin it down. Ballast again, not glue it down.

Some people will frown, but it works very well for me.

Glencairn

[Walkingthedog]

If the board isn’t being moved I suppose loose ballast will work just fine.

[Steve M]

Loose ballast and the motor transfer gears will eventually mix. They won't play well together.
Not recommended.

[IanAlan]

Hello SM,
My method is to paint 'ballast effect' where I plan to lay the track. My whole baseboard is covered in 3mm cork and this gives a 'texture effect' to the paint. I use ordinary artist's acrylic paint (cheap from the Works) starting with ultramarine blue mixed with burnt sienna brown to block in. When dry, I use a dry brush technique and / or very porous sponge to dab on the lighter colours ( shades of biege and - here in Essex - a surprisingly pinky grey). And finally mossy green.

If you want hyper-realism, this won't do, but if you're happy with a reasonable effect, it's a good solution.



I've recently changed nearly all of my track and haven't tided up the painted edges yet, so the 'ballast effect' isn't as parallel to the track as it should be in this picture. But hopefully, you can see whether the effect is close enough for your needs.
Enjoy.