How To Ballast Your Track - Model Railway Basics: Episode Six 

[thank, you]

Yes I do a similar thing actually to create little tufts of static grass - you can see it in action in my static grass tutorial actually. Thanks for watching 😃

Yep it's tedious to say the least but in my eyes it does make a huge difference. My advice is to put on a podcast or some decent music while you do it to make it somewhat bearable! Thanks for watching 😃

Thanks John! Great to hear you enjoyed the video and I’m so glad you found it helpful. Haha, yes perhaps I should have asked CK for sponsorship 😂 Thanks for watching 👍

My pleasure, really glad to hear they've helped you. Thanks for watching 😃

Really glad to hear that Adam! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching 😃

Glad you enjoyed it Dafydd! Yeah painting the sleepers does really make a huge difference. It's time consuming but it adds another level of detail in my opinion. Best of luck with your layout and thanks for watching 😃

Awesome, great to hear you found it useful. Thanks for watching 😃

Amazing! Best of luck with it and thanks for watching 😃

My pleasure, thanks for watching 😃

My pleasure, thanks for watching! 😃

Awesome, good luck and thanks for watching 😃

Hey there, what order you do it in really depends on your personal preference. I find the ballasting process can be quite messy so I do it first to avoid getting the stuff everywhere else. But I do generally try to get a rough structure of the surrounding scenery in place at the same time if not before. There's no hard and fast rules and every situation is different. Thanks for watching 😃

Wow, sounds like quite a mammoth task! I've been ballasting my layout in small sections at a time which seems to have worked well so far. It's one of those things that can make or break a layout so, even though it's a bit of a pain, it's worth it in the long run. Thanks for watching 😃

Thanks! Yeah it really does make a huge difference - just painting the sides of the rails alone makes them look so much finer and realistic. I know others who really go to down with weathering and breaking down the sleepers too and it's incredible the results they get. It takes a long time but it's definitely worth it in the end. Thanks for watching 😃

Yep I know what you mean! I had to re-weather some track I'd already ballasted once and it was a nightmare doing all the fiddly bits 😂 Of course you can always put a dark wash over the whole thing afterwards to tone down the ballast and blend it into the track too but as for the actual rail it's so much easier doing it first. Thanks for watching 👍

Awesome, really glad to hear that! Thanks for watching 😃

Haha! 😂 Glad you enjoyed it Russell, thanks for watching 👍

My pleasure, glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching 😃

Really glad you think so Debbie! Thanks for watching 😃

My pleasure, glad you found it useful. Yes having inset track or ash ballast is used over here too. I'm hoping to include some of this on my modular layout so hopefully I'll be able to do a video on that very soon. Thanks for watching 😃

Great idea Cameron, have to admit I didn’t know railmatch did spray cans. That said I was deliberately trying to avoid it looking to even or consistent but it’s a great option for those who don’t mind that. Thanks for watching 😃

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 😃

My pleasure, thanks for watching 😃

That's really interesting Neil, thanks for sharing that. I've never come across that myself but I tend to wash the syringe out after every use to get rid any excess glue so I wonder if that makes any difference. Funnily enough I steered away from using pipettes because I wanted more of a stream of glue rather than individual droplets, but everyone has their own way of working and their own preferences. Yes, usually when I'm building a proper layout I would also weather the track/ballast afterwards with a wash of the Sleeper Grime and I admit the ballast does look a bit too clean without it here. Thanks for watching 😃

Nice, yeah pretty much any rusty and grime colours will work well for breaking the track down. Thanks for watching 😃

I used the Ammo track rust too bit messy! rubber glove brigade!

It definitely gets quicker the more your do it. Yeah since this video was aimed at beginners I wanted to keep it focussed around stuff people would already have, rather than needed to buy more stuff. Thanks for watching 😃

Yeah you can use marker pens too. As you've noted though, they do wear out fairly quickly so you need a few of them. Meanwhile a single small pot of paint cost me around £3 and has been going strong for over a year on my large 00 gauge layout. Thanks for watching 😃

My pleasure Karl, glad you found it helpful. I believe scenic cement is very similar to the water/pva mix I use so fingers crossed that'll work for you - but if not you've always got this video to refer back to. Thanks for watching 😃

Hi there, just the same way you would normally clean your rails. For me I use a track rubber, others prefer to use IPA or other cleaning solutions. Thanks for watching 😃

You can use mod podge if you like but it's going to be a lot more expensive than using regular PVA for the same effect. Thanks for watching 👍

It all comes down to personal preference as there are different grades of ballast: Fine, Medium and Coarse. Personally I tend to use medium even though it's a little large because visually it shows up better from a reasonable distance where fine ballast can look a bit too "solid" in some ways. But most importantly it's down to the individual on how they want to build their railway. Thanks for watching 😃

Yep it's totally normal for some of the dried glue to end up on the rails. Just clean your tracks however you normally would - personally I use a track rubber but I know others like to use IPA or other solutions. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy ok thanks for the help

Fair enough, I'm not forcing anyone to follow these methods 😂 But sometimes seeing someone do it one way can be enough to spark an idea in someone else on how they can do it differently. I know I've had that moment myself when watching modelling tutorials. Thanks for watching 👍

Hi Chris, great to hear you’re getting started on TT - I’m considering a project in that scale myself. The ballast will be absolutely rock solid using the this method so no problem storing the layout on its side or even tipping it fully upside down! I have another layout which is stored inside a suitcase and the ballast is fine on that so I can speak from experience. The only thing you might have to look out for is foliage and grass might start to come off the more the boards get moved about, but that’s easy to rectify. Best of luck with your layout and thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy that’s really helpful thank you! Good to know. I’ve gone through all of these beginners videos now. They’re super helpful and really clear. Thanks for doing them. One further question, along similar lines to the first, is the static grass also quite robust when dried and would that be ok stored on its side, or is that when you might start to see a small pile of grass building up on the floor?

Handy if you live near a beach which has the right size and colour of sand... if not it's probably just easier to buy some. Four years ago I bought a tub of Woodlands Scenics ballast for £12... I've only just had to replace it in the last month and that was after ballasting a 15ft layout last year, so not really that expensive considering the amount you get. Thanks for watching 😃

That is definitely an option for the base coat, although generally I prefer painting by hand. Certainly the rust effect on the chairs needs to be done that way which is the most time consuming part anyway. Thanks for watching 😃

Yep the water definitely helps, I also find it stops the glue/ballast from clumping up into little balls too. For cleaning, I just use a track rubber as normal once everything has dried and that usually does the trick. It might need an extra pass or two but it's basically just like cleaning the rails as normal. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Yes! The clumping - that’s exactly what’s happened to me. With the track cleaning, I’ll get hold of a track rubber or two - I think the ISP in my last post was meant to be IPA…..lots to learn. Many thanks for the reply, really appreciated

Hi Mark, Fairy Liquid is the one everyone seems to mention but I think literally any washing up liquid will do. I’ve even used liquid hand soap in the past when I’ve had to. Thanks for watching 😃

Generally I find that, when you use the watered-down glue mix, the ballast will shift to fill any gaps anyway so painting the base isn't necessary. I do paint the cork/etc when ballasting points as I use a different technique here with a lot less ballast. Additionally, some people prefer to use an airbrush or spray can when weathering the track before ballasting, so that would give your base a dark brown colour anyway. Thanks for watching 😃

Hey there, most model shops sell cork for model railways in various different thicknesses - you can even get it on Amazon nowadays too. If you want to pay a bit extra you can get cork which is pre-cut into strips to match the track width. I have used that occasionally but most of the time I just use a standard sheet of cork and cut it into strips myself. Hope that helps and thanks of watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy brilliant thanks. What thickness cork did you use please? Also what was the exact model of ballast you used? Great vids btw, the best I’ve come across on modelling railways by a mile.

Absolutely but you'd want to use Airbrush Thinners rather than water in my opinion. Thanks for watching 🤩

How often are you spraying with water? One common mistake is that people spray their entire layout and the water dries before you get the glue on. I would recommend doing small sections at a time and keep misting the ballast with water as you go. Alternatively if you're still finding the ballast clumps up then a drop of the washing up liquid in the water spray can help too. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 👍

Hi Daniel, yes the middle axle on the tender is loose on mine too. This helps it maintain contact with the rails (if the whole thing was rigid it might have trouble on uneven trackwork). With the engine wheels, the back wheelset is the one attached to the motor so that's why it'll seem stiff if you're trying to move it by hand. When running, the front two wheelsets are moved by the coupling rods attached to the back wheels. Because the front wheels aren't driven themselves they have a bit more slop which allows the loco run smoothly. This isn't just limited to the J15 by the way - most locos tend to be like this in my experience. Hope that's helps and thanks for watching 😃

Thank you for answering my question. I just wasn’t certain if the engine was broken or not however thanks to your helpful advice I now know that it is absolutely fine. Thank you once again. Keep making the great videos, Daniel

@@danielhayton8657 Awesome, glad I was able to help. The J15 is a fantastic model in my opinion, so I hope you have good fun running it. All the best 👍

Hiya, as I said in the video it's Railmatch Sleeper Grime. Thanks for watching 😃

Glad you enjoyed it! They do look a bit bright in the video but they're less garish in person. Once the track bed is bedded in with the rest of the layout I would probably give it all a dark wash to mute everything down as the ballast looks a bit clean too, so that would tone the chairs down as well. Of course you can always substitute in a darker colour for the rust on the chairs if you prefer, there's no rule it has to be done this way. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Thanks for the prompt reply. I watch your very informative videos several times over. I only wished that you did an N-scale programme as I have ended up with an N-scale layout. I prefer HO but I don't have the space. And being a fuss-pot for detail, I have learned to accept that there is a limit as to how far we can go with authenticity of detail in N-scale. I am trying to find a way to obtain my own ballast material for ballasting on Fleischmann track. They have their own ballast bed but I think it looks better with an additional layer. Problem is the colour, it's a Continental layout and I like the red/brown that Fleischmann do. But at some £ 8 for a bag of 145g I will be bankrupt before a loco has touched the rails!

Good question Justin! I haven't personally ballasted over a metcalfe bridge but I did use a watered down mix of filler on one to create a road surface and the bridge wasn't affected at all. That said, you could perhaps try spreading neat PVA on the bridge deck first and then sprinkling the ballast over that. Or if you really wanted to be safe you could put down double sided tape on the bridge, lay your track on that and then sprinkle the ballast over the top. Hope that gives you some ideas and thanks for watching 😃

I haven't model railroaded in 50 years but back in the 70's my brother and I built a 14 foot by 14 foot HO layout. We used flex track and back then the ties were fiber not plastic. So using a water based glue was not possible, it would warp the ties. I tried a lot of things to glue down the ballast but nothing worked. Finally I tried Dull Coat. It is an enamel based clear paint that drys clear and dull. It worked fine on our fiber ties, and my brother ballasted the whole layout and even painted the rails. I don,t know what metcalfe bridges are but to glue ballast on them use an enamel based dull clear paint. You can even use spray paint, just spray it in a small cup and apply it like the author shows. Do not use lacquer based paint if you are using plastic ties because it will melt them. Only use Enamel.

Hey Stephen, it's washing up liquid - any brand will do and you only need a drop or two to break the surface tension so that it spreads through the ballast. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy thanks! I’ve just started in the hobby and your videos have been extremely helpful. Cheers! 🍻

Are you happy with how it looks? That's the main thing. If you are then there's no reason to rip it up and start again but if you think it looks wrong or it's causing running problems then restarting will be better in the long term. If you do decide to restart you can usually soften the glue a little by adding a bit of water over the ballast you've already laid. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 👍

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Thanks! It looks good but I haven't set electricL up yet so I'm not sure if it works electric wise, but it does look good seeing wise!

That's definitely in the works for a future video! I just wanted to cover basics first but hopefully it won't be too long until I get round to ballasting some of the points on my layout so I can make a follow up video. Thanks for watching 😃

You could but I wouldn't personally recommend it unless you're using something like sawdust scatter as ballast. Generally you want to make sure the track is laid well on a flat surface which is hard to get right if you put the ballast down first. Also by adding the ballast later you can get a more realistic look of it packing in the sleepers rather than the track sitting on top. That's just my opinion though, thanks for watching 😃

A combination of reasons really. I don't have an airbrush for starters so I'd have to use spray cans and I'm not working in a particularly well ventilated space either. To me though, spraying it on always makes it look bit too flat to me where doing it by hand, although a much more tedious process does give a better overall result (in my opinion). The dried ballast will definitely hold track in place - certainly flexitrack which might have some movement to it. For the power feed though I'd really recommend soldering wires on to the rail if there's any doubt. If it's already a bit dodgy without the ballast down I think that's going to get a lot worse once you introduce a layer of glue too. If it dries in a way where it's not making contact then you have to dig up all the ballast and start again. It's much better to sort these issues out before moving on to the next big step, otherwise it'll just continue to frustrate in the future. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy it's only a small test oval, just to feed my itch :) I only have these connectors currently and no wire so I'll give it a go and keep fingers crossed... Bet I come back in a few days eating my words 🤣🤣🤣

Some people use a spray bottle to put the pva/water mix on the ballast instead of a syringe but I wouldn’t recommend using an aerosol glue. You need it to permeate through the ballast, where a spray glue will tend to just sit on top. Depending on the spray glue they don’t always dry clear and they can be a bit stringy too. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I see. The product I've got is Woodland scenics cement that you can put into a spray bottle. Would that be ok?

@@TankEngine97 Oh yeah that will be absolutely fine! I’ve never used it myself but it’s pretty similar to PVA in a spray bottle. It’s only the aerosol type spray glues I wouldn’t recommend for ballasting 👍

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Righto. Thank you for telling me this. 👍

Yeah it can be quite fiddly! If you use an airbrush I imagine it's much easier to weather after ballasting the track. But if not I've certainly found it easier to add the rust first. Thanks for watching 😃

You can use whatever ballast fits your layout best. There's plenty of different brands of ballast for modelling available in all different colours and sizes. Thanks for watching 😃

Just clean them however you would normally clean your tracks. Some people use IPA or a special track cleaning wagon. Mostly I use a track rubber... the PVA doesn't tend to settle on the rail tops anyway but even if it does it'll be a very thin layer. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

What glue are you using? PVA and water shouldn't colour or make the ballast darker. Sometimes it goes a little darker while it's wet but it'll go back to the original colour once it's dry. The only think I can think is that ballast itself is coloured in some way that's reacting with the glue... but that's a wild guess as I've never actually experienced this. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 👍

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I’m using an 50/50 mix of wood glue and water, I do use an other ballast, it’s from noch and it acts like it’s wet but then doesn’t turn back to the gray. I did see an other video of noch itself and they used their own brand glue, the same happens but I didn’t see the end result after a longer time. Could that help? Or could I heat it up with an hair dryer? That might heat up the track like an heat sink tho

That’s definitely an alternate way of doing it but remember this is a beginners tutorial so is intended to be as simple as possible. Those just starting out are unlikely to have spray paints/air brushes or ballasting devices and 3D printers. The hope is that it shows new modellers the basic process with the freedom to eventually adapt it for themselves, perhaps in the ways you suggest. Thanks for watching 😃

Not beforehand but you do need to after painting the sides and glueing the ballast down just to remove any excess from the top of the rails. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Thanks. I asked because I am using Sleeper Grime on N scale Fleischmann Piccolo track that has track bed and the paint doesn't go well on the rails, unless I put a lot of it on.

Are you using the Hornby style power tracks with the box that the wires clip into? Or do you have your wires soldered directly to the rails for a more discreet look? If it's the later then there's nothing to worry about, just obviously don't have the power connected at the time! If you're using the Hornby style power tracks then just use an eye dropper or a syringe around this area to add a couple of drops to the area in a controlled manner. (Again make sure the power is disconnected/turned off) Remember you don't need a huge amount of water, it's literally a fine mist which is enough to allow the glue to flow instead of balling up into droplets. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy thank you

Nope, no problem at all. It’ll take a bit longer to dry than acrylic but that’s about the only difference. Thanks for watching 👍

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy That's great news. We'll be doing the ballast in the next 24 hours and keenly following your wonderful instructions!

Thanks Dave, really glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and subscribing 😃

Hi Richard, just bog standard PVA glue. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I’ll keep watching as long as videos help me thanks for putting them out

Do you mean thin the paint? If so, no not in my experience. Thanks for watching 😃

Literally a tiny drop, less than 1% 👍

Yeah washing up liquid is just basically a liquid dish soap. You can use anything that will break down the surface tension in the water/glue but washing up liquid is pretty common here in the UK. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy ah, ok. Not sure I can find find one without color to it here in the states, but I'll do what I can. Something tells me I can't use my apple scented one

@@ShukakuTheCrazy1 That should be fine, the one I use is florescent green! Remember you literally only need a drop or two to dissolve into the water/glue mix.

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy ok, just a drop or 2. I'll try and resist my quantity control issues.

Hi Joe, I'm not sure what to say really other than it does work as you can see in the video and is the same technique hundreds of modellers have been using for years. If it didn't work it wouldn't have become a standard. - Are you adding the washing up liquid to the mix? This is a very important step that breaks down the surface tension and will stop the ballast moving. Additionally the ballast must be damp before adding the glue but it does dry out very quickly (especially in the Winter if we have the indoor heating on!). I recommend using a fine mister rather than a regular spray bottle if possible for this and only do small sections at a time. I was ballasting a siding the other day and had to respray the ballast several times as I worked my way along. - Personally I prefer to use a syringe rather than a pipette as you can create more of a flow of glue rather than individual drops. It does sound like the bubbling you describe though is more due to the surface tension issues again though. If you adding the washing up liquid (remember only a couple of drops are needed) then it needs to be throughly mixed in. Otherwise I would suggest testing out a few different ratios of water to PVA on a test piece as some people do prefer to use a more watered down mix. - Additionally you don't have to use this technique. One simple way of doing it is to stick your track down using double sided tape and then dropping the ballast over this. The particles will stick to any exposed tape and any loose excess can be vacuumed up. - There are also products like Ballast Magic, which is an adhesive powder you mix into your ballast. I've never used it myself but I've heard that it does work. Obviously this comes at more of a cost though especially if you have a larger layout. Hopefully that's given you some ideas or alternatives to try and best of luck with your layout. Thanks for watching 👍

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy that's really helpful. Thank you very much for your kind reply.

Haha, maybe on the real railway or if you're using a ballast mat but I've always found it much easier to do the track first if you're using this technique. Thanks for watching 😃

Yep the wooden (well plastic in this case) bits that hold the rails together. Thanks for watching 😃

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy OK. Here in the US we call them ties.

Just use a standard track rubber once it's dried or however you normally prefer to clean your track. Thanks for watching 👍

I've tried using the aerosol and also using the standard paint in an airbrush too for more speed builds. Personally though I much prefer doing it by brush when time allows as I can control where the paint goes more easily. This video is also aimed at beginners too so is aimed at those wanting to get good results while keeping things very simple. Thanks for watching 😃