Could someone please direct me to a source for help with ballasting my n-scale layout? I am new to model railroading and have been unable to find a decent step-by-step guide for how to do this properly. Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Joel
Here’s what I’ve done. I don’t recall if I saw this in a particular book, but it’s my amalgamation of different sources. I also work in N.
Materials:
- The finest grade of Woodland Scenics ballast.
- A narrow paintbrush with a flat bottom. This is for putting the ballast in place.
- Small spikes or nails for temporarily securing the track.
- A household sprayer of wet water - just fill with tap water then add a 2 or 3 drops of dishwashing liquid, and shake it gently, then set aside.
- A 1-to-1 mixture of white or yellow glue and water.
- An eyedropper.
- A small spoon, like a teaspoon, or folded cardstock.
Method:
Get your track in place. I’m assuming you’ve got the benchwork and subroadbed done. If you want cork or foam under the track, that’s fine. (I prefer cork, and nail it in place so I have a good reference.) This is the time to paint any ties or rail for things like rust or weathering.
If you have turnouts (switches) in your layout, put black electrical tape on their underside and press-on the ballst in a box, to catch the excess. Remove anything that would cause problems in the switch points or flangeways. Once this is done, put the turnouts on the laytout and do the rest of the track.
You could glue the track down, but the glue used in securing the ballast will probably do this for you. Just use spikes or something that will hold the track to the roadbed for a while, and that you can remove later.
Do any soldering of feeder wires at this point.
Using the cardstock or spoon, place a small amount of ballast between the rails of a section of track. (Consider practicing on a siding to get a feel for this.) Don’t worry it if is on top of the ties/sleepers, you will use the small bru***o spread the ballast back and forth so it is level with the tops of the ties.
Some ballast may leak out under the rails to the sides of the track. That’s fine.
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Hello Joel,
I do about the same thing as Jacob, except that I use rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol instead of “wet” water, and I thin the white glue a lot more, four parts water to one part glue. The alcohol does a better job of penetrating the ballast without disturbing it, and the thinner glue will flow into the wet ballast more readily. You might also want to see “Better N scale tracklaying tenchniques,” by Scott Seekins, in the Kalmbach book, “Trackwork and Lineside Detail for your Model Railroad.”
Happy Thanksgiving,
Andy