I am writing this to give people an idea on how to add ties and ballast to O27 track and what it will look like along with the materials I used.
I started out buying 28 balsa and basswood spars which were 1/8" x 1/2" x 48". 14 of each. I cut the ties into 2" long pieces. Once I had the ties cut I stained them.
I stained the ties with dark brown Rit Dye. It is cheap and works great. I mixed the Rit Dye with water in a Tupperware container. I put the ties in a hand held strainer and dunked them in the Rit Dye. I used a spoon to mix the ties up to make sure they all received equal coverage. I dumped them out of the strainer onto a flat cooking pan with paper towels to absorb the moisture. Let them dry. Now we have finished ties.
Next I placed 8 ties per track section. I did not measure, I just eyeballed them so they were not perfect to give them a more realistic look.
I should have the ballast I ordered tomorrow. I will post more pics once I get the ballast down.
I have to say, the ties sure do make a BIG difference! I can’t wait to see what the ballast looks like!
Looks very nice. When I added ties to my track, I used the ties from 3r Plastics. I didn’t ballast as I am wanting a more toy look, so I “glued” them to my cork roadbed with a bit of clear silicone caulk to keep them in place. Since you’ve got a while till the ballast comes, you might want to consider a dab of glue on them to hold them until the ballast sets up around them.
Thanks for the response. My track is actually screwed down. I loosen the screws to slip the ties under and when I screw it back down it holds the ties in place. My ballast should be here tomorrow, so I am hoping to have some done this weekend. I looked at the 3R ties. They are nice, but expensive. I can make approx. 1250 ties for around 36.00.
I received my Better Ballast and autographed book from Dennis today! Thanks Dennis! Very nice ballast and instructions. Here are some pictures of my first section of ballast. It is not glued down or weathered yet.
Remember also, that Rit Dye comes in all different colors. I could have used black, but like the dark brown better. The black ties do not show up like they do in the pictures. It is much more subtle. I will post more pics once I get the ballast glued down and start the weathering process.
Here is the link to Rit Dye and the different browns you can make. The colors are endless. This stuff does not smell like stain does. We stained the ties right at the kitchen table with no fume issues.
I use “Popsicle” sticks, which you can buy in bulk at craft stores. They are slightly narrower than the O27 ties, but not enough to be obvious; and they give the impression that all the ties are narrower and not quite so far out of scale.
So I went to WalMart to pick up supplies for the ballast glueing and weathering. I found everything but the India Ink. Apparently you cannot buy India Ink at WalMart anymore because people were using it for tatoos and then sueing Walmart?!?! Heck, WalMart should just pull all inventory. I could find something really stupid to do with almost every product they carry. They no longer carry model paints for this reason, also. Grrrr.
Not a big deal if anywhere around carried India Ink. I live in the middle of nowhere and the closest craft shop is at least a half hour away. OK, my rant is over.
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I looked at the 3R ties. They are nice, but expensive. I can make approx. 1250 ties for around 36.00. 
