Please show me pictures of your ballasted yard or track. I’m looking for inspiration. Tell me what you used and how you did it.
OK, here’s photos of mine. I used WS fine talus and WS medium ballast. I put it down using a spoon and moved it into place with my fingers. I rolled a dummy truck over the rails to push any high ballast down below flange depth. I then soaked it with alcohol dripped on from an old glue bottle followed by a 50/50 mix of white glue and water dripped on from a glue bottle.
here’s the only good one i have 
I used WS medium gray ballast, and as I purchased the track layout set from MicroMark, I used the ballast spreader that came with that. I ran that over the track a number of times, and filled in with a spoon (like Jeffrey) where needed. I finally used a large flat soft brush to move it around.
Unlike Jeffrey, I mix the alcohol into my mat medium mix directly, and eye droppered it right in to hold it in place. I generally use a 1 part glue, 1 part water, 1 part isopropal alcohol mix.
It holds well enough for me to run my shop vac directly against the rail head, and not remove any ballast in place.
Cheers
I mixed WS Fine Gray and Gray blend,soaked with wet water and then dribbled diluted white glue.
Terry
Terry,
Your ballast looks very good. Mine looks more like the upper photos, where it looks good looking down, but not as good in low level photography. I have been told its a function of using too much ballast, and not spending that extra minute or so getting it all off the ties.
I have no pix of mine, but I blend two colors of WS ballast - Light Grey and Buff, with perhaps a sprinkling of dark grey. Its probably a 64-32-4 ratio, i.e. two bags grey, one buff, and quarter to half bag of a darker ballast. I might add small areas of darker ballast at heavier rates. Its surprising if you look at the prototype how often ballast varies.
For the majority, I like the sublte coloring effect two closely related colors give. Of course, if you blended too different a color scheme, it would come out salt and pepper like.
The prototype should prove inspirational:
Wayne
My yard has mainline style ballast…I wish I knew better before I built it…[banghead]
I use woodland scenics fine ballast. first of all, i’ll randomly paint the rails in dark gray and floquil’s rail tie brown. Then spread the ballast between the ties and the sides of the rail. Use dry ballast. Use a 1" paint brush and lightly brush the ballast until you get all the ballast where you want it.
Next, i’ll dripple 90% alcohol over the ballast with an old elmer’s glue bottle and then go over the wet ballast with dilute Elmer’s white glue mixed 40% glue / 60% water and a couple of drops of liquid dish soap in it. Use an old elmer’s glue bottle for the dilute glue.
Once that is done, i’ll mix up some tan paint and airbrush it along the sides of the ballast and then mix up some black paint and spray it with an airbrush between the rails. i’ve tried all kinds of methods to lay down ballast and this one works the best…
Finally, remove any loose ballast with a brightboy from the ties, rail heads, and rail sides and vacuum the area, then paint the rail with floquil’s rail brown mixed with a hint of grimy black…chuck
The mainlines are done in gray and the yard is done using Arizona Rock’s Yard mix
Both are fine grain
About the only trick I can add is I always start wetting the ballast in the center of the rails
and wait for it to wick out side the rails
I always apply the water glue to the wet part and let it continue to wick
if I apply the water/glue to a dry section sometimes it floats the ballast away
My mainline ballast is a mixture of WS medium gray/light gray and a smattering of cinders to get the look of Sierra granite gravel. My yard is a mixture of WS buff, gray and cinders. I use a spray of water with a few drops of liquid detergent, then fix it by dripping either WS Scenic Glue or very thinned Elmer’s white glue between the ties and letting it ‘drift’ out toward the shoulders.
Here’s the ballast around the engine servicing facility:
And the mainline in South Yuba canyon:
Tom
I use Arizona Rock Company real rock ballast for the majority of my layout.
in the mine area I use cinders
Mine is simply screened garden soil that is quite sandy to begin with, but much improved by adding organic matter so that it grows vegetables well. I used an old set of pantyhose to screen the soil. I then mixed some plaster of Paris into it to harden it when I sprayed it with water and alcohol.
I poured the mixture dry onto the yard surface after laying the tracks and turnouts, spread it as evenly as I could, and then used a small glass jar as a roller to flatten it. Then I sprayed it and let it harden.
Another view
Outside the yard, on the mains, I used local beach sand that I had tested for magnetic material, rinsed in fresh water, dried, and then spread using a brush. Glue was yellow glue heavily diluted and a couple of drops of liquid dish detergent. I used a squeeze bottle that the glue, itself, came in…the one where you twist the pointed tip to open the valve.
I use a brand that probably no one on this forum has ever heard of. Mountain Model Craft Ballast. The manager, or Co owner of my LHS makes it. He also makes other scenery materials.
Selector is a cross dresser! [:-^]
[(-D]
Hi el: Main line, I used WS med gray mix. I used a spoon to deposit a line of ballast in the center of the track. Then I used to use a flux brush cut down to about 6 to 8 bristles, but switched to a disposable foam “brush” cut to just fit between the rails. For my Reading branch, I used WS med cinders. For my yard and loco service I used mix of WS med cinders and various shades of WS med foam. I topped them off with powdered paint, sprinkled on dry, sprayed with “wet” water and brushed while still wet. I did the center first, let dry, then did the shoulders. I used a child’s medicine dropper to apply straight rubbing alcohol, then a 50/50 mix of white glue and wet water. The main ballast, even or a little below the ties. Yard and sidings, even with or a little over the ties. On the main, the neater the job in the beginning, the less clean up later. 
Maybe, Granite. Who wants to know? [:-,]
Crandell:
Hey, that’s okay, buddy. I use a set of make-up brushes to spread my ballast. Shoulda seen the look on the girl’s face at the cosmetic’s counter when I went in and bought them after spending a half-hour making sure I got the right ones, LOL!
Tom [}:)]
Or get caught in a beauty salon to purchase a bottle of wahl’s clipper oil…
Been there and done that with nail polish remover.
I thought that shopping for “unmentionables” [:I] was one reason for keeping a wife or girl friend. Let her do that kind of shopping!
Mark