Hello;
I’m fairly new at this great hobby that I just discovered this past Christmas; I received a HO Train set gift;with a great locomotive to boot.
My question is:
I have picked out my track lay-out, but I want a realistic looking railbed with ballast.
I understand I can get True-Track, which is code 83 track friction fitted to the ballast.
My current track is code 100; I know I can use the joiners to make it all fit.
However, I heard you can use “cork” under the track to acheive this ballast look, followed by nailing the track to the cork.
How thick does the cork have to be; and how do you exactly go about creating the ballast using the cork?
Thank You for help!
MrCPR
I’m assuming HO Scale as you mention code 100 and 83. The cork is usually bought at the local hobby shop, comes in strips 3 feet long, about 1 1/2" wide and about 3/16" or so thick. It is partially slit lengthwise, and you are supposed to gently split it in two, lay each section adjacent to the centerline of your track, so the the 45 degree bevel slopes to the outside, away from the track (resembling the way real ballast would slope away from the track). Then you would lay and nail down your track on top. After wiring, testing, fixing any bugs, tweaking, and perfecting everything, you would ballast the track. Many modelers do this after finishing scenery. To do the ballast, you would spread your ballast material (either real rock, sifted to an appropriate size, or bought at the hobby shop) along the track, both center and outside, and carefully use a small soft brush to spread, even out, and level up the ballast to a nice contour, similar to the True-Track, with nice beveled edges. You then apply a “wetting agent”, then a layer of diluted white glue (I use Elmers, yes, the school glue) diluted 50/50 with water, and soak the ballast. The “wetting agent” prevents the glue from “beading up” (like water on a waxed car); it helps it to soak in. The wetting agent can be either rubbing alcohol, or water with a bit of dish detergent mixed in (the dish detergent breaks the surface tension on the water). Let the glue dry overnight, clean any stray pieces of ballast and the tops of the rails if necessary, and you’re done. I would practice on a spare piece of track first.
As an aside, many layouts may go months or even years before ballasting, as it’s much harder to make changes or remove track, since it’s basically glued down. Yes, you could use water to dissolve the glue to make changes or replacements, but it’s more work. Many modelers consider ballasting to be one of
Hello Brad;
Thank you very much for your insight and advice; you have answered a lot of questions for me…I know I’ll have more questions down the line; being a beginner and all.
Again, many thanks.
MrCPR