I don’t feel like ballasting my yard with all those switch points that could get clogged up and the possibility I have to move my layout alot. What is the best alternative to ballast under my code 83 atlas track and cork roadbed. Should I just paint the whole area and cork bed gray or black?
Thanks!
I paint under a good part of all my turnouts around the throw bar area. I use a dark gray / black for the mainline ones and black for all others. I also cut a strip of roadbed out from under the throw bars just so any loose ballast will fall through and not get stuck in the throw bar area. (I do that before I paint the area.) Now, when I ballast a turnout, I keep the ballast at least two ties back from the throw bar on each side of it. Then, the ballast just barley covers the roadbed and doesn’t come up to the top of the ties.
So far, this seems to be working for me, for 20 plus years.
Use ballast around the switch points but don’t glue it. That’s what I do.
Rich
Krylon and Rust-o-leum both make textured rattle can paints that come close to most ballast colors. Since you are in a yard, they are often poorly ballasted and with whatever materials they had on hand, so color variation is not unusual. If it is not a heavily used yard, you can add some vegitation between the rails, just be sure to keep it below railtops, so not to catch in locos. Maybee some bigger bushes between tracks.
Good luck,
Richard
In another thread, a guy wanted “non ballasting ideas”.
I suggested just painting the ties the random colors of the ballast he would have used to “simulate” ballasting.
Some one further suggested, as above, using the “stone” or “flecked” spray paint cans to simulate ballast even further.
Painting the ties in switches can give the appearance of ballast, especially if the cork or roadbed underneathe is also painted like ballast.
{Thats how I choose to go}.