It seems that a lot of people out there hate/fear/dread ballasting. Its no wonder. Getting those tiny grains in just the place you want them can be a challenge. Using a more scale - sized ballast in N scale seems to complicate the problem. The results of this labor do seem to be worth it however.
I thought I would post my primitive method here. I have no new amazing techniques or solutions. I just wanted to show that its not all that difficult. Just like so many other things in our hobby, it just takes time, patience and what I call a "scale eye". I know that I should have some kind of youtube video to show my motions. I don't really have the ability for that just now. I hope that still shots will get my ideas across.
A good way to start, like many things in this hobby, is to research the prototype. Take a little time to note not only the color of the real thing, but how the chunks of ballast lie around the real tracks. Note how the ballast looks on mainline tracks versus sidings or even much less used industrial tracks, etc. Take pictures to refer to later. This may give you some goals as to how you want your model to look.
Please also note that we are dealing with track here that will only be seen from "one" side. I.E. This is a shelf layout. This does give one certain tactical advantages in scenery preparation, if you follow me.
Warning: This may the world's most boring posting. I think it is necessary however. I'm going to repeat my tasks for illustration. I'll try to inject a little humor to keep it interesting. I said I'd try...
So anyway, here we go. For demonstration purposes, here is some Atlas code 55 track. The rear track is on HO cork (for that mainline "look") and the siding is smack on the plywood. The tracks were painted with rail brown.
Oh, I should mention that I am using Highball N scale "grey mix" ballast. I sifted my ballast through a simple tea strainer to remove the larger pieces. I keep these larger pieces in a different container for use later as talus or rip rap.
I start spreading the ballast in the time honored way by using a plastic spoon. Gently tapping it with a finger, the ballast falls upon the track. My first reaction was "Man this stuff is like powder!". Moving from the world of Woodland scenics' "fine" grade of ballast to this "closer to scale" size took some getting used to. In time, however, I find that it is easy to work with.
I start by applying it between the tracks. I try to get about this much ballast or less between the rails. This is actually a bit too much. Note that I also applied some to the outside of the rails. Since the tracks are on cork (and higher cork at that) I have applied a bit extra to the outside.
Now I'll add some to the lower, or passing, track. By the way, this is not an official passing siding, hence I glued the track directly to the plywood. Here is a critical point: If you are ballasting tracks that are not on some kind of rise, like say cork, there is less "room" for the extra ballast to go. I suggest sprinkling a lot less ballast for tracks close to "plywood" level. This is especially true for industrial tracks.
This is about the "right" amount of ballast for the space between the rails. Sorry about the bad exposure:
Now some for the outside of the rails:
Eventually, I get to the point that I've spread enough ballast at enough height that I am ready for the spreading phase:
I have grown used to this artist's brush for spreading the ballast. It appears to be a 1/2 inch round - ended brush that has been used several times for painting, hence the bristles have spread out quite a bit. The bristles on it are very soft.
Now the fun part (read sarcasm here)! Here is the part that most people dread. I don't blame them. Spreading and shaping ballast, especially "scale size" ballast, can be as much fun as placing decals in a locomotive numberboard (also read sarcasm here)! I find that if I take it step by step, its not really all that bad. You may have to go back and repeat a few steps until you get the results you want. Its not any worse than that.
The concept that has really helped me in this phase is trying to use a "scale eye" when inspecting the ballast. Try to imagine yourself as a scale person. What may look like a tiny imperfection to us (and indeed they are), might look huge to a scale-sized person. I find that if I go back and do some reshaping (sometimes just a few more brushstrokes), a better result can be obtained.
Also, if it really bothers you, try just working with a small area until you can't stand it anymore. Unless you have pets, small children, or frequent aftershocks, the ballast will stay put. You need not glue it right away.
So anyway, with the brush at something close to 70 degrees to the tracks, I begin spreading the ballast. I like to start between the rails and "snowplow" the ballast as I go along. Keep in mind that in some situations, this will be TOO Much ballast. I think it all depends on how far above the "base" the tracks are. Since I am using HO scale cork under the mainline, I wanted extra ballast to drape over the sides of the cork. Kinda like this:
I'd also like to suggest another way to hold this particular style of brush. You might also try holding it perpendicular to the tracks shown in the picture below.
This way, you can knock off ballast not just between the rails, but also some on both sides at the same time.
Below, you can see the result (on the right-hand track):
Sorry about the out of focus shots - but you get the idea, I hope. You can see the results of my first few sweeps between the ties on the upper (mainline) track. Note that I used sideways strokes, not an all in one motion, for this first sweep. You may be able to tell that there is a couple problems with the area between the rails. One, there is too much ballast on the tops of the ties. Second, if you look on the left side of the fuzzy picture, along the upper track's inside rail, you may notice small piles of ballast that ride above the ties on the inside of the rail. These piles tend to form in a wave - like pattern near or in between the ties. These also tend to form on the "spike heads" on each tie. I call this effect "windrows" after the effect wind can have on cold snow as it swirls around stationary objects. Here is a better picture to show you what I mean by windrows. Focus your attention on the upper track's left side, between the rails:
At this point you may want begin to work the ballast on the outside of the rails. For demonstration, I will attend to the above two problems first (windrows and ballast on top of the ties - as seen, however fuzzily, below):
I like to attack the windrows (ballast that rests along the sides of the rails) by using some gentle strokes at a low angle. I only use the bristles at the very low edge of the brush, not all the brush's bristles. This picture attempts to show windrow elimination:
I do this first as this windrow ballast is knocked down on the tops of the ties.
This leads to trying to correct the second problem. However primitive, unprofessional, and non-railwire-ist it may look, a simple rub of one's finger along the inside of the rails will knock a lot of this ballast from the tops of the ties. Sounds silly, but it does seem to work. (Please note that I'm not trying to give anyone here any sort of bad hand gestures in these pictures
)
There is a youtube video out there that shows a fellow ballasting HO sized track. In it, he taps the tops of the rails with the brush handle to knock this ballast from the tietops (is that a word?). It seems to work well for him in HO. I have tried this. I have not had great success with that. Your results may vary. I find rubbing the area between the rails more effective in this situation with such small ballast pieces.
Anyway, this rubbing will knock some of the ballast right back up on the side of the rails - making more windrows.
Like this:
So, keep brushing it back down. Then try rubbing between the rails again. Then... It may take a few tries, but soon you will get the look you want. (No really, you will) After about three of the above repeated techniques, I wound up with this:
Ok fine, but if you look at the tracks from a low angle, such as in the above view, you'll see that your actions of clearing the outside rails has formed some "sand dunes" along the outside of the ends of the ties.
Secondly, you may notice that the ballast does not quite have that prototype look. I strive for the ends of the ties rising just slightly above the ballast level. Remember to look at your ballasting from many angles and with your "scale eye". Its not just the windrows, or the ballast on the top of the ties, our third problem to watch for is what I call "dunes".
To help flatten these dunes, I'm going to tilt my brush at a very low angle and "pat" the dunes flat as I go along. Try to draw the brush away from the tracks ever so slightly as you do this. Also, make sure the ballast if forming the look of the prototype you want as you go. These next few shots show me trying to flatten some dunes along the sides of the track
and drawing just a little ballast from the ends of the ties.
Of course, flattening the dunes can make your ballasted area too wide. There is sometimes a careful balancing act here between flattening these dunes and the width, or distance the ballast extends from the track. You may find that you want to sweep the ballast back towards the tracks and retry your flattening. You may also want to move some of the ballast sideways to a less ballasted area to help correct this. I think a key idea here is not sprinkle too much ballast on the tracks initially. There is a learning curve here. It takes a few tries to get the hang of ballasting. Do not despair if you find you have too much ballast. Vacuum it up, with a clean vacuum - so you can reuse it, and start again.
Below is my attempt to flatten the dunes:
Always inspect your work from many angles, and again, with your "scale eye". Be sure to check if you are knocking some ballast back towards the rails causing windrows or getting some on top of the ends of the ties and correct accordingly.
See part two below...
