Ballasting EZ Track...

[Warflight]

Okay, so... what I was told at the hobby shop was, spread the ballast, then spray it with a "wet water" made from water and alcohol, and then glue it using 50% Elmer's Glue All, and 50% water...

Now, I have to do it just a bit different, because I'm using EZ track... I need to spread some Elmer's on the roadbed, so when I spread the ballast, it sticks to the side (otherwise, because it's plastic, I will use way more ballast, as it will fall down the sides of the plastic roadbed) so I'm wondering if I still need to spray it with the wet water, or, would it be better to mix a bit of alcohol with the 50/50 white glue?

And if I do add alcohol to the 50/50, how much should I use?

I know this is probably old information, and I keep seeing a lot of conflicting videos on ballasting on Youtube, so I figured maybe someone here with ballasting experience will have some better answers.

Oh yeah, also, I should probably add I'm using a basic Proses Ballast Spreader (so no fancy levers on it, and you have to push it by hand) It's the same as the Bachmann ballast spreader. (they were out of stock on the Bachmann ones at the shop)

[Trainman203]

The slope of the ez track roadbed is too steep to be realistic. Let your ballast take its natural slope, spray it with your wetting agent (I prefer isopropyl alcohol, it dries faster), and apply your white glue.

[Warflight]

I decided to build up around the roadbed with water putty. That helps with the slope.

[Trainman203]

Be sure you paint the rails and ties before you ballast.

[Terry Toenges]

I never got around to doing any ballasting on EZ Track. I used a wash of diluted back India ink on the track pieces. It toned down the gray plastic and made them look dirtier without going through the whole ballasting process.

[Warflight]

I never got around to doing any ballasting on EZ Track. I used a wash of diluted back India ink on the track pieces. It toned down the gray plastic and made them look dirtier without going through the whole ballasting process.

That's an idea! But... I already bought the ballast. I also considered that "make it stone" spray paint as well.

  But the India Ink idea... I might not have enough ballast for everything, and there are areas of the layout that will be hard to ballast, that an India ink wash may do the job!

[Warflight]

  Here's an example of what I have done so far that will need ballasting after the ground has been painted...

 

[Trainman203]

Paint the track.  Real creosoted wood ties are not black for very long and real rails are not shiny silver on the sides.

[Warflight]

Painting the track

I have actually considered painting the ties, and weathering the track, but my layout is representing a Hollywood Studio, rather than a prototype railroad, and at it's level (it's about neck level) it's hard to see the rail ties... I am considering using some of the water putty (the liquid, when I first start mixing) to smear on the ties, to bring out the wood grain, and after ballasting, I was thinking of a burnt umber ink wash on just the side of the rails that are visible to the viewer (the opposite side cannot be seen at all, even from the top)

That saves me a bit of time there, for the rails... but it's representing a studio that laid the track recently for a movie production, so the ties would be mostly new, and a rich black.


As it is, I don't want to ballast the turn outs, because I'm REALLY worried about the operation of EZ Track turn outs. (so far, they work perfectly, and I really don't want to mess that up)

Oh, and yes, one CAN make a layout with EZ track... in fact, it has been SO EASY to do! Oh, and in answer to the question "how do you solder EZ track?" well... you don't... but if you did, you would do it the same as you would any snap track with plastic ties... hot solder iron, and solder quickly, so you don't melt plastic... but honestly, because of how the roadbed snaps together, and how the track connects, soldering is a complete waste of time for EZ track. It isn't needed at all! That's the whole point of using it!

[Trainman203]

Most of my layout is ballasted and weed grown ez track.  I'd post pictures if photo bucket was still there.

[Trainman203]

If you are doing an old west layout, they almost never used ballast as we know it today.  It was all about getting the road built fast, so it was just dirt or sand.  Plus, the rail in those days was lucky to be  30 or 40 pound rail.  Code 100 as on ez track is around 150  pound rail. 

I live with that size because I've painted, ballasted, and weeded my track into near invisibility.

[Warflight]

Most of my layout is ballasted and weed grown ez track.  I'd post pictures if photo bucket was still there.

Posting pictures is still just as easy... here's what you do.

Get a free account at deviantART? or a free account with some social media (like Facebook, maybe?)

Post your image on one of those accounts... your "wall" or your "gallery" or whatever they call it.

Now, go to the image you posted, just like you did with photobucket.

Right click on it (if your using Windows... if you're using Mac, try chanting, and dancing naked around a bonfire... okay, I don't know how Macs work...)

Now that you have right clicked on the image, you'll get a window that opens... click on "copy image location".

Now, do exactly what you used to do with Photobucket... click insert image, and just paste that image location in-between the two prompts, and you have your photo up!

The image above, i have posted on the Model Railroad Hobbyist forum's server...

This image is from my Facebook:



And this image is from my deviantART account:




It's as easy as that!

[Warflight]

I was doing Old West, but what i REALLY wanted was Wild West, which only really existed in Hollywood movies... then someone over at Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine suggested I look at the making of the new Lone Ranger movie. They hand built 1:1 scale track... an entire railroad just for that movie... an entire railroad, that, from the air, looks like some guys basement layout track plan would look! (you just KNOW they used an HO track plan book, and scaled up!)

That's when i remembered all of the movie sets that had been built in the past to depict that fictional "Wild West". Sets that were my inspiration to model the Old West to begin with!

That's when I decided that I'm no longer modeling the Old west, but rather, a movie studio out in the middle of nowhere.

Operations can still happen, but, rather than operations based on industry, it's operations based on bringing supplies into the set... getting actors to and from the studio... Maintenance of Way to keep the "property" movie ready at all times, and, for more action... moving and building trains for the "director's" next scene.

A lot can be done when the director needs to film a scene with a Connie, pulling passenger cars into the west side of the station to catch the light just right before the noon day sun, but the Connie is over at the shop, the MofW train is on the west side of the station set the director wants to use, while the passenger cars are hooked up to a 4-4-0 on the east side of the station, on a different spur, and there is a 4-6-0 with a cattle car bringing cows in for tomorrows scene blocking the right or way between the shop, the Connie, and the America. that will need to be moved.

I'm having LOTS of fun with that (and seeing how I became an actor, only because the railroads weren't hiring back when I wanted to work on trains, it's a bit up my alley to do this instead of a history project! Plus, it allows for a bit of silly from time to time on my layout)

[Terry Toenges]

It's yours to do as you please. That's the cool thing about model railroading. Of course, you can't have a movie set without old #3. Lay some track to Railtown.

[Trainman203]

Tyco made a die cast Sierra No. 3 many years ago, they are still around at train shows. DC engine, difficult to convert to DCC.