Steel Mill Module 3 redesign - Part 5

Once the track has been painted and dried, I began ballasting the track. When I start my scenery I always start with the track ballast. I prefer using "Highball" ballast material, it is made from real crushed stone. There are other manufactures that us real stone as well which should work the same. Woodland Scenics uses crushed walnut shells (or a different nut) for their ballast which tends to float if you put down a healthy amount of glue. With the amount of time you spend spreading the ballast around you don't want it to move. You'll notice that I used lime stone colored ballast for the mainlines and blended them into the original colored ballast. If you have any books on your favorite railroad look at the ballast in the pictures. I used cinder colored ballast for the rest of the track along with real dirt. Next I put down a small line of real dirt next to the ballast. Once that is done, then I begin my gluing process (see note).

Note: I uses a 50/50 mix of white glue and water for gluing down the ballast. I first soak the area with a water/detergent mixture (3 drops of dishsoap/1 pint of water, this acts as a wetting agent), using a spray bottle. I usually do this twice before adding my glue which is applied using a small plastic bottle with a dropper attachment. Those of you who's wifes color their own hair, that little bottle that has the hair color in it is perfect, that's what use.

While the area is still wet I start putting down the scenery material. I use Woodland Scenics "Fine" green or earth blends for the base colors. Again while the area is still wet I'll put down any other basic scenery stuff that I want in that location. While your adding this material you are going the have to keep the area wet with water and glue mixtures. This assures that you will get a good foundation to start with.

In the pictures you can see where I added ballast in random areas along with small pieces of wrapping paper to represent paper trash along the rightaway. My technique allowed me to complete the basic scenery in this whole area in less than an hour and a half. It takes practice, don't get discouraged. In my next post I will begin putting in detail parts along with more scenery.