Ballast First or Grass First?

[Hansel]

O.k. I have the track laid, or glued down, to the plywood base of the benchwork (wanted to keep it low to the ground for my switching layout).  What should I do next?  Should I lay the ballast and then the grass, or lay the grass first and then the ballast?

Thanks, Hansel

[loathar]

I do grass then ballast. It's kind of a personal preference though.

[jag193]

I guess that it depends upon the "image" you are trying to present.  The big Class I railroads tended to take very good care of their roadbed and had nice straight edges on their ballast; so, if that's your preference, you should do the scenery first and the ballast last so that it can be very neat and tidy.  On the other hand, if you are modeling some of the old short-lines or narrow gauge, the track crews and management tended to be a little less picky and grass and weeds would often grow up through the ballast, especially along the shoulders.  If that's your preference, then put the ballast down first, then the scenery textured in on top.  You don't have to be so carefull with the shoulders and you can be a little more "sloppy" with the scenery material.  Be sure to make it a good mix of greens and yellows (dead grass, etc).

Jim

[jaytrix]

I am trying both methods to determine which my personal preference is.  My thought is also that ground cover first then the ballast.  The theory is that this will give a realistic blend between the two.

[Midnight Railroader]

Grass first.

The ballast covers any rough edges.

[gandydancer19]

I actually try and think about how the scenery and man made stuff would have been done in the real world. So for me, it is DIRT first, ballast second, and grass & weeds last.

[vsmith]

My "dirt" was a coat of paint, then grass, then ballast, if you want the look of grass growing into the track, its easy enough to add after.

[doctorwayne]

Why not do 'em both at the same time?  This track is also layed directly on the plywood:  I used ballast on the mainlines, with cinders alongside the edges to represent the sub-ballast/fill, then "weeds' and "dirt" alongside that.  The sidings got some cinders, dirt and weeds, depending on how often they're used.  You do the spreading and arranging of the material while it's dry, so it's not hard to keep it separate.  When you spray it with wet water, the glue that you apply to the track area is going to spread beyond the ballast edges anyway, so why not take advantage of that. 

 

In some areas meant to represent track on a fill, I did the "fill" part at the same time, too.  This not only cuts down on wasted glue, it cuts down on wasted time. 

 

Everytime that you do scenery near the track, you'll need to clean the track afterwards - why make extra work for yourself?

Wayne 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I do grass then ballast.

[HEdward]

I do grass then ballast.

NORML member? 

Ok, just kidding.  Hey, didn't they dump ashes along the sides of the line to hold down the weeds?  I know if they did, they don't anymore unless someone has a coal fired steam engine working full time.

[rolleiman]

Add one more to the grass first vote. Ballast is usually THE last element I add to the scenery, even on a weed covered roadbed.