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Hi Dale, Turnouts are called switches in the real world. Sidings are the track that runs off the main for whatever purpose - not the actual mechanism itself. Some sidings are lower than the main, some are not. Rarely higher. If you are using cork for a subroadbed, you might use HO scale for the main, and N scale for the siding. But to answer your question - Yards would likely have a different colour ballast, either by design, or because of "weathering" by having a proportionally higher number of engines and cars always around. Some sidings might have different material, if there is a local supply, like slag or other tailings from a mine or ore processing plant. Most aggregate is sourced locally, so your ballast should reflect that. There were some lines along the east coast of the southern US that used oyster shells.... As for gluing it down, there are many, many methods. A good one is to sprinkle the ballast between/beside the rails using a dixie cup, and then position it with a soft paint brush. Soak the ballast with "wet" water - water and alcohol - using a syringe, eye dropper, or squeeze bottle. This wet water can be coloured with India ink or other material to give a bit of variation. Then drop on a mixture of white glue and water (50-50). The glue follows the "wet" water into all the crevices and spaces between the ballast so that when it is dry, all the bits are stuck down. Try to limit your ballasting to only about 2-3 feet at a time. You might try other forums for pictures of ballasting in progress - here's a link to start you off: http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6822 Good luck. Andrew
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