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The real railroads lay their track and ties on top of the ballast because it (rail and ties) is heavy enough not to move around. In modeling, we nail or glue our track to a roadbed (cork, woodland scenics, 'Instant Roadbed,' homabed, etc) to keep it in place. Then we spread 'ballast' around the ties and down the sides of the roadbed to make it look like the real thing. Key to ballasting is to keep the small pieces out of the way of the switch points and wheels. When you have the ballast where you want, wet it with a little alcohol (the rubbing kind, not the drinking kind) then glue it down with a 50/50 mix of white glue(elmers) and water.
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