I'm pretty unhappy with the unrealistic hard line between my Bachmann E-Z track and the grass on my layout. When I looked at the article in Model Railroader Magazine about scenery on the Salt Lake Route, I saw that ballasting the edge of the Kato Unitrack roadbed can really help to blend the track into the scenery, with little risk of getting the track covered in ballast. Is this a good idea for E-Z track as well? I am aware that in the article, Dick used a ballast that was made by Kato for that purpose. I am also wondering if I should ballast just the edges, or all of the track. Any ideas?
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Take a look at Cody's office ... (episode 98) It gave some good examples for ballast
IIRC DC used Kato ballast because it is made to match the color of the Kato plastic roadbed. Also, DC used cork roadbed UNDER the sectional track for sound deadening so that also had to be covered.
I ballasted my EZ-Track on my first layout. It was a good way to learn how to do it, firstly, and it was a lot faster and less costly in terms of the depth and volume of ballast that flex track would need.
I groomed it and then wet it, and then sprayed it. I had a lot of cleanup to do on the rail tops afterwards, so I would advise against over-spraying the whole. Instead, groom the ballast, spread thinly, and then mist with isopropyl alcohol and water mixed. When it seems wet, not dripping, use a controlled dribbling method to get tiny amounts of thinned wood glue or white glue, or matte medium into the ballast grains. Hopefully it won't disturb the ballast once it is wet with the alcohol.
The other technique (and why not try a foot this way?) is to spread a thin layer of straight wood glue or white glue, let it set for a few minutes, only three or four, and then sprinkle sand or ballast over it evenly . Don't do anything else, just let it sit for about four hours to dry. Then vacuum the track carefully and the still-free grains will lift into your vacuum. What is left should be decent looking ballast.
As for only doing the lower edge of the fake plastic ballast, I don't imagine I would be happy with that, but it, too, is worth a trial to see how it looks for you. You can always go back over it with more ballast and glue it.
-Crandell