Adding Realism with Ballasted Track – a Teaser
I’ve been away for a little bit, and to anybody that was just starting to get into my blog as it was getting off the ground I apologize. I had to move my blog to a new server.
Okay, enough of that, let’s get onto the trains! Actually this is going to be just a teaser of a post. I am working a longer article about track ballast and it isn’t quite finished but I’m eager to be writing again. So what is ballast? Ballast is defined as a heavy substance placed in such a way as to improve stability and control. When you see train tracks the ballast is the rock between the actual ties and the dirt ground. The rocks provide added stability and control, stability and control that is probably good to have when there is a locomotive weighing around 200 tons. Now in our model train world we don’t need the ballast for stability, although it doesn’t hurt. In the model train world ballast is used primarily for added realism. I’ve included a picture below and I am working on a more comprehensive posting about the actual technique for laying ballast.
Oh, and if you are wondering your local hobby shop probably supplies ballast.
Model train ballast