Winter Layout Party, week 3

After the base terrain is in place and completely dry (allow a couple of days after the coat of dirt powder mix) and basic vegetation is added, it's time for some more ballast.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to add static grass nor vegetation, mainly because work, chichenpox on the youngest son, chichenpox passed to the oldest one, and 15" of snow kept me away from the layout room most of the time :-)

The main line (on the right) is a little higher than the siding and also weathering is different. I borrowed Joe Fugate track weathering method*. For the main I used a 50/50 mix of black powder pigments and plaster of Paris as described in the post about ballast, while the siding is weathered with the following mix:

• 2 parts black
• 1 part brown
• 4 parts yellow
• 6 parts plaster of paris

The dirt powder mix is brushed between the rail with a flat brush. Then I lightly mist some water on the tracks, the plaster in the mix will fix the powders in place.

Here is a 5 minutes howto video showing how I ballasted the Callender siding and spurs:


How to ballast and weather N scale track from Denny on Vimeo.

* You can see more on Joe Fugate scenery techniques at the following URL: http://model-trains-video.com/d-video-scenery.php where you can download great quality howto videos for few bucks.