Ballasting has begun! In the end I opted for the Chinchilla Dust rather than using sand. The picture shows it in it's un-weathered state. Once all the ballast is down it will be weathered using some light paint washes to tone down the light grey colour. The ballast was glued down using the traditional method of using watered down PVA to soak the loose ballast in situ.

The reason why the Chinchilla Dust won over the sand is that is just looks better from a distance. Although sand looks great in some of the close up photos I've posted previously, in real life you can't see in that much detail. From a normal viewing distance the sand just doesn't quite "read" as ballast.

The decision between what <span style="text-decoration: underline;">is</span> right and what <span style="text-decoration: underline;">looks</span> right, is often a touch choice for modellers. For me, generally, what looks right will always win. A model layout is effectively a theatrical presentation of a railway, even if the audience is only yourself. So, what looks right from a normal viewing distance should be the ultimate aim, although I accept that may not be everyones choice.

Once ballasting is complete, and it has been weathered, the rails will then be fixed to the sleepers using plastic moulded chairs. Before fixing down, the rails will be soldered to the power supply and painted. Some gentle weathering will then be applied to the whole track to tie everything together.

I know that this is a bit of a departure to the normal process of ballasting the track after is has been laid. With this method there is a lot more control over all the individual elements during construction. Hopefully this will allow me to achieve the finish I want. It also simplifies the process of ballasting, which is traditionally a very fiddly process. This is especially true around points, when you have to be careful of moving parts.

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