With the new track arrangement tested, I set about ballasting. Now, call me mad, but I quite enjoy ballasting. It's repetitious and mindless but it can be done in small steps and with each bit that's done, there's a palpable sense of progress.

As mentioned, I'm not using Copydex again. I've gone to back to ye olde dilute PVA, applied using traditional methods. Because the track is laid onto foam, there's still some resilience even when the PVA's set, so I've not noticed any increase in noise compared to the earlier system. (Coming back to this, I noticed that there is some extra noise after all but it's still what I'd call tolerable. The advantage of PVA over Copydex for me is that it's neater to apply and control, and most importantly, durable after it's gone down).

Nosing around the recent Warminster show, I was taken with the shade and texture of some Green Scene ballast so I bought a few packs and this is what I've used. It's not too far off whatever Woodland Scenics type I used before, so the two should blend quite nicely.

I took extra care around the single slip and 3-way, as you'd expect. In fact, some of the fiddlier bits were fixed down using cyano-acrylate, dripped onto raw dry ballast. Once it's seeped in, it sets very hard but it's good for a very controlled application. I once spilled an entire bottle onto an area of track on Paynestown, and after it dried there were no ill-effects. My other way of doing fiddly bits is what I call the "porridge" method. Basically, you get a bit of card and dollop a fat blob of PVA on it. Then you sprinkle ballast onto the blob and stir it in until it forms a porridge-like texture. The resultant goop can be then be picked up on the tip of a screwdriver and manipulated into tiny spots and awkward areas like grout, and once it dries it's indistinguishable from normal areas of ballast. Because it's got some grout-like stiffness, too, it can be used to fill holes quite successfully, forming a layer over a cavity if need be. It's good for working near point mechanisms and any other areas where you want precise control of where the ballast goes.

Even after all the care I thought I'd taken with the levels, I still wasn't happy with one of the lines running into the single slip, so after these pictures were taken it was lifted, relayed and re-ballasted! I reckoned I'd be happier fixing it now than living with it and eventually having to change it anyway.

The mix of Peco bullhead, C+L and Peco pointwork is evident, but for me a satisfactory compromise. I'm debating whether or not to attempt adding some cosmetic chairs to the Peco points, unsure of whether the sleeper spacing will make them look silly, or whether they'll be an improvement on none at all?