Ballast or Scenery. Which comes first?

[Bfagan]

At the point where I'm ready to ballast the track and start the scenery.  Which should be done first?  I'd like to ballast first but thought the scenery (grass, earth, etc.) would get all over the track.  Then I thought it would be easier to ballast first and vacuum the scenery off the track.  Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Bill

[Wlal13again]

I ballast, then build the scenery to it..Just make sure to cover all track and ballast with blue painters tape to protect it..

[John]

Scenery?  Whats that?


I like to do scenery first then the ballast ..

[arbomambo]

It's really your preference.
I like to ballast after the scenery is done; I will paint and weather the track as soon as it's tested, then cover it for the scenery process. I want the scenery down, especially the subroadbed, in place before the ballast- just as it is in the real world.
-Bruce

[hegstad1]

Ballast last.  That's how its done in the "real" world.

[GaryHinshaw]

I ballast first, because I can do a neater job of shaping the ballast.  When scenery is in place, some stretches of track will be hard to access.  Personal preference though.

[Mark W]

I recently found it's critical to paint the track before shaping foam terrain.  I used all purpose calking to glue track to cork.  On these lovely humid days, the calking between the ties get quite sticky.  Add a crap load of foam bits and dust and you've just ballasted your track with pink foam.  I had to go in with tweezers tie by tie to get all the foam out because a vacuum couldn't.  

My preferred order:

1. Lay Track
2. Terrain blocking
3. Paint Track
4. Shape terrain
5. Terrain Base Paint/Grout
6. Ballast
7. Static Grass/Foliage
8. Architecture

[davefoxx]

I ballast last (as pointed out above, this is the way it happens on the prototype), and I have no problem blending the scenery in:

Before:



After:



. . . and this is in no way considered "finished."

DFF

[DKS]

When planning a layout, I will usually establish where all buildings and streets go in advance. I also always make foundations for all structures, even including things like footings for signals, etc., which greatly heightens realism. Therefore, everything on a layout is tightly integrated, and so the order of execution for me usually looks like this:

1. Benchwork
2. Lay track
3. Paint track
4. Block out streets and foundations
5. Block out terrain
6. Install foundations
7. Create terrain surface
8. Install streets
9. Ballast
10. Add ground cover and low foliage
11. Install structures
12. Install trees, telephone poles & details

Water effects, if any, may be completed at nearly any stage, depending on the technique(s) used to create them. For instance, if I'm using ripple glass, it would be installed during terrain blocking, whereas gloss medium effects would be done after ballasting.

[jpwisc]

Ballast last.  That's how its done in the "real" world.

I agree, I will add some ground foam to the edges as I ballast down the line to keep the ballast edge from looking too clean.

[DKS]

Ballast last.  That's how its done in the "real" world.

But then nature comes along and messes it up with weeds and such. So technically it's not always "last."

...I will add some ground foam to the edges as I ballast down the line to keep the ballast edge from looking too clean.

It depends on what you're modeling: what class of railroad, what era, what condition, geographic setting, etc. Some railroads were quite meticulous about their ballasting, to the point of almost looking artificial; on others, you can hardly see the ballast for all of the weeds.

[nkalanaga]

In my case, the ballast was in the middle.  The basic scenery, including the dirt/rocks/etc of the roadbed, was finished, then the ballast added over that, then the vegetation.  Since my wood roadbed is only as wide as the ties, I needed the fill, mostly mortar sand, of the roadbed to support the ballast.

[robert3985]

My order of work for scenery also puts ballasting somewhere in the middle, always before adding weeds, trees, bushes, fence posts, track signage, utility poles, etc.

I also attempt to put in a layer of "dirt" (which in my case is always real, sifted and graded soil from the actual location of the LDE I'm working on) alongside the track on either side of my contoured cork roadbed so that my ballast will lie on top of that when I do it.  This dirt layer is socked down (not loose) and dry before I start ballasting. 

After my ballast is dry and I've cleaned it up and I'm happy with the appearance, I take my airbrush and paint the ballasted track with a light reddish dusting which represents the accumulated weed killer residue that U.P. uses on its mainline trackage, and I don't want to have any trees, bushes, signal bridges or utility/telegraph poles sticking up to get in the way of this process....I permanently attach those details after the track is all painted, ballasted and weathered.

Just to be clear, in my case applying the ballast in the order I do it is simply because of ease of access, which makes the process less tedious and quicker.  Some types of scenery make the order you apply it in less important.

DKS has pretty well outlined the order that I also use. You can't go wrong using his recommendation.

[sizemore]

Ballast first, Unless it's a freshly laid mainline, 99.99% of the time nature has reclaimed the lowest sides of a mainline in some fashion. Then roads, crossings, sidewalks, foundations and scenery.

The S.

[w neal]

I've tried both ways. I think it depends on your techniques and materials.

I found the elmer's glue used to affix the ballast was seeping up into the static grass I use and leaving a "ring" of dried glue in the grass that was unrealistic to me.

If you are using static grass, try both ways. See which you prefer. If you are using fine foam, the effect may not be so visible.