BALLASTING TUBULAR TRACK

Here is some O gauge track with added wood ties and ballasted.

Ross

Great looking track.I hope mine comes out that well. What materials did you use for ballast and  ties?

Ties were made from various pieces of scrap wood cut to size. The ballast is chick grit.

All 027 on my layout (a little FT too). I used black floral gravel that I found at a local dollar store. Probably a little big but if I was that concerned about the scale then I wouldn't be using tubular track. At a buck for a one pound bag who's gonna complain.

The light gray and brown gravels are also a floral decorating product from Michael's.

I thought about adding extra ties but I know this layout will get torn down eventually for a bigger one so it wasn't worth the time and effort. The next one will be GG and Ross switches.

Bob

My Layout is O-31 Tubular track.  I add basswood wood ties,  1/2"x1/4"  2-1/4" Long, painted black.  My ballast is gravel from Ant Hills.  Here in Western Colorado we have these large Ant Hills, 2-3 feet in diameter.  The ants are great sorters and bring up these large grains of sand, small pebbles.  I scoop this material up into a bucket, bring it home and run it through a sifter.  When I lay my track I insert the wood ties, the pour over the ballast, dress it up with a brush.  I use tweezers to pick out the oversized pieces and other junk.  Then Spray with an alcohol water mix, then using a medicine dropper, add white glue water mix.

The Ground Cover you see is a fine sand I dug up out of a creek bed, Dry it out and run through a kitchen sifter.

Steve

I have O 31 tubular, and I don't ballast between the rails. I have rubber ties to fill in the gaps between the metal ties, and I use chicken grit for areas adjacent to the rails. No need for glue, wet water, or anything else, and that works for me.

WOW ,,thanks everyone..There are some really talented people in tubular world....

Interesting approaches