What color ballast?

Rusty Spike

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Dec 5, 2003
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The ballast flat car is nothing too special. It does however leave behind close the final amount of ballast after a few passes and it is spread evenly. I mounted the foam to the front of the car with sprew pieces from a plastic kit - I super glued them to the top of the flat car. The foam is glued to them with PL300 foam adhesive. I positioned the foam so it pressed down firmly against the tops of the ties then removed the profile of the rails with a sharp knife. I had to tighten down the truck mounting screw on the flat to minimize tipping from left and right. It looks a little worn now but it still works pretty well.

I use a 3/4" brush for the final step - I put tape around the bristles except for the last 1/8" inch. By keeping part of the brush over the rail head, you can't push the brush down too far and drag a bunch of material out from between the ties.
 

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