[Tony]

Part 3 of the saga details the ballasting. Photo 1 shows the entrance to the station. Well washed and sieved beach sand was used to simulate newly ballasted plain track. The station platform tracks were ballasted using dark brown and the sidings using black.
The various ballasts were laid a few square inches at a time using a soft haired artists brush to get it level and into place forming the track shoulders. It is very time consuming but well worth it in the end, after all, the layout should last for several years.
When about 18 square inches were laid to my satisfaction, a 4;1 mix of water and PVA glue was dropped onto it and left to dry. The areas of point blades were covered with pieces of paper to stop any ballast moving around the blades. It is important to soak the ballast with the mixture otherwise you might have to start again when bald patches appear!
Once the ballast was dry the trackwork had to be cleared of stray rocks - it certainly felt like that - using a small screwdriver and craft knife. Running a couple of wagons by hand along the tracks soon shows up any imperfections.
This phase of the job is very fiddly and took several days but successful running later gave a great feeling of satisfaction.