Mine was a process of improvement.
I am assuming you want to put this on a layout not on a carpet and that you will account for the foam or cork under the track.
What I did was get a piece of 1/4 stock about 1/4 to a 1/2 inch bigger than the intended switch motor, painted it black. Screwed that down tight so it would not move, then mounted the machine or hand throw to that. Cut the Ross ties straight so it can butte right against.
Improvement 1: Later I found out that if you take a utility knife and make the edges a little lower, like a 1/16 to 1/8 or so then you can ballast right up the the machine.
Improvement 2: Then I realized you could take out the 1/16 - 1/8 to create the look of ties and make the base plate a little wider the ties can extend past the machine like it did originally and it blends right in. Then ballast in the 1/16 to 1/8 gap.
Improvement 3: I then strained the base plate, then gray / black washed it like all the other ties.
Potential improvement 4: take a 1/8 stock, slice ross ties and mount those on the 1/8 then screw that to the board.
Another option is to get a piece of 1/4 inch stock and remove the bad ties and replace. It is very easy as you are only removing 1 tie at a time and the rails will not move. I have done a number of these as I have pulled up switch and it has one screw that I did not see. You can use fine needle nose pliers and for the spikes that got lost in the process I use a small piece of wire, bent over.
Ed
