Another ballasting puzzlement

River City 3 Railers use a 2:1 mix of gray and cinders for the mainlines. The yard area gets a mix of 1:2. For the transition a little 1:1 blends it right in.

I "sank" (sunk?)my Yard and siding track down to tie-top @ ground level. I did this by adding 5/16" foam core board "raise" the ground and then darkened the ballast. Really just trying to get the different, dirty look of much Yard/siding  track.

Raised Plywood temporarily replacing Yard service structures (Tower, Ash Dump etc), is where I laid my belly while working on the corner Denim Mill. Unfortunately never got to finish layout but did have power on and ran trains.

Thank you both very much. The ballast/cinders mix is a great suggestion and I had not considered "sinking my yard.

Jim

Jim,

 Here is a photo of the entrance to my small engine service yard. The main line is ballasted with primarily grey limestone and I have added a gradual transition of fine and coarse black cinders to the service yard, coaling and water facilities which are primarily covered with cinders.

Paul

Fine and coarse. That's also a good idea. I like it. Thank you

Here are a few pictures of the ballasting job I did on my past layout and my current one.  

Current layout has WS coarse cinders glued to a Styrofoam substrate. TABLE top is 1/2  inch MDF,  3/4 inch Styrofoam,  then a top layer of 1/4 inch Styrofoam cut out to inset the tracks.  This makes the tracks appear like they are sunk into the ground and also you use less ballast. 

These 2 photos are of my previous layout.  If you live near a menards,  they sell a 50 lb bag of blasting sand. It's an abrasive  grit for stripping paint and rust from metal. I  bought a bag for $7.99 less my 11% rebate.  1 bag could cover several large layouts (a bag fills a 5 gallon bucket ). 

There are two Menards near me. The blasting sand looks like a needful thing. Thank you.