Ballast & Oil Dry

I think it looks great.  It even looks better than the ballast - hint.

Looks good, easy, readily available, as I progress on my layout this might be the way to go. 

Looks great. That stuff is basically the same as kitty litter, which is an excellent choice for ballast.  If you want a more uniform look, try sifting it using a colandar. You can use the larger and smaller pieces in different areas. Frankly, I think the Oil Dry looks better than the commercial ballast.

It looks good but the chunks seem to be a little large for O. Years ago I used to use a brand (un-rememberd now) of cat litter. I kept a shoebox-sized container near where I was working, one day I forgot to put the cover back on! Note on cat litter, do not use the clumping variety; especially if you do the white glue spray method.

Thanks for the insight.

C&O

Next time at the farm or feed store ask for a bag of granny grit. I think you will like the size and effect. Sorry I don't have a picture, but hopefully soon once again ...

Paul

Sift across a magnet - just in case...

Railrunning, Is Granny Grit the same as Chick Grit or Pultry Grit?

I have tried the oil dry stuff. It looks pretty good, but the problem I have run into is the dust. I have tried a couple of different brands, and the dust in the product was pretty bad. I have gone back to commercial ballast, usually Woodland Scenics. Maybe some brands are dustfree?

Jeff

Local feed store sells crushed granite in gray or red for 30 cents a pound. I've been using that for ballast. It's O scale size and actual rock.

mowingman posted:

I have tried the oil dry stuff. It looks pretty good, but the problem I have run into is the dust. I have tried a couple of different brands, and the dust in the product was pretty bad. I have gone back to commercial ballast, usually Woodland Scenics. Maybe some brands are dustfree?

Jeff

The secret is to always sift the kitty-litter/oil-dry using a kitchen colander. These materials are basically little chunks of clay. They do indeed come with a lot of fines mixed in. But once you sift the dust out, it will not come back.

The other thing is to always get the cheapest kitty litter you can find (oil dry is usually the cheapest). The expensive stuff has all kinds of additives to promote clumping, deodorize, etc. You want pure clay, and that means cheap.

Railrunnin posted:

C&O

Next time at the farm or feed store ask for a bag of granny grit. I think you will like the size and effect. Sorry I don't have a picture, but hopefully soon once again ...

Paul

I went to the feed store and bought the granite grit. It looks real nice. It has a subtle pink hue. I really like the size and price. 

The combination of the two may be the best. They Both look like different size rocks. Maybe you should try and combine them together and see what it looks like 

Be careful with granite, as it contains iron pyrite. It is recommended to use a magnet when using granite. I use screenings, also called concrete sand or moon dust. I sift it through a window screen to get the appropriate size for ballast, the sift the fines. I don't have a layout, so no photos of track ballasting, except for the track section in the photos, which is a mixture of coarse sand, dirt, tiny twigs and some Blac Beauty to represent coal spills. The first photo is gray, the second is red and the third is a mixture of both. A lot of modelers use roof granules as well, which come in a multitude of colors.

@Railrunnin posted:

C&O

Next time at the farm or feed store ask for a bag of granny grit. I think you will like the size and effect. Sorry I don't have a picture, but hopefully soon once again ...

Paul

Called the factory and they are many months behind.

A lot of people say used Brennan's etc. Great product but I have over 600' feet of track and it is kind of out of my budget. I would love to use it but..........

I used Brennens on 800 ft of track with a Sand underlayment of 1/8 inch which Works well and the Job came out Great.I used two different types of Granite,black for the Yards and Grey for main Lines.

Mikey

Monon Jim.. sounds like you have a lot of ballasting ahead. To save time, on the far tracks, along the back wall of the layout, I only ballasted on the side of the track facing the aisle.  With a layout height of 42” and a distance of 4 feet, nobody (but me) will ever know the difference. JohnA 

P.S .    I used cat litter, glued down with diluted white glue. JohnA