Ballast Recommendations Wanted

Hi Matt, I am not sure what that track looks like. I have used Garbraves on all of it with some Ross switches. I have pretty much used Brennan's product and have been very satisfied with it. I just can not answer how it would work with the track you plan to use. I used gray ballast on my main lines with black for my yards.

Some questions:

1) What era are you planning to model? Steam, steam & diesel, all diesel, all modern diesel?

2) All main line, high volume trackage? Light duty branch line/short line?

3) Surrounding scenery; desert?, forested?, rolling grassy plains?

I have been using Brennan's ballast. It's nice to work with. This is the gray. I tried the black for yards but I like the gray better.

Hi Matt,

The Panhandle also uses Brennan's - gray for the mainline.  Track is GarGraves and Ross with switches from Curtis and Ross.

George

All the previous recommendations are fine, and most of the commercially available products will work as well, and they do offer a wide array of colors and size and texture of the ballast. The main downside IMHO is the cost, especially if bought in retail-size containers to do a large job.

If your needs are modest (or your hobby budget vast!), this may not be a factor, but be aware that crusher-run stone (available at hardware stores at relatively modest per-pound cost, intended to be used to fill voids between paving stones or blocks) can with a bit of effort be sieved down to create large quantities of several grades and sizes of stone. I used three successively-finer screens to create all the various grades of stone needed on my layout, and still have a lot left in the bag -- I doubt I've used over $20 or so of the crusher run so far! Here's a few pics to illustrate some of the uses so far:

:

Medium size stone was used above as track ballast (around tubular O scale track on foam bed), larger stones around the foreground fire pit, fine stone as 'gravel' around fire pit, and the largest stone simulating a gabion wall in the background.

Large stones were glued together in a pile in the foreground, small stones were used around the sign base and medium stones as track ballast (both in the background), and stone powder was used around the driveway (the 'sand'  pile on the right is glued sawdust, and the red 'gravel' above it is WS fine ballast).

Matt, you are right about the different track that is offered and how different size ballast mates with it. Your using a more scale looking track as far as rail height and tie size. Two layouts come to mind that used Scaletrax. Rich Battista’s and Al Zamorski of Millhouse River Studios. Both had a nice look from what I remember. You may try researching their layouts through the Forum  or contacting them.
J D Stucks had a good You Tube  video on choosing his rail color and I think his ballast. He acquired different  colors to paint his rails to get the look he wanted before committing. I’d get a sacrificial piece of track and have at it. Room lighting can affect rail color and glue can sometimes change the ballast color. I’d just get some samples and experiment till I found the look I like. Ballasting is something you only want to do once.

Matt,

I have Scaletrax also and have multiple and unconventional sources of ballast.

Material I gather from sweeping the street.  The most work and time consuming, but all free.  I sweep the street and put the material in a 5 gallon pail.  I run the water hose in the bucket until the water runs clear.   I purchased 2 different sized colanders at the dollar store.  This gives me three sizes of ballast.

I have also used Speedy Dry at the auto parts store.  This is cheap and easy.  BUT HARD TO GLUE.  The wet water gets absorbed very fast.

I have also used unscented plain kitty litter. 

Here is a close up of the Kitty litter.

I also made this many years ago...

On the club layout I used natural aquarium gravel. It's really cheap compared to most options.

Scott Smith

Matt...

Brennan's ballast.  Readily available.  Easy to use.  Various sizes.

Woodland Scenics Coarse Ballast, 3 parts Gray to 1 part Cinders.....on Atlas Track with Ross Switches.........The Yard mixes it up and large parts are all Coarse Cinders, others are mixes of varying concentrations.....

The ballast was 1st laid down in 2010. Some modules are newer than others. It was refreshed overall in 2021.

Peter

Matt,

I think Brennan’s ballast looks best with hi-rail track. It’s an excellent product. When I’ve built hi-rail layouts it’s what I’ve used. You mention your code 148 ME track (I’m also a 2-railer)…to my eye, Brennan’s or WS coarse looks a little too big with 2-rail track. I looked at more photos of prototype track trying to judge ballast size in comparison to the ties…and in my opinion, I think Woodland Scenics medium ballast looks the closest to the prototype.

I actually was just testing this the other night. I’ll get to the basement today and post pictures of Brennan’s vs WS coarse vs WS medium on ME code 148 track.

I used ballast made from ground-up rubber - the occasional loose piece won't grind the gears.  If the layout is portable, another benefit is lighter weight.  Unfortunately, the supplier has passed away and I don't know if anyone still produces it.  A quick search found ground rubber that is designed for playgrounds and athletic fields, but it appears to be available only in black and brown - didn't see any gray - and not sure about the granule size.

If it can be found in the color and quantity you need, I'd recommend trying it.

I recommend that you acquire small amounts of all that everyone touts and look at it on your layout, about your track, in your lighting, and go from there.

I used a 5 part mix of Woodland Scenics stuff 20 years ago and have no idea what those parts were other than to state that I mixed it up, looked at it in place and decided, yes, that'll do just fine.

Here’s some experimenting on my pike. First pic is WS medium next to WS coarse. Second pic is Brennan’s.

Many years ago, I tried some aquarium gravel on an O gauge trolley line loop that I was building:

It worked out quite well. Now, I would probably use un-scented, un-clumping cat litter. Mainly because I have a five-pound bag of the stuff just sitting around!

I’m using Brennan’s.  Here’s a comparison to a BNSF mainline running through the area I’m modeling.  In this pic the BNSF ballast looks darker than in real life because the sunlight angle.  The ties look a lot lighter than Gargraves ties also!

Hey Matt,

There are a lot of good recommendations here, but something that I've seen that hasn't been mentioned at all is Arizona Rock and Mineral Company (https://www.armballast.com/). They make ballast and other rock scenery products in all scales, and what I found most interesting is that they have different ballast colors based on different RR's mainlines. I don't know if you want to model a specific location or something general, but this might help. I should also disclose that I haven't tried their products, but I will definitely test them when building my next layout.

@bigboy25 posted:

Hey Matt,

There are a lot of good recommendations here, but something that I've seen that hasn't been mentioned at all is Arizona Rock and Mineral Company (https://www.armballast.com/). They make ballast and other rock scenery products in all scales, and what I found most interesting is that they have different ballast colors based on different RR's mainlines. I don't know if you want to model a specific location or something general, but this might help. I should also disclose that I haven't tried their products, but I will definitely test them when building my next layout.

The issue with it is that you’ll go broke trying to do a layout with it.  It comes in little sandwich baggies. Prolly ok for smaller scales but O scale eats up ballast.
I used AR&M pennsy grey and black cinders(HO size) but it’s mixed on top of #20 ballast from scenic express (#SE2001).
The foreground is code 125 and the other tracks are 148.

Remember guys, and gals, the trick to conserving money on ballast is to first put down cheap sand-box-sand and then spread a nice thin layer of your expensive ballast over THAT.

Check out Gator Maxx polymeric sand. This is what I plan on using. Has a binder mixed in so all you have to do is spray it with water. Comes in 4 colors.

https://alliancegator.com/gato...erial/gator-maxx-g2/

Well, I'm one of those guys who mixes "several of the above".  My mainline formula is 3 parts Brennan's gray, 1 part coarse Woodland Scenics gray, and 3 parts slate gray Alliance (Gator) SuperSand.  In the picture below, the upper left track segment is pure Brennan's, which wasn't intended (I assumed that said cup of ballast had been mixed, but it hadn't).  The two lower and right upper tracks were ballasted with the mix noted.  The darker, not quite black, and brownish tones are contributed mostly by the SuperSand.

The yard will see a mix with more parts SuperSand, one part Brennan's black, less Brennan's gray, no Woodland, and some mixed ballast that I recovered from some modules that were disassembled.  Maybe I'll lay down pure SuperSand first and then sprinkle the Brennan's (mixed) over that to add texture and variety.  That technique may work on the sides, but not between ties on the rails, as the depth of the initial SuperSand application will be difficult to make consistent in a reasonable amount of time.

SuperSand was used on the club's S gauge travel layout.  It's just the right coarseness for S.  But I found that the glue mixed into it wasn't entirely sufficient, so the traditional diluted Elmer's came to the rescue.

I'm using 70% isopropyl alcohol as the wetting agent.  There's not much difference between it and "wet water", as far as glue distribution goes, but it seems to dry in about half the time.  And my layout is not in the house, so the alcohol fumes issue isn't a concern.

The Alliance SuperSand cost $35, for a 50lb bag, at the local landscaping supply store (pre-COVID).  I doubt that I'll use the whole bag, with a good half of what I've used going into the club's S gauge layout.

I run 2 rail. I put down sifted crusher fines. At first, I thought it was a mistake. I had a few MTH engines actually short out when a piece got jammed inside the axles somehow. I glued down the ballast and then vacuumed up any excess. I think stuff broke free as it was stuck to the tops of the ties.

After that (period), no more wheel shorting problems.

My bigger problem was my layout wasn't ready. I thought it was as I ran for a few years. Right before, I swapped out #5 Atlas switches for bigger #7. Several engines don't like the dead frogs now.

I also had a problem where a short was created. I can only guess it was some type of problem created by the plywood expanding in humid seasons and the track was now rigid. It had worked for years before. I'll never know what exactly caused it.

My point is to research like you're doing. Also, to test, test, and then test some more. Do smaller areas and make sure all is well. I did the whole layout at once and I think that compounded my issues. Switches got sticky from the ballast and glue mixtures, etc., etc.

I have a suspicion that the rubber ballast suggested might be better and allow for more flexing? I like the look of the real stone the best but it cost me!

Hi  Matt,

   You got 20 different answers as to what to use.   My advice is, that color and size of ballast is absolutely everything.  It takes forever to properly glue the ballast down, and once it is down, you are really stuck with it.  It took me longer to put down the ballast than it took me to build the tracks!

   So, narrow it down to two choices, and order a small bag of each.  Try each of them on a small track section, and then decide.  If you don't like either, then don't hesitate to sample something else.

   You can never really tell how a type of ballast will look on your particular layout by just looking at pictures of it online. 

   If you are going to any train shows any time soon, you can often buy small bags of opened or leftover bags of ballast for cheap, so this would be an easy way to get your samples.

   And, if you look at a lot of layouts, you can see that it really looks great if you put down foam or cork underlay first, then your track, and then the ballast on top. 

Mannyrock

@Engineer-Joe posted:

...

I have a suspicion that the rubber ballast suggested might be better and allow for more flexing? I like the look of the real stone the best but it cost me!

After it's glued down, it doesn't really flex - maybe just a tiny bit, as it feels softer to the touch.  IMO, if the benchwork moves so much that flexible ballast is desired, it might be worthwhile to take steps to better control the climate in the layout room.

Every type of ballast involves compromise - weight, texture, appearance, and cost.

I use FasTrack 

Actually I have to agree with Brennans Ballast. Its nice stuff

A serious 2-rail O-scaler and retired railroader, Eric Peterson, recently did a demo for the local NMRA division on using polymeric sand (used for securing paving bricks in place) for ballast.  Cheap (a $40 bag can last a lifetime), easy to use (no need for glue), prototypical size, and activated with water.  The flip side is that it's a real challenge to remove it later for reusing the track.  Eric is a director on Oscalecentral.com - info might be available there but I'm not a member, so I can't say for sure.  I've seen the results - impressive.

Walter Matuch of RMT fame uses polymeric sand, it looks great on his layout.

I like Woodland Scenics Medium Gray for mainline and Fine Cinders for yards. Where I have tubular track, I put play sand down first to about half tie depth. For Gargraves track, I just use the Woodland Scenics. I find ballasting tedious, so do only some at a time, which makes the wallet hit easier. I tried to save money with kitty litter earlier--it is meant to absorb liquid and didn't work well--and too large (I do use it for "live" limestone hopper loads). I also tried decomposed granite--too much work to get a consistent size and too much left over that's too coarse or too fine. I tried to save money on ballast, but the money I spent on kitty litter and granite was mostly wasted.

I used Brennan’s ballast on my layout and was happy with the results.  

@Jim S posted:

I used Brennan’s ballast on my layout and was happy with the results.  

Nice!

Another vote for Brennan's...

Well here’s another vote for Brennan’s ballast.

Brennan's Better Ballast.  Definitely.  Imitating prototype Santa Fe practices, these photos show rock on main tracks and black "cinder" ballast mixed with a little bit of rock on all auxiliary tracks (yard, industry spur, engine house, etc.).  Track was sprayed (before ballasting) with Rust Oleum Camo Brown for auxilliary tracks and Camo Green (which does not look green) for main track.  Not only is the color realistic, but the size is correctly scaled.  The rocks in the ballast are not the size of baseballs.   Plus, Dennis Brennan is a fellow 3-rail model railroader, a genuine member of our brotherhood.

Hot Water had Brennan's Ballast and used Camo Green track on his layout and you can see how realistic that looked by viewing the video on the OGR site.  He is the one who tipped me off to it and should get the credit.

Brennan's Better Ballast hands down!!

Did anyone ask if Matt is still trying to decide?  Lol.

I used ScaleTrax myself and was very pleased with the overall appearance with the ballast I used. Would suggest the Chicken Grit you originally mentioned Matt. We've used it on two club layouts and my personal layout 14 years ago. Cheap, was available in at least 2 different grit sizes and was very easy to work with. Both sizes seemed to be appropriate if I remember correctly. As it is pretty light colored, we put it in a box and used cheap rattle can black and gray to achieve several different tones of color. Did I mention that the chicken grit was cheap?

I have had good luck with Comercial roofing granuals, these can be purchased in many colors in 5 gal buckets for a reasonable cost.  Many of the o gauge modelers here in Cincinnati have used this approach with good success.

@c.sam posted:

Did anyone ask if Matt is still trying to decide?  Lol.

I did . . . after I had posted, and then decided to look at the original post and date.   I'm just using a smiley face here because there isn't an emoticon of hitting myself in the head with a hammer or stepping on a rake and whacking my head with the handle.  The joke's on me.  But it's nice that the post came to life two days ago and started a new discussion on an old topic.

I sent Matt an email and asked him what he decided on.

As an old Cajun Road Foreman of Engines once remarked, "Well, there's some who drive Fords and there's some who drive Shivalays, but they both use the same highway with the yellow line and the dead armadillo on it."

Hi guys. I'm reaching the end of the design phase and house-related tasks are closing up after three years so the build will be starting soon.

Up front, thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking at roofing granules due to availability, color and size but I'll know more when the jar arrives. At AGHR, we dabbled with #16 construction sand which was OK for Atlas track, but was a bit large for Scale sized ties used on ScaleTrax.