Ballast size

This looks great!  Can you post a picture of what you’re using?

I am using screenings from the local quarry. Mostly Limestone.

I have a standard colander for pasta and a screen colander from the dollar store. I stack them on top of each other and shake them a bit and dump the 2 different size materials in different containers.  Once I have a good amount of ballast I  rinse it with the hose and dry it in a large tin on the grill.

I will post a couple pictures of the process later after work.

One trick is to take individual pieces and see how many it takes to span the top of the tie. Then, look at a picture of a prototype track section and visualize how many it would take to span the same distance on the real tie. However, many modelers choose the next size larger because it just "seems" better than scale size ballast which our eyes confuse as "too small".

Here are my basic tools and 3 different size materials I end up with. The larger material is good for Talas, and medium size is ballast then the fines can be used for driveways and such. It doesnt take long to make a lot of good materials,  once they are sorted, I wash down the ballast  and then dry it in a large baking tin on the grill.