Want realism? I believe when it comes to train layouts, the dirtier the better.
In the picture below, notice the ballast for the O Gauge tubular track. Going on long walks along an asphalt road, I would occasionally find dirty little asphalt pebbles along the road. I had a blast filling my pockets with these little pebbles, go home, and then come back with a bucket and fill it with dirty pebbles. When I put them on my layout, I spray glued them into place along the outside of the rails, but kept them loose between the rails. The important thing is I didn't clean the pebbles. I kept them in their down and dirty condition.
As I take another look at the above picture, I think my pebbles (way too big to be scale ballast) works with the way too big tubular rails. However, I will add more pebbles along and in between the rails when I'm done with this post.
What do you think of my dirty ballast?
