Attempting my first shot at ballasting on my layout. I am running only steam engines with passenger cars, replicating a feel of the mid to late 40's to early 50's. Which brand/color/size of ballast would be most realistic for this time period? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Realism depends a lot on where you're modeling the variation on this theme is quite large.
Northeast roads and mid Atlantic used crushed limestone, marble or granite with colors that range from white, gray, terra cotta, to black. The south east uses a lot of limestone especially when you get toward lower Georgia into Florida and the gulf coast. The further west you go you see more crushed granite from gray to reddish. The iron belt states used a lot of light gray to slightly silver mill slag.
Everybody in the steam era, unless they were an oil burning road, dumped firebox ash on the right-away gravel giving everything a powdery dark gray to black hue. This especially was done in yards.
Different stretches of right-away could have different color and type ballast as they move along from the rocks coming from different quarries along the line. Roads that used coal for fuel lost a lot of these black diamonds along the right-away as well. While technically not ballast there was enough to offer a blackish tone to the ballast rock.
Locomotives also lose a lot of grease and oil to where on well traveled track it is not uncommon to see a dark gray to black streak and a rather darker general color between the rails when using a lighter colored ballast.
Bogie
Check out Norm Charbonneau's threads. His ballast is great and he tells how he does it.
If you want it to be realistic, take care to get the right size. Some modelers use ballast the size of scale softballs. 
I model 1952-53, and use Brennan's.
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