Source for ballast

There are many recent threads on this topic. Answers include chicken grit, roofing granules, and kitty litter. All can work very well, IMO. Others believe that only expensive stuff will do. Suggest trying a search of the list before rehashing here.

Kitbasher posted:

Does anyone have a good source for inexpensive ballast?  I need a lot and at the prices of the major scenery companies, it would cost me a fortune.

No matter which brand of ballast you use, you can save a LOT of money by simply putting dow cheap sand-box sand (dried) first. Then use a thin layer of whichever brand of ballast you use, as a covering over the sand.

Avanti posted:

Suggest trying a search of the list before rehashing here.

Or, we could have the usual 2-3 pages of rehash,

Sorry, I'm new to OGR Forum. Maybe I asked this question too quickly.  I did do a search in the forum for ballast topics.  All I came up with were Harrison Trains and Scenes, Smith & Sons and another company, each of which are out of business.  I just went and looked at chicken grit at my local Tractor Supply and it was way too big.  Are there different sizes of it?  

I have tried kitty litter but it is all round (not irregular like real rocks) and it all has blue and/or green stones in it.  

So I was hoping, with all the experienced modelers I see here, that someone might have another alternative that could help me.  Can you buy roofing granules by themselves?

What scale are you modeling.

Kitbasher posted:

I have tried kitty litter but it is all round (not irregular like real rocks) and it all has blue and/or green stones in it.  

Please don't feel unwelcome. None of us intended that. It is just that you stumbled upon one of our perennial hot-button topics. You will find this an exceptionally helpful and welcoming group.

As for kitty litter, it sounds like you bought fancy, expensive stuff. What you want is the cheapest available stuff, which is a clay-based product. Try the WalMart bargain brand. Another option is the stuff they sell in auto parts stores to soak up spilled oil. It is the same stuff and often even cheaper.

Sift the litter in an colander to make it uniform and get rid of the dust. The results will be very good.  Maybe still a little too big for scale, but the effect is great.

Kitbasher-  

My New Haven Railroad model is about 1,800 square feet, so I feel your pain... 

 After considering many options, I settled on commercial blasting grit (80 lb. bag about $10 from a mason supply store).  That is available in various sizes and colors.  Glue it down for main lines.  

This stuff has adhesive blended in, so all you need to do it wet it with water, and you have your ballast  done.  It's  called Polymeric Sand. Used by landscapers  and also available at a local mason supply house ( about $23 for a similar quantity).

My attached photos illustrate use on my railroad, which hosts groups of 8-10 operators for full waybill system operations.

Don

Thanks Pete and Don.  Those sound like good ideas.  I'm anxious to try to find some of each.  

Clarence, I'm modeling O scale.

I did what hot water suggested and finished it off with Brennens Better Ballast in two different colors depending on location,Yard or Main line,I did 800 feet of track that way.

Mikey

Don Sierakowski 111617 posted:

Kitbasher-  

My New Haven Railroad model is about 1,800 square feet, so I feel your pain... 

 After considering many options, I settled on commercial blasting grit (80 lb. bag about $10 from a mason supply store).  That is available in various sizes and colors.  Glue it down for main lines.  

This stuff has adhesive blended in, so all you need to do it wet it with water, and you have your ballast  done.  It's  called Polymeric Sand. Used by landscapers  and also available at a local mason supply house ( about $23 for a similar quantity).

My attached photos illustrate use on my railroad, which hosts groups of 8-10 operators for full waybill system operations.

Don

 

 

Don, nice pics of a part of your layout and ballast, well done scenic elements.  In your opinion, is there a significant downside to just leaving the ballast dry w/o applying water to adhere it?  I have seen posts suggesting it might be better not to "glue" it down. 

Kitbasher, good luck on your ballast project.

PENNSYNUT,

I have tried "dry-laid" ballast,mans while it never posed any operational problems, track cleaning became more difficult--ballast always wanted to escape the sock😏.

having moved some track, I can attest that both kinds of ballast come up readily with just a bit of effort.  I've combined ballast with various ground over materials, in effect burying the ties, also without difficulty.  The key with all of this scenery stuff is use of patience and layering techniques.

Don

Seen several sizes and containers at Michaels arts & crafts stores  -

http://www.michaels.com/dark-g...?productsource=PDPZ1

Maybe you can use this stuff which is used in plant décor and pots?

Screen out the larger ones and use for other projects?

Kitbasher,

Welcome to the Forum.

Yes, you can buy roofing granules by themselves. Check with a local roofing company.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/co...3294857497&rt=r3

https://www.homedepot.com/p/5-...es-4302214/203447312

Welcome to the forum.  I used aquarium gravel many years ago on my layout.  I had tubular track with wood ties inserted.  Then the gravel and watered down white glue.  The aquarium gravel is inexpensive and comes in natural, kind of tannish, color.  

As a post war type operator, I wouldn't do it again.  However, if your railroad is a scenic type, without operating accessories, then have at it.  

For my garden railway I use granite screenings from the quarry.  I load up five gallon buckets to the tune of about a half ton per trip.  They work great outdoors as they knit together when wet and stay that way.  But for our indoor layouts I might caution against using the screenings.  Their size varies from fine dust to 1/8" particles.  Some iron might be present in the screenings.  

Don Sierakowski 111617 posted:

Kitbasher-  

My New Haven Railroad model is about 1,800 square feet, so I feel your pain... 

 After considering many options, I settled on commercial blasting grit (80 lb. bag about $10 from a mason supply store).  That is available in various sizes and colors.  Glue it down for main lines.  

This stuff has adhesive blended in, so all you need to do it wet it with water, and you have your ballast  done.  It's  called Polymeric Sand. Used by landscapers  and also available at a local mason supply house ( about $23 for a similar quantity).

My attached photos illustrate use on my railroad, which hosts groups of 8-10 operators for full waybill system operations.

Don

 

 

Don, this is off topic.  But can you tell me a little about the watch tower in the center of photo #2?  Who makes it?  Is it a kit?

Thanks,

George

George,

Thanks for your interest.  The tower was scratchbuilt from an old plan in Model Railroader.  That structure was a gift from a lifelong friend who is an excellent scale model builder....  

Don

Don Sierakowski 111617 posted:

George,

Thanks for your interest.  The tower was scratchbuilt from an old plan in Model Railroader.  That structure was a gift from a lifelong friend who is an excellent scale model builder....  

Don

Thank you.  It's beautiful!

George

There's a Tractor Supply not too far from where I live, so I decided to see what chick grit would look like.  Picked up a 5lb bag of this for $6.99.

It looks like this right out of the bag...

A little bit of variety in size of granite chips...

Here's what it looks like against the tracks, in this case Atlas 21st Century, right out of the bag...

I put some in some washes to see what would come out.  First is a burnt umber wash, second is a black wash...

Side by side compare.  Both a little damp yet, I'll see what the color looks like after drying overnight.

When I was fifteen, I had an "N" gauge set of Rapido trains.  I didn't want to spend my money on the hobby shop ballast so I used ground coffee.  My grandmother thought she was getting low on coffee awfully soon that week.....LOL

i use crushes walnut shells (sand blasting medium fine) from harbor freight

Nature     We have large ant hills here in western Colorado.   The ants bring up large grains of sand, small pebbles.  I scoop up the material into buckets and the sift through a screen.   Here is my result.

Steve

Dan Padova posted:

When I was fifteen, I had an "N" gauge set of Rapido trains.  I didn't want to spend my money on the hobby shop ballast so I used ground coffee.  My grandmother thought she was getting low on coffee awfully soon that week.....LOL

I guess this is a bit late, but:  

You do realize that you can brew the coffee before you use it for landscaping, right? 

Actually, I still use coffee grounds. Not great for ballast, but it adds nice texture as part of a groundcover mix.

The proper ballast to use is STARTER size chicken grit. Its compares well to the expensive commercial O gauge ballast. If you want a specific color just toss in some acrylic hobby paint.  I use a medium gray color (that looks like the stone up this way) and it looks pretty decent. Ive seen gray ballast on the Eastern roads but as you head west I've seen ballast that looked off white.  Color depends on the quarries in the area.

I’m doing ballast now, using chick grit. Color is a bit light out of the bag, but I added some black paint to the spray bottle of wet water.

Menard’s track with added wood ties.

Thanks Ross.  I wish I could get that.  No place near us sells that brand.  The grit at my Tractor Supply is way too big.

I use crushed walnut shells (fine) from harbor freight.Its for sand blasting.

I'm way late to this thread, and Kitty Litter was already mentioned several times.  I just wanted to thank you for validating my idea.  Several months ago I was sweeping up the bargain brand kitty litter I use to soak up the ongoing hydraulic leak my tractor blesses me with every morning.  I finally just piled some up under drip and sweep it up every now and then.  But I digress.  I noticed how small the granules were and that it was the same color gray as ballasts used on model railroads.  I wanted you to know that you can also use kitty litter as gravel, for a gravel road or large gravel area around the track.  But you do need to get the gray, clay litter that doesn't have stuff in it that makes the cats litter smell he just crapped a pine tree.

Sorry, failed to mention something.  Kitty Litter has dust.  So be aware that over time it could get sucked up into the locomotive or cause heavy dirt build up on your track.  Food for thought.  The dust issue, not the litter.

Yardmaster96 posted:

Sorry, failed to mention something.  Kitty Litter has dust.  So be aware that over time it could get sucked up into the locomotive or cause heavy dirt build up on your track.  Food for thought.  The dust issue, not the litter.

Sifting the litter through a colander will eliminate the dust.

Avanti posted:

Yardmaster96 posted:

Sorry, failed to mention something.  Kitty Litter has dust.  So be aware that over time it could get sucked up into the locomotive or cause heavy dirt build up on your track.  Food for thought.  The dust issue, not the litter.

Sifting the litter through a colander will eliminate the dust.

I would think gluing it down with a white glue/water mixture would also solve the issue. 

Sifting it and gluing it.  Good to know on both parts.  My layout is a simple rail yard.  Planned to use quite a bit of the stuff to fill in around the tracks.  Good thing I don't have a cat.