I’m always looking for a cheaper way to ballast my track. Of course, it has to look convincing and not crumble or come loose easily.
So, I’m curious about the tile grout and sand method shown on page 52 of the April MR issue. The photos don’t really show the texture of the ballast very clearly. And what about other colors? I’m not familiar with tile grout, does it come in brown?
Is the finished ballast any easier or more/less destructive to scrape up if you have to make a change?
Does the sand ‘stand out’? Does it look like grains of sand surrounded by color?
Does anyone out there have any experience with this method? Or seen it personnally?
If after reading some of the responses, you still want to give it a try, tile grout is available in a wide range of colors. For actual tile work or repair, I will blend various colors/ shades to get an exact match due to dirt or aging. You can do the same if needed.
I’m using grout sand; not the grout. It comes in many colors. What I have comes from Lowes; brand name is SprctraLOCK. This is colored sand not grout. I’m using Midnight Black mixed with Slate Gray for my yard.
Grout sand? Never heard of it, but I will look for it at Lowe’s. I guess you follow all the other usual steps - wet water, diluted white glue or matte medium?
Since it’s sand, there probably isn’t the floating problem I’ve about with other ballast products.
Thanks, this is a new one for me, sounds good so far,
You could fix the grain size issue with paver sand by running it through a tea strainer. But the stuff isn’t cheap, and isn’t sold in small quantities – so you’d have a lot of waste unless you have another use for it.
Grout(ing) sand is typically used for interlocking paving stones as opposed to ceramic tiles. It is more commonly referred to as Paver Sand or Paving Sand.
As someone mentioned there is a lot of variation in the size of the individual granules. In fact, that is how it locks the pavers together.
Some of the grouting sand is ‘polymerized’ in that it has a plastic compound mixed in that will set up once the sand has been wet down. Note that it does not set hard at all, and the polymer would certainly not provide enough adhesion to hold it in place if used as ballast. In my experience the polymer would stay just stickey enough and loose enough to cause all sorts of problems with track switches and, heaven forbid, locomotive gears and motors. I would strongly recommend stearing clear of the polymerized stuff.
Others may have had different experiences, and remember we are talking paving stone sand, not the stuff used for ceramics and marble.
I use what’s called “Sanded Grout” for my scenery base. You mix it up like plaster, adding water and brushing or troweling it on. It comes in several colors, including several shades of brown. I use it sort of like the “ground goop” some people use. I apply it over my scenery base of paper towels covered both sides in white glue. I use a dark or chocolate brown for dirt areas, and tan for sand, like along the shore of a river. It has some texture to it, so it looks a lot more like dirt than brown paint does, and it holds grass well.
Sanded grout should be available at any store that sells home supply stuff like plaster or regular grout.
The tile grout we get in my neck of the woods dries rock hard. Using it, mixed with sand, for ballast is probably not so good an idea, as it fouls any sound deadening attempt.
I prefer the more traditional method of scale ballast, glued down with special ballasting glue, which stays elastic.