I have hand laid some new track in HO scale. I want the ballast to look as good as the track work. I am modeling N&W circa 1958. I have felt that Woodlands Scene ballast is too large. I was thinking about N scale ballast. I understand that Woodland Scene ballast is made from crushed pecan shells or something. I understand that some other brands use crushed rocks. What are your thoughts and recommendations?
I agree that smaller sizes look more plausible on the layout. I never had very good results with Woodland Scenics ballast. Two of my favorites, Highball and Smith & Sons ballast are no longer available.
My current preference is Arizona Rock and Mineral. Before you commit to a particular size I would suggest getting small samples of various colors and sizes and see what looks pleasing to your eye.
Scenic Express is another option. They used to distribute Smith & Sons natural stone. Some of their recent offerings seem to look too “translucent” mto my eye.
https://www.sceneryexpress.com/N-HO-O-Natural-Stone/products/1107/
Good Luck, Ed
Looking up some prior threads that include “ballast” & “size”
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/154410.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/253455.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/221581.aspx
There are others. I like a Google search…“site: cs.trains (subject)”
Sorry but I’ve again forgotten how to make Forum links clickable(??).
In North Carolina, eh? My brother lives in Washington NC.
As for ballast, I use cat litter. You want small you sift it to get the size you want.
LION never glues ballast, gravity works good enough. Allows for easy re-laying of the tracks. Doesnt damage track if I want to rebuild.
For your project I would look at a contractor’s stor for sandblasting medeium. You may find a size and color that you like. Some of them are even ground up pecan shells.
Now I am goiing to have to look for a Pecan Pie
ROAR
I agree, no need to glue down cat litter, the cat will take care of that for you.
I’ve heard worse ideas for ballast than cat litter, but they aren’t coming to mind at the moment.
Some people have had success using sanded grout, available in many colors from your home big box store in 25 lb bags for much less than hobby shop ballast. You can get and mix a couple colors to achieve the right look. You can use a bit of water with a drop of dish soap rather than glue to hold it down.
The most common complaint about sanded grout is that by itself it is too fine for HO and tends to look more like mud or dirt rather than miniture gravel, so some people use it as part of their ballast mix, mixed with something a little coarser. Grout also comes unsanded, don’t get that, it’s more expensive and even finer.
I read a thread elsewhere about Black Diamond coal slag blast medium. It’s a sand-like sand-blasting medium made from ground up coal slag (left over from burning coal at a power plant). Very black, shiny little particles, cheap if you can find it at a contractor store, mostly in the midwest. The problem is it might be electrically conductive enough to short your rails… You’d need to glue a bit down on a test piece of track and check it with an ohmmeter to know for sure. Anyway, when going the ‘alternate’ route for ballast, make sure you don’t use something that is conductive. Some poor soul out there used something with iron particles in it, and he was fine until he added glue, and then he had shorts all over the place until he tore his track up and relaid it.
Yikes! A nightmare!
I had a similar problem on an earlier layout. The layout had a full signal system that was functioning perfect using resistive wheelsets. As soon as I added the wet glue to the ballast, it triggered every signal ! Fortunately, once the glue dried, everything returned to normal.
Mark.
What a relief that I held off on ordering ballast. This timely topic reinforces the importance of checking with others about ballast size and type. It makes sense to rely on a variety of colors and sizes.
I agree with the LION…I use cat litter. Majority of it been laying there for three decades. Size and color vary by type and manufacturer. Find a product you are happy with and buy several large plastic jugs and keep them under the bench. It is cost effective. When change to trackwork becomes necessary it can easily be swept up and reused for the most part. Used on both O gauge and HO layouts. Laying there loose has caused no problems with locomotives/rolling stock on either layout. All track has been air brushed “railbrown” and when ballasted it looks good enough to my eyes. Have fun and good luck on your decision
I’ve use both the Woodland Scenics ballast and real rock ballast (sifted from limestone “fines”). In my opinion, both look good once in place, although their properties differ somewhat.
The WS ballast (I use the “Fine” version for my HO layout, as it’s more to scale, but because the colour is rather uniform, it may appear too small for some tastes) is fairly easy to spread, although its light weight means that it’s easy to flick all over the place when you’re grooming it.
I use a 1/2" or 3/4" soft brush to move it into place, but keep the brush handle almost parallel to the track, dragging the ballast into place rather than brushing it.
Once most of it is where you want it, lightly grasp the ferrule of the brush, then lay the handle across the rails and lightly tap it with your free hand while moving along the track - the stray particles laying atop the ties will “magically” bounce off, and into the spaces between the ties.
The complaints about WS ballast floating when wetted are spurious: I use “wet” water (ordinary tap water with a few drops of dish detergent added), but if your water is especially “hard”, distilled water is an affordable alternative from any supermarket. Some folks use alcohol rather than the detergent, but because I prefer to do long stretches of ballasting at-a-time, it evapourates too quickly for my tastes.
A good-quality sprayer is a must for ballasting, and should never be used to spray glue of any type. Aim the first few spritzes upward and let the droplets fall onto the ballast. Once dampened, it can be sprayed more directly. Don’t get the sprayer too close, though.
If you have trouble with the ballast floating, you’ve either not using enough detergent (3 or 4 drops for a quart seems to work well for me) or you’ve not wetted the area thoroughly. The wetting process is probably the most critic
I would user the term low density, but readers get the point.
As for spurious complaints about WS ballast “floating” … maybe floating is a poor descripton. But if a novice used too much fluid too quickly, it would be much more prone to being displaced or washed out of place than rock ballast.
Many jump to the defense of WS and thats fine but I would at least comment that a high density material like real rock ballast would be more forgiving to apply neatly and fix in place with liquid; reason being it’s harder move than the low density crushed walnut shells if a novice were too enthusiastic with the application of liquid.
In conclusion, I would steer hobbyists with little experience to use a material that is easier to install and be less likely to be frustrating. [Y]
I wouldn’t think brand matters much as long as it is real rock ballast and you are happy with the size and color.
Something else to think about if you desire consistent ballast color is to buy all you need now, as down the road mfg. can go out of business or lose access to raw materials.
Regards, Peter
I must say I’ve experienced this issue, and only with Woodland Scenics. I use plenty of water and surfactant (either alcohol or detergent), but still find the material more finicky than I’m willing to tolerate.
Milton West 5 by wp8thsub, on Flickr
Lakeview Desert 1 by wp8thsub, on Flickr
Given how foolproof real rock has been for me, and how successfully it can be employed by most hobbyists, it would be my recommendation for anyone who hasn’t done much ballasting. The above photos show a combination of Scenic Express #40 grade, which I like for HO, and various sources of fine sand.
I like the idea of trying various color and sizes of ballast. I am going to get several samples from Arizona Rock and Mineral and give it a try. Thank you for your help.
Craig
I love pecan pie. Holidays and all coming up.
Craig
Wayne,
I like what you did with your ballast. I use isopropyl alcohol as a wetting solution and then apply Woodlands scenic cement. The WS ballast floats all over the place. I don’t like it for that reason. Thank you for your kind help.
Craig
Thanks for your kind words, Craig.
Well, perhaps I’ve just been lucky, but the Woodland Scenics was the first stuff I used for ballasting, and I’ve never had it float or get washed away by application of too much water. I’m very satisfied with its performance, but the real rock ballast was easy to use, too, albeit a little more difficult to spread due to its tendency to lock together like real ballast.
Peter, it’s not necessarily unprototypical to have ballast of varying colours at different places along the tracks.
In the photo below, the darker ballast on the left is on Grand Valley trackage, while the lighter stuff to the right is on the track of the Erie Northshore.
The ballast, in both colours, is from Woodland Scenics.
While the two roads are affiliated, they’re still separate entities, and use their own standards.
For example, the Grand Valley uses cottage-style roofs on their speeder sheds…
…while the Northshore prefers peaked roofs…
I am a fan of Arizona Rock and mineral for the past several layouts.
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There “HO Scale” ballast looks good on my HO scale track.
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-Kevin
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Arizona Rock and Mineral… Ditto. When I get to that point of the project I will be fiddling around the track with nothing else[Y]
TF