hello: finally getting around to ballasting the track. most ballast you buy is quite expensive. i heard some people use crushed walnut shells, but they seem to be kinda small in size; although it’s perfect to model iron ore; has the right color too. any ideas?
Hey Einstein,
Go out and harvest your own gravel and screen it down to the size you want. Advantages: free and it’s real. Disadvantage: maybe get arrested for “stealing”?
Regards,
Timboy
What kind of track are you using? How many linear feet of track do you have? I offer ballast on my website Brennan’s model RR. It’s not as expensive as you think. You’ll probably spend more on track. If you contact me, I’ll be glad to give you an estimate.
Dennis Brennan
Brennan’s is good. I collected the little rocks that amassed at the end of the driveway, then cleaned them thoroughly and ended up with a coffee can full - it was enough.
I bought grey drainage stone from Lowes. It was a 25lb bag for like $4.00 You do have to sift it yourself to get the right size. I then bought spray paint to darken it just a bit .
Also as stated above. Brennans Model RR ballast and supplies are awesome. He will help you out.
hello; since i am in northern n.j. where everything outside is frozen. good idea though, thanx!
I like kitty litter–even cheaper and it’s a good size.
hello Dennis: i use gargraves track with ross switches. my layout is @13x15 with 2 levels. 2 mainlines on outer lower lever and 2 mainlines on outer upper level with connecting switchbacks on each level. also 4 yards apprx. 8 feet in total for yards. thanx!
Would it be safe to say you have about 200 linear feet of track? Please email me at dennis@brennansmodelrr.com.
Dennis Brennan
TRAINDOOD,
I use the crushed walnuts. It is very easy to use with the diluted white glue. When I put it down I’ll dilute the glue with water then add some acrilic paint to the mixture then drizzle the walnuts with it. When dry the walnuts are afixed and also will have the color on it. Of course you could afix the walnuts then come back later and paint. A 50 lb. sack cost me 20 bucks.
laz57
ey laz: can you give me a little more detail on that mixture of crushed walnuts, glue and paint. really don’t want brown ballast. thanx!
hello: tried to e-mail you on at your e-mail address but had tech failure. here goes; have @250feet of track. love to use walnuts but seems to be a little small in scale. great for iron ore.i am modeling the Ogden Baby mine here in northern n.j. i live about a mile away from site of Thomas Edison’s first attempt to magnetically separate soil from iron. all future separating process is based on his original design. amazing! things went sour for him when they discovered great ore deposits in Missible range which is still mined to this day.
brennan’s is the best
TRAINDOOD,
I got the crushed walnuts at a pet store,That Fish Place in Lancaster Pa. was $20 /50 lbs. I brush down a layer of white Elmers glue. Sprinkle some of the walnuts to cover my area, then take a diluted glue about a 25% glue to 75%water mix. I spray this onto the walnuts to olidify the walnuts when it dries. I add acrylic paint grey to the glue water mixture then with an old dish water contained I dab it to where I wanted the balast to be. I also did a color of black when I had a coal breaker to simulate spilled coal on the tracks it does look pretty good. It’s easy.
Here’s a pic of the walnut painted grey and a;so some black.
Hope this helps?
laz57
hello; i have gargraves track with ross switches. don’t know what a dish water container is,musta missed that one. anyway, looks pretty good. love those log cars! guess i’ll give it a whirl. what possibly could go wrong? YIKES!! later.
I myself get all my ballast, ground cover, and rocks for mountains, from the sand and gravel companies. But I live in Arizona and have a mountain to desert layout. If you tell people what your using it for, you would be surprised with the help you may get for a few dollars.
I have always carried plastic bags in my truck to put sand in from river washes. Or just after a rain when you get that fine material washing down in the street. I get most of my rocks for mountains by just going out in the desert and picking them up. I do my own screening of material by size and color. It is a great time of year in Arizona now. Getting into the high 60’s this week. I guess I’ll take a walk and see what new materials I can find.
Sorry for poor explanation of dishwater container it is the container that holds the soap like dawn. Put ingredience in the dawn dish soap container the squeeze out atop of the crushed walnuts.
laz57
hey laz: just jerkin’ your chain dude! hope you gotta sense of humor! i like to lighten things up a bit. i’m not the formal type. love a good joke, especially when it’s on me.anyway, family consensus is; use the walnuts. so walnuts it is. thanx for all the help.
hello: since i live here in northern n.j. where everything is frozen right now, kinda hard to look for material. great idea though. when the weather breaks here i’m usually outside most of the time. right now looking at crushed walnut shells.got an e-mail from laz; may want to look it over. looks good to me. check it out. i’m always on the lookout for different or unusual material i could use for my layout. there is a lot of stuff out there, experiment. think out of the box! thanx. later.
Another possibility is roofing granules. Can’t remember what the cost was but you generally can get a good variety of color choices.