I am not yet ready to ballast my track but thought I should start getting my questions answered before I get to that point. I have bought some medium mixed grey ballast and actually built a little section of track with all the weathering done and the ballast applied. When I first finished it, I thought it looked pretty good. But now when I picture it all over my layout 16’ x 20’ I am not so sure.
I realize that prototypical ballast came in a lot of colors and materials. But I guess I am just trying to get something that will not be glaring and also not blend in too much with the ties. I am not a stickler for ballast being the right color for an era or a location. That being said I am modeling 1940-1950 era in the Midwest. When I look at the mixed gray ballast on my sample it just seems to jump out at me and I feel it would be too light looking on the layout.
The purpose of my layout is to have a good time, look relatively believable, and entertain my grandchildren.
Do you have a photo to share so we can see what effect you’re describing. Some of the contrast that you dislike may be controllable by changing the color you paint the track, so the ballast color might not be an issue.
Here’s some ballast I completed recently. I’m using a fairly dark overall track color so the Scenic Express blended gray has quite a bit of contrast. A lighter color for ties and rail would result in a more uniform look if that’s what you’re after. If I was using a much lighter ballast color I’d probably adjust my track color too.
The back track is the main, and per my prototype is a dark gray to represent smelter slag. The track was painted the same color, but there’s much less contrast.
This is the same blended gray ballast as in the photo in my previous post, but the track is weathered with lighter colors befitting its branchline locale. There’s much less contrast than on the more heavily used and maintained tracks painted with darker colors.
Rob, Your pic #1 is magical. I can’t believe my railroad will ever look like this. I won’t even try. On another note, I goo, like the OP am not happy with how my ballast turned out. I think a main problem for me is I decided no to paint the rails and ties. Black and silver is hardly prototypical. It did not feel like a big deal at the time.
However, I certainly think that my track that was ballasted months ago looks much better than that ballasted two weeks ago.
Well, thanks [:$], but no need to sell your own efforts short. I’m mostly using commercial materials and techniques I’ve learned from MR and various books. Some Rustoleum brown camouflage paint, sand and ballast will at least create track that looks just like what I’ve done.
I hear this a lot from people who aren’t happy with their ballast. I’ve even seen someone on this forum suggest painting track is only for snobs! It’s easy, fast, and makes a huge difference in how your ballast looks too.
I agree with Rob, painting the rail and the ties made the difference for me. I used Woodland Scenics Grey mixed with a bit of black. My next step is the weather the ballast. Because I’m a modern modeler, I’m going to simulate oil leaking onto the tracks down the middle. Steam era would have ciders along the track.
