What do you all use for ballast on an HO layout.Some say medium some say fine,wld the fine ballast be too small one guy on youtube says medium ballast is not scale looking and appears too big?
Just finished ballasting my HO layout earlier in the year. Used all kinds of methods and types of ballast - mostly HO but some N. I found that the N scale real rock stuff was easiest to work with and looks awfully good.
I used Arizona rock in N and it would be my choice for future layouts. I noticed there is a number of Ebay auctions out there with some good deals.
Mobileman44 has it right! In the end it’s up to you but here are some guidelines I use.
Really close up i’ll Use a mix of HO medium and fine. As you move away from your viewing point (talking about a layout that is 12’ deep) I use HO fine and toward the back N scale rock.
Place some in different locations on your layout and photograph it. See if you like it.
Take one of your HO figures look at the hand, now look at the ballast you’r planning on using and see if you think it‘s size looks realistic or is the figure holding a bolder!
I vote with that guy on youtube.
In my opinion some things of very small size look wrong though in scale. Fine ballast to me just looks like powder from a few feet away. Medium at least shows some definition though it is out of scale but not enough to bother me.
I also use Arizona Rock ballast. I use their HO scale ballast on my layout. My memories from the 1950s of the SP in El Paso TX was large black rocks, the size of my fist so that is what I went with. I also use a light mix of Arizona Rock CSX/Southern Pacific/Wabash Grey for gravel roads.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I use ‘‘fines’’ from my driveway,ran thru a screen. Picked out the pile that I liked, no clue as to is it fine or coarse or ?
Pick the oneyou think looks best to you. If you like it ,it can’t be wrong.
It depends on your eye, and what you want to do with the scene on your layout.
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Ballast that is true scale size will be very fine, and might not look right to the naked eye. The texture will look to smooth, and it will look more like asphault than rocks. There are several items on your layout that might not look “right” when scaled correctly.
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To my eye, medium ballast looks best.
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However… if you are planning to take a lot of photographs, you mighty need to go with fine ballast closer to scale size. To the camera, scale looks correct.
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I build my models to look good to my eye, and let the photographs suffer. I spend more time looking at my toys than taking pictures of them.
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-Kevin
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Well, I don’t think there’s any “standard” fine, medium or large size established. I think each manufacturer decides on that for himself.
I like Highball ballast and use their medium ballast in HO most of the time. Most of us use rail heights larger than real life so the medium looks right. Using just fine makes the rails and ties look way too big to me.
I use the fine as roads or their fine cinders & coal around my coal mines and yard areas. I like the look.
I combined fine and medium together once and it looked all wrong to me.
oldline1
Thanks for all the advice,im going to go for medium and as i wont be taking photos so if it looks right to the eye then thats fine with me.I will use a model as a guide and go from there.Thanks again.My layout is only around 16 ft x 7ft U shapped so it doesnt really dissapear into the distance.
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Thank OldLine.
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That is a great explanation of the point I was trying to make. Sometimes correct scale will not look right.
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-Kevin
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Bit difficult to purchase Arizona ballast as i live in the uk
I’m sure you have dirt in the UK. Take a look around,run it thru a couple screens. You may be supprised what you can get for free
It was recommended to use Scenic Express SE0253 #40 Natural Stone to ballast my HO track. It looks good to me and about the right coarseness.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Scenic-Express-Dk-Gray-Ballast-p/scx-se0253.htm
Hint, you don’t have to physically go to Arizona to get Arizona ballast [;)] You do know about ordering online with a credit card right?
Of course since it’s probably relatively heavy stuff, and weight is a big factor in shipping costs, it may be much more economical for you to order ballast local in the UK. Cheers (btw, I’m married to a Brit but dragged her across the pond).
I see an opportunity here to start a business and make an appearance on Shark Tank.
Since TT scale falls right between HO scale and N scale, make your own ballast in TT scale. It should look just right.
Rich
There is a limestone quarry close by that they use for cement so i may go there and purchase some shouldnt be to difficult as my uncle is shift manager
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Curious…
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What color is limestone in the UK? Here in South Florida, USA, limestone is almost pure white, and it looks terrible on layouts.
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-Kevin
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Most limestone I’ve seen is a light gray to gray. I studied geology at Indiana University (BS and MS) and there were limestone quarry’s near the town - light gray to gray in color. I also saw quite a bit of it while at field camp up in Montana gray to light gray.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen white limestone but I learned as a geology student, color is one of the least reliable features that you can use to identify rocks.
My personal choice is for fine ballast on HO track. I always liked the comparison of measuring the size of ballast against the size of a scale human hand. You can get your fingers around most real ballast (althought I understand that that might have changed in recent times).
I also like the observation that some things don’t scale well. Sand is a good example. In HO you would not be able to see individual grains of sand, but if you simply paint your sandpile flat beige it doesn’t look right IMHO. It looks ‘toylike’. If you add real sand I think the appearance improves dramatically, but in reality the sand grains would be the size of coarse gravel that would never pass through a locomotive’s sanding systems.
The ultimate test is “Does it look good to you?” Nothing else matters.
This discussion brings back painful memories from our club’s portable layout. When the layout was first built someone decided to mix large white rocks in with the brown medium grade ballast. It looked ridiculous! Definitely not prototypical. It looked more like an attempt at a rock garden than real ballast. Several of us decided to change the ballast to get rid of the rocks, and to fix some other problems. The club had been given a large quantity of black medium ballast so we dutifully soaked and scraped the old stuff out and installed the new stuff. We were all very happy with the results. Then, one member, who believes he can do anything he wants on the layout without consulting other members, decided to add something to the black ballast. You guessed it - he glued white boulders onto the new ballast. We were back where we started. In fact we were further behind because he added a few brightly coloured flowers and shrubs along the edge of the ballast too.
I will make two points:
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Regardless of which ballast you choose, it should all be of a consistent size.
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Learn when enough is enough!
Dave