Is there a quick alternative out there in any of the local stores for ballast?

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I have to do a diorama for my 6 year old and have no LHS close. I was wondering if anyone has seen ballast type material that a person could get from a Lowe’s or HD, or such in a pinch…

Any help would be a benefit. Thanks!

Mike

2

Mike,

What about some inexpenisve, cheapo bag of kitty litter? It will probably be a bit coarse but would do in a pinch. (Warning: Keep the neighborhood cats away from the diorama!)

Tom

3

No Hobby Lobby?

I presume this is not intended for a long term thing and will be thrown away fairly soon. You didn’t specify what size this is for but…

  1. If weight is not an issue than just normal sand. The Home Depot stores might have sands of various colors, as might pet supply stores. They probably also have various grits used for grouting or slip proofing surfaces. The sales person might know even more granular substances.
  2. You could grind your own walnut shells in a blender - I believe that is what Woodland Scenics ballast is anyway. Walnut shells will take stain so they can be made almost any color.
  3. How about fine or ground carcoal from a pet supply store or even WalMart?
  4. Dried coffee grounds.
  5. Very fine kitty litter (get the unsented kind).
  6. Grit like for a rock tumbler.
  7. Saw dust (also stainable).
4

We use Cat’s Pride litter as ballast on our large HO scale club layout. It’s the only brand that is ground up kaolin clay with nothing added, so it does not swell up or clump when wet, and can be wetted down if you want to use a 50/50 white glue mix to hold it in place. We pre-spray with rubbing alcohol, dribble on the white glue mix, and spray again with the alcohol to insure that the glue spreads evenly.

5

What road do you guys model? Chessie System? :slight_smile:

6

Metroredline,What the??? ROFLMAO[:D]

7

Hey all. Thanks for the info. I picked up the Cat’s Pride. Looks pretty good. It’s only a Reading Fair diorama for the book he picked out (Little Red Caboose), so it has four 18" radius curves on it.

I adhered some pink prarie to a 1/2" piece of plywood I had lying around and painted and sprinkled grass on it. Tomorrow is roadbed laying time. Anyone able to let me know how long it should take to lay the road bed (cork), mount the four pieces of track and ballast it?

Mike

8

Cork & track - probably about 30-45 minutes total (faster if you have something quick-setting)

Ballast - maybe 1 hour to 1.5 hours - so you can get it “just right”

though you’d probably do best to set something heavy on the track/roadbed for maybe 4-6 hours (or overnight) so that the glue can have tome to fully set (assuming you’re using something along the lines of Liquid Nails)

9

Another suggestion would be to use a hot glue gun when you bond the roadbed to the diorama. This eliminates the overnight wait.

Jim