What kind of ballast did narrow gauge shortlines use. I know the Portage flyer in Huntsville have a mix of dirt and stones, stones at the yards, and dirt everywhere else.
Mostly likely, whatever could be obtained nearby and at lowest cost.
It depended on whether the line was making money or not. If they were, the ballast was fairly good.
Depends on the railroad that inspires you, but the “ballast” was almost always from local sources if not immediately adjacent to the track.
Modern-day narrow gauge ballast is generally pretty good.
Ballast? We don’ need no steeenkin’ ballast!
Photos from Palmetto Brick Company, 3’ gauge, May 17, 1994 (still running link & pin narrow gauge on that date!). Although an industrial narrow guage, accounts of several of the Maine 2’ narrow gauge describe throwing some shovels of dirt up on the ties to hold things in place. The ballast of the East Broad Top 3’ in Pennsylvania appeared to be mostly either cinders or slag/cast off from the coal mining efforts. As described in other posts, while it may be variable dependent upon the economic grounding of the railroad, nothing would have been too “fancy”.
Bill