Hi,
What kind of ballast looks good in a heavily used yard? The stuff I see in pictures are always really dark, almost like coal. Could you use coal mixed with a lighter grey ballast for example?
Magnus
I like the color of the “Cinders” from Woodland Scenics. Its dark and already looks “dirty”. I only add a little coal atop that in areas where coal would be spilled, like near the mine and the coaling tower.
You can mix or blend various shades of ballast to make the color that you like. I think that straight coal mixed with a light grey would likely create a little too much “salt & pepper” look, but I’ve never tried it. One key if you blend a couple different shades of ballast is to be sure to mix up enough of it at the start, as it becomes very difficult to match the same proportions later on if you need more, especially if it will be applied right next to the “first” batch.
Bill
Use coal mixed with a lighter grey ballast.
I used a mix of WS brown and cinder with a touch of gray thrown in for my cabin tracks, and locomotive service center. I used straight gray for the yard tracks, you can sort of see them in the back of the cabin track photo.
Nick
I’ve tried mixing gray and black and I don’t like the salt and pepper look it creates. I settled on WS grey for the yard and used WS Cinders around the coaling tower to create that blackened look. The WS gray can be darkened between the tracks with an India ink wash. On the prototype, I’ve seen a wide range of shades in yards. I would try to find some color photos of prototype yards in the area you are modeling and go from there.