N Scale ballast

[Rossford Yard]

I have mixed both light and medium gray and light and medium gray with buff (all WS)  I like the slightly mottled effect.  I have sometimes added dark grey or brown.  The point is, it needs to be a bit lighter and a bit more subtle than those close up photos to look right from a distance.

Generally you need a dominant color (60%) a 30% other color, and only 5-10% of the accent color.  Of course, you can always go 60-40 and gradually add the darker color. 

If you add too much dark, you have to go back and add the dominant.  If you need a lot of ballast, the extra bags you buy won't go to waste.
Adding too much of the third color, to say a 33-33-33 ratio usually doesn't look as good, and adding too dark a color usually gives a "salt and pepper" effect.

I have already bought AZ Rock and Ballast for the next layout.  Easier to work, as noted, and closer to scale, IMHO.  The best ballast I Have seen is rarely WS.

[VonRyan]

Just keep in mind, none of this is real. The end result is more important than the materials or method used to get there. The one thing I have found when experimenting with mixxes, you can't mix WS with the real rock ballast as the rock ballast settles to the bottom and changes the look of the mix when you apply it. My most important factor is the color and texture, not the actual material is it created from. Much of the real rock ballast ends up looking like concrete or mud even though it may be scale size stones, it looks too small to portray the effect of ballast. We have a few modules in our Ntrack club that use Highball ballast and it just looks like wet beach sand, not ballast on the tracks.

I hear you. It's just that i've seen some modules from all over that do lack a convincing scenic element. Seeing as how what i'm trying to portray is the look of the Welsh countryside as it was during the early 1900s, what i'm trying to do is not only have something that fits my standards, but something that gives the public a proper look at what the "Big Four" railways (not to mention the modelling possibilities) from across the pond were like during their peak of their existence with emphasis on the GWR (and some quality shunting).

A big one on my list of necessities is Welsh Coal since when compared to common anthracite it is more of a dull color, and tends to be quite dusty when compared to anthracite, not to mention that is was the fuel of choice for all GWR steam locos, and is still widely used in homes with coal heat due to that ti burns cleaner and hotter than other forms of anthracite coal.

[timwatson]

Tony I had a concoction like that ... I used equal parts WS fine ballast.
I used tan, light grey and med grey. You can add more light grey to make it even out more. I snapped a quick pic.

Aww snap ... looks like Rossford Yard beat me to the magic formula.
Oh well here is the picture anyway.



Size comparison

Nothing has quite the contrast and variety that I need. I've settled on using WS just because of the number of colors available to attempt to recreate it. The cure for the floaters on WS is to use Alcohol as your wetting agent, actually a 50/50 mix of alcohol and water.

[SkipGear]

Tony I had a concoction like that ... I used equal parts WS fine ballast.
I used tan, light grey and med grey. You can add more light grey to make it even out more. I snapped a quick pic.

Aww snap ... looks like Rossford Yard beat me to the magic formula.
Oh well here is the picture anyway.

Tim,
 That looks great. I think I may have been trying too hard. The mix I came up with was 50% Gray Blend, 30% Buff, 10% Brown, 5% Drk Brown, 5% Iron Ore. That's not really that far off of what you suggested. I just added in the iron ore to represent the slag that is in the mix.

[wazzou]

To me, it looks like some of those pieces of ballast are nearly the size of those ties.

[timwatson]

Thanks Tony.

I did the exact same thing and it was wayyyy too dark. I had 3 different browns in there and it looked liked I dumped pepper on the track. It was too much contrast. So it's really just 3 colors buff, light and med grey. I thought the same exact thing as you did and ended up throwing it out and mixed the lighter colors ONLY. The med. grey is what gives it that speckled/mottled look.

I liked it so I kept it. Happy it helped.

@wazzou I could easily mix in some grout to get it the size tamed down some. The thing about WS it's easy and readily available - and those are kato ties. Not the most prototypical on the block. I added Tony's image for a comparison ... it's pretty close to my eyes having seen the other beside it.

All subjective I suppose.

[nkalanaga]

On a previous layout, 30+ years ago, I used the then-typical code 80 track and WS ballast.  Together, the oversized rail, ties, and ballast worked well, as none of the elements made the others stand out.   And, yes, mine floated if I wasn't careful.

When I first used ME code 55 track, the WS ballast looked oversized, so I switched to Highball.  On the other hand, the Highball looked too small with the older track. 

Since then I've used Highball, AR&M, and mortar sand from the local masonry shop.  All seemed to work well, individually or mixed.   I still keep a bag of WS N iron ore for use as pine cones.

N Kalanaga