Modeling Slag Ballast

[PiperguyUMD]

I'm looking for a material to model the slag that was used as ballast in on the East coast during the steam era. The video below from 4:30ish to the 9 minute mark covers the area that I'm modeling and the look that I'm trying to achieve. Was thinking about Arizona Rock and Mineral yard mix, not sure though.

Thanks for the help!

[Maletrain]

Thanks for the great video.  Ma&Pa, Western Maryland, B&O and WB&A are what I grew up around.

Sorry I know nothing about modeling slag ballast.  My recollection is that slag is somewhat grayer than cinders.

[crencs]

Here is a link to a better picture of slag ballast. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2095626 The pic shows the color to be almost a white grey to tan color. It would be difficult to simulate the dark colors of the slag porousness.  Also depends on what scale you are modeling.  If N - maybe using Ed K's sanded grout method would be the way to go. Use two colors to simulate the color variations.

[PiperguyUMD]

@crencs I've used Ed's technique before, and might be willing to experiment with it again. My main beef is that it doesn't have the granular appearance of gravel. I dunno though. The track I'm using on this module is much lighter so it may work.

[cv_acr]

Slag colour can vary depending on what metal refining it's a byproduct of as well.

I think that the greyish slag is probably a byproduct of steel-making, which makes sense to use in the eastern US since there used to be a lot of steel industry.

Canadian National and Canadian Pacific used to make extensive use of "Sudbury slag" from the massive nickel-copper ore mining and refining operations in the Sudbury region in northern Ontario which produced massive amounts of slag material. This slag had some trace iron content and is a dark brownish-black colour.

[PiperguyUMD]

Had few minutes today to try to find a product that will work and found this:

https://www.superiorscenics.com/product/rusty-battleship/

The photos on their website match up pretty close to my reference photos, so I order a small batch. We'll see how it goes!

[nkalanaga]

And then there's the slag from the Anaconda Copper smelter in Anaconda, MT.  It looks like sand, and is dead black.  There's a mountain of it, and the state uses it for road sand in the winter.