Son-of-a . . .

[Erik W]

Years ago I bought several bags of Highball cinder ballast to ballast my layout.  Now I've run out and the latest cinder mix is completely different.  I'm trying to mix and match my own, not too successfully yet.  The way I scenic my layout is to do a several foot section in its entirety so the difference looks pretty bad. 

For those of you who want any continuity with your ballast, learn from my example and buy all of what you need up front.  I'm sure I'll come up with a near match but this has been a real PITA!

Erik

[Caleb Austin]

I am going through the same deal here. About a year ago I bought a 32oz shaker Smith and Sons Penn-Ohio blend and now they don't seem to make it any more. Unfortunately I ballasted a foot or so of my layout with it before I found out it was gone. 

[Sokramiketes]

Matt G might have some from an earlier run... send him a note.  He was buying some stuff back when he actually worked on his own module, know he was using some gray, may also have picked up some cinders?

[wm3798]

You could always park a MOW train over the errant section, and include a ballast car loaded with the offending color... ;D

Is the new blend too dark? too light?  do you think it's something that could be blended with some weathering washes, or perhaps a thin application of some ballast that's closer in color?  You could get some cheap colored sand from the craft store and monkey around with it to see if you can get closer...

That's one area where Woodland Scenics has the edge.  The stuff may be difficult to work with and way too chunky, but you can always find it!

Lee

[up1950s]

Real railroads often have sections of ballast that are completely different . In fact it is very common , and much overlooked in model railroads . Show me a railroad that all looks the same , and I'll show you a railroad that probably hasn't kept up with maintenance .

[CVSNE]

Erik,

Use what you can get. As others have said, a little different shades and colors are not unheard of, especially cinder fill.

If it really bugs you simply paint it once it's down (I'm pretty sure Danneman paints his ballast) - or use powdered colors - like Bragdon's to color and blend.

Marty

[Erik W]

I should be able to match the ballast with some more effort.  It's just requiring more tweaking than I had initially thought.  The cinder I originally used had a small amount of dark gray and red.  The latest stuff was more consistently darker black.  Yesterday I thought I had an exact mix.  The ballast in a jar looked good compared with the old, already glued down stuff.  When I glued down a small inch or two though, the new mix was too dark when dry.  I realize what Ritchie is saying, as far as real RRs having different color ballast in spots, but this transition is multi track, running exactly perpendicular to the layout.  It'll just look weird unless I get it closer.


This shows part of the section I'm scenicing now.  So, this unsceniced area (along with about a foot on the left) is now sceniced.  You can see how this abrupt transition would look a bit odd.  Like I said though I've almost got it figured out.

Erik

[inkaneer]

Try Woodland Scenics cinders. 

[sizemore]

Weather the ballast and track with Bragdon chalks and an airbursh with some earthy/grimy tones looks like a throat of a yard where lokies would stop before heading out perfect spot to weather....