Ballast

[Kevin C]

What ballast is everyone using.

I am sure this topic has been covered in great detail on previous occasions within this forum. If so, please can you direct me to the relevant threads. I would like to start the ballasting process on sections of my layout but before I start, it would be nice to get some feedback from the guys that have been there and done that. With numerous products available out there, I feel it would be best to start out in the right direction.

Thanks
Kevin

[nickelplate759]

I've tried two, on Ntrak modules.

1st, Woodlands Scenics.  I hated it!  Very hard to work with (it floats!), and not really fine enough.  On the plus side (esp. for Ntrak), it's light, but one uses so little  that weight doesn't really matter.

2nd, Arizona Rock and Mineral.  Good Stuff!  Looks like rock 'cause it IS rock.  Much easier to get good results than Woodlands Scenics.

George

[Jesse6669]

Highball and sanded grout.  So far I'm very happy with the grout blends for scale size and ease of use. 

[C855B]

1st, Woodlands Scenics.  I hated it!  Very hard to work with (it floats!), and not really fine enough.  On the plus side (esp. for Ntrak), it's light, but one uses so little  that weight doesn't really matter.

2nd, Arizona Rock and Mineral.  Good Stuff!  Looks like rock 'cause it IS rock.  Much easier to get good results than Woodlands Scenics.

Basically, +1 ^^^^^. I strongly prefer AR&M. HOWever...

...if you have a handy, reasonably stocked LHS, Woodland Scenics sorta kinda tends to become your default. You don't have to buy "just in case" quantities because if you run out, you now have a convenient excuse to go to the hobby shop for more.

Seriously, if you're working on a room-sized layout, the need to have a good working reserve for the expected duration of construction can work against non-WS options. I've witnessed a few hand-wringing threads on various forums about such-and-such brand of ballast (or ballast-like alternative like home improvement store grout) no longer being available, and how-do-I-match-it?, etc., etc. WS floating is annoying if you over-wet it during gluing, but at least it's consistent in color and texture, and easily available.

Also, WS is not dusty. Rock and grout generate their own little dust clouds (think "Pigpen") when you handle the packaging. Can be an issue if you're storing and handling in clean living spaces.

[GaryHinshaw]

I much prefer working with natural rock too.  IIRC, you are located in the UK, so getting natural rock from the US by post will be expensive (e.g. $60 from Arizona Rock & Mineral).  Best to find a local source that you like and get enough for the layout.

And yes, hand-wringing threads do exist.

[jpwisc]

I use Smith & Sons #50. It looks great in my Macro photographs. It is also easy to work with as it is real ground rock.

[mark dance]

Oh boy. The periodic "ballast religion" thread.

I am happy with the results WS provides with the technique I have standardized on. I use ARM ballast as well and find, for me, that it has its own issues and is no easier to use nor aesthetically pleasing than WS.  The layout is about 90% WS and 10% ARM and, likely just due to my experience with it, I find ballasting with WS faster.

Just me...YMMV.

Md

[GaryHinshaw]

Oh boy. The periodic "ballast religion" thread.

Well, it is Sunday morning. 

[Santa Fe Guy]

Only highball ballast for me. I did not mind that I had to use a slightly different colour as that's what happens in real life. I also blended light grey, brown and limestone around the turnouts to show that they have been worked on over the years.
I used to use WS but not a happy with the overall look.

[nkalanaga]

Arizona Rock and Mineral, because they were the only source for pink ballast for my ex-GN lines. 

I've used Highball, and it worked fine, but nobody in the NE Kentucky/southern Ohio/western West Virginia region sells it, and haven't for 20+ years. 

If I needed yellowish-brown ballast, I'd use local mortar sand, as it's an almost perfect match for the MILW ballast in the area I'm modeling.  But I already had the AR&M when I discovered that.

I have used Campbell's HO ballast, and the "Decomposed Granite" looks good as mine waste, but I don't know if they're still in business.

Screened sand from Pasco, WA works for dirty basalt ballast, but needs to have the iron removed.  I've used it for other scenery, making sure it's very well glued.  Since it's the product of Ice Age floods, it is basically ground-up Rocky Mountains (granite and sedimentary rocks) and Columbia basalt, so matches the real ballast in much of eastern Washington.

And, on my previous layout, I did originally use WS.  It was eventually replaced with Highball, at the same time I replaced the code 80 track with code 55.  I still have some of the WS "Iron Ore", as it makes good N scale pine cones.  As others have reported, WS ballast floats, and is very hard to glue neatly.

[JMaurer1]

Since we are doing NTrak, we usually use Woodland Scenic since it is easy for everyone to use the same stuff for continuity. I've used Arizona and really liked it, but nobody here carries it and I don't want to have to order it one or two bags at a time when I can easily get WS at the LHS. WS is not as easy to work with, but its availability makes up for some of that.

Wet the WS ballast lightly with wet water then add diluted glue to it and as long as the tide doesn't rise or you soak it with gallons of water, it won't float.

[nkalanaga]

Yes, for a modular layout, where consistency between builders is a factor, WS may be the best choice.  As you said, it's available everywhere, everyone involved can easily get the same color, and it does work, as long as one doesn't use too much water.  Even the oversized grains don't look nearly as bad on code 80 track, as the tie spacing as also too wide, and the ballast seems to match the track.  Besides, most people at shows don't inspect NTrak track - they're too busy watching the trains!

[Cajonpassfan]

Guys, we all have our preferences and opinions about the appearance of various brands. I know I have mine. But is there a difference in sound deadening (or amplification) qualities between brands, or materials? I run with sound and quiet roadbed is important to me. I've tried both WS and ARM, using matte medium to bind the ballast over comparable roadbed and it subjectively seems to me the rock ballast is louder. Is that just my imagination?
Thoughts and opinions?
Otto K.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Sanded grout all the way: http://conrail1285.com/n-scale-ballast-using-sanded-grout/

[Doug G.]

The color(s) of ballast on the ex Milwaukee Road line from Austin, MN to the Twin Cities are quite the mixture. When they originally rejuvenated the line about 10 years ago, they pretty much reused the pink lady ballast (a darker hue of it) already there. About 5 years ago, where it was needed, they used a black ballast and it ended up mostly on the shoulders but kind of mixed in with the pink lady in some places.

So, there was a pinkish/brownish/reddish strip going down the center of the track with black along the outside.

And now, they have recently dumped a bunch of light gray ballast mostly north of Blooming Prairie, MN along the outside. In those areas, there are now three different colors of ballast on the same line.

Needless to say, there are many variations justifiable to modelers. I actually plan to recreate the combination I just described when I eventually get around to ballasting my own layout.

Doug