Ballast

 Find a light gray thats close to the Unitrack color and add a little cinder ballast to the mix.  heres a pic of my Unitrack with this mix ( its Woodland sceniks though ) .....Mike

 I only added ballast on the outside of the Unitrack, You dont really need it in the center, it will all blend together from a couple of feet away....Mike

Never fear, Kato sells ballast to match Unitrack, part number 24-039, see http://www.katousa.com/N/Unitrack/accessories.html .

I'm modelling in HO, using Bachmann EZ track.  For my newest layout I plan to be using kitty litter. I'll be 'tossing' a portion of it with  some acrylic shades to give it some variety; pics to come. I also saw a great ballast spreader on Ebay that looks easy enough to build myself, probably with brush-applied white glue.

I am also using Kato Unitrack for my N scale modular layout.

I don´t like the plastic look of it, not only of the roadbed, but also the shiny black look of the ties. To improve the looks of it, I spray paint the sides of the rails in a dark brown color and then ballast the track, using a fine N scale granite ballast.

although this is a tedious job, the result is amazing!

Here's the litter in action - hey get that cat outta here!!

Sorry, been busy lately and just now was able to get back to this.I thank everyone for all there very interesting suggestions. I am a NTRAKer and the name of the game for me is to make it look as close to perfect as I can. I want to be able to lay ballast in between the rails of the Kato track, so that is why I said natural, so I can get a smaller grade. Sir Madog, which of the company's did you use for your ballast and what grade was it?  Also, did you ballast in between the rails?

Sounds like a light gray seems to be what most people are saying, is a certain company of the three that I mentioned preferable over another?

Bigpiano -- I've seen some real horror stories come out of people trying to use kitty litter for ballast; usually because the clumping agents make it clump when you try to glue it.

Unfortunately, your photo is rather fuzzy, and it's hard to tell for sure, but lt looks like you've got some pretty big chunks in there.  Real ballast is generally 1-3", or smaller than a scale figure's hand.  Your average size looks to be more like 8" (roughly the same cross section as a tie), with some much bigger chunks.

Now if you're happy with the looks, that's all that matters, but for my money, very fine ballast has a much better look to it.

CTValleyRR

Bigpiano -- I've seen some real horror stories come out of people trying to use kitty litter for ballast; usually because the clumping agents make it clump when you try to glue it.

Unfortunately, your photo is rather fuzzy, and it's hard to tell for sure, but lt looks like you've got some pretty big chunks in there.  Real ballast is generally 1-3", or smaller than a scale figure's hand.  Your average size looks to be more like 8" (roughly the same cross section as a tie), with some much bigger chunks.

Now if you're happy with the looks, that's all that matters, but for my money, very fine ballast has a much better look to it.

You're right about the clumping; I have to admit to sprinkling some loose litter over top for the photo. So I'll probably go with a commercial ballast for the visible parts of the layout. That'll also save the time of sifting & sorting out the boulders from the sand. Oh well - I had read it in a post or a book somewhere and it seemed like a good idea at the time...

Thanks.

bigpianoguy

 

CTValleyRR:

 

Bigpiano -- I've seen some real horror stories come out of people trying to use kitty litter for ballast; usually because the clumping agents make it clump when you try to glue it.

Unfortunately, your photo is rather fuzzy, and it's hard to tell for sure, but lt looks like you've got some pretty big chunks in there.  Real ballast is generally 1-3", or smaller than a scale figure's hand.  Your average size looks to be more like 8" (roughly the same cross section as a tie), with some much bigger chunks.

Now if you're happy with the looks, that's all that matters, but for my money, very fine ballast has a much better look to it.

 

 

You're right about the clumping; I have to admit to sprinkling some loose litter over top for the photo. So I'll probably go with a commercial ballast for the visible parts of the layout. That'll also save the time of sifting & sorting out the boulders from the sand. Oh well - I had read it in a post or a book somewhere and it seemed like a good idea at the time...

Thanks.

Well, this hobby is all about "If at first you don't succeed...."

I'd give that loose litter a good vacuuming to get rid of it, if I were you.  There's also a fair bit of dust in kitty litter that you probably don't want in your locos' mechanisms.

I used WS medium ballast in my yard area and found it much too big.  I used fine ballast for the rest of the layout and I'm pleased with the look.

It's funny, I hadn't heard a peep about kitty litter for ballast in about 5 years, then suddenly 4 people in one week thinking about it.  There are lots of places in this hobby where a home remedy or generic alternative can save you lots of dough, but ballast probably isn't one of them.  Aquarium stone can be used, but most is too coarse.  Craft sand will also work, but by the time you've finished dying it, you might as well use commercial ballast.

Good luck with your efforts, and may your ballast always be well-groomed!

I tried the kitty litter experiment once. The key word being "once". For one thing, unless you're modeling in "O" it's way oversize for any other scale. The other is that, it tends to turn into goo if you're using the clumping litter. I don't even know they sell non-clumping litter anymore. I've found that mixing a 50/50 mix of sand (the kind from sand tubes sold at Walmart) and Woodland Scenics ballast, which I think is crushed nutshells, works for me. When I used a 70/30 (water/glue) mix of diluted white glue, it tended to wash the ballast out or make little "craters" in it. By using a slightly thicker mixture; 60/40 or 50/50, it worked better. Also, I found that by using a garden misting bottle, instead of the general purpose spray bottle, the mist was finer and didn't get big drops that cause those holes, too. Another tip: soak well with your wetting agent, then letting it sit for about a minute (about 15-20 seconds if you use alcohol) really serves to break the surface tension all the way through your ballast. You want your ballast to be wet completely, if not, the glue will glue the top only causing it to come out in chunks if disturbed.

I started out using sprayers for ballast too, but have since changed to a pipette for wetting (w/35% isopropyl), and an old glue bottle for applying the adhesive (matte medium diluted 1:4 with filtered water and 2 drops of dishwashing liquid per cup of solution).

This allows me to put the fluids right where I want them from a low height.  I do occasionally move the ballast when I either hit it with the tip of the applicator or squeeze a little too hard, although you don't have to squeeze with the glue bottle, it just dribbles out.  I most often have trouble when I invert the bottle too quickly, causing the adhesive to shoot out.