Ballast uestion (ok, so I'm cheap)

[LooseClu]

I have been testing various locally available materials for scenic usage and came across gutters full of what looked like an ideal source of talus.  I live on an island so sand is dominate but in the gutters these nice small smooth stones were everywhere.  Under the stones was a mother load of finely ground stone and sand mixture that looks almost like a handful of pepper in color, is rather heavy when you collect enough of it, and made a great parking lot surface for a few of my industries.  It readily soaks up the white glue/H2O mix and had no loose stuff the vacuum would suck up after it dried.  I know this stuff is hard and don't doubt it would destroy most motors and gears if it was dumped into them.  With that in mind I think it would be good ballast material (at least in size, color, and price) but I thought I better ask you good folks before I try it for that purpose.  Is it okay to use a fine sand/grit mix for ballast or is that asking for elevated maintenance costs not too far down the road?                                                                                                                                        Roy

[grizlump9]

 what you have found is no doubt roofing granules probably fly ash.  it comes off the asphalt shingles over time and collects in the gutter.    power plants produce tons of the stuff when they burn coal and it is often recovered and sold to companies that manufacture roofing materials. 

i was lucky enough when i worked on the railroad to find a covered hopper of the stuff that was leaking little piles out all over the ground.  i gathered up several buckets of it and use it for yard track ballast and ground cover anywhere i want it to look like cinders.

as with any natural material, you might want to pass a strong magnet through it in case there are any ferous metalic particles that could get picked up by your locomotives.

grizlump

[LooseClu]

The magnet trick- I knew I had forgotten something.  Thanks Grizlump!  The only magnet I had handy was a small weak button type but after rolling it around a saucer full of my sifted fine stuff it did pick up a few tiny specks.  I'll be off to the store for a good strong one. I'm not 100% sold that this is from roofing material (not that many roofs out here) but I do have access to bucket loads of the stuff and the price is right.  Hauling quart size containers of the small river rock pebles and fine grit hand shoveled out of the gutters is good exercise and it mystifies the neighbors ; )                                      Roy

[BillyDee53]

I live in and model Florida.  The best material I have found, to represent Florida soil, is Florida soil.  First I sift it thru window screen to remove any twigs, bugs, critters, etc.  Then I put it in an oatmeal box and nuke it in the microwave.  I then sift again, spread it on baking sheets and put it in the oven for a while, then run a magnet thru it and sift again.  Then I use it on the layout.