Ballasting the "Yard"

[Jeff1952]

As my layout continues to expand I have found myself needing a staging/freight yard. Laid the track/turnouts on cork sheet, but now must ballast the area. I've reviewed all the MR back issues and the "how-to" videos. Many mention ballasting  yards, but I've either missed or failed to find any specifics on ballasting large, flat areas. Any hints/suggestions/advice from those who have gone before? Its HO scale, but I've read I should use N scale ballast? I'm modeling Great Northern, so any color suggestions? Looks like the ties should be fairly "deep"? Any helpful hints appreciated...

[rrebell]

Yards are no different from other areas so go with the ballast size of the regular lines. I found that if you want the dirt filled yards it is best to ballest the regular way and add dirt later. 

[BroadwayLion]

Yards *are* different from mane lions.

This is because people must WALK there to do their work. You cannot have workers stumbling in live rail yards. The deck gets filled in with oil and grit from the equipment and from the workers shoes.

Ballast is supposed to promote drainage. Drainage via pipes etc are or can be provided in freight yards. Trains do not operate at road speeds so the ballast does not to be the same as out on the road.

Side tracks and pockets are ballasted to the same specification as the main lions, tracks into industrial or commercial areas are not maintained to road standards if at all.

That said, the new Halliburton Depot in Richardton is built to higher standards than the mane lion: Concrete ties and deep ballasts.

ROAR

[Grampys Trains]

I used a mix of  WS fine cinders and fine vegetation, (fine grass, weeds, etc.), then a liberal application of black tempora paint and earth colored latex paint.

[MisterBeasley]

I used less ballast than I would on a main line, and allowed it to spread out.  I also used vegetation and brown turf.  I put in a small water-filled depression in front of the light tower, with more green turf and some ground foam for shrubbery.

 

[dknelson]

Most yards that I have seen are ballasted differently than the main line.   Milwaukee's Butler Yard on the former C&NW (now UP) for example was ballasted with chips of the famous "pink lady" ballast -- a cheap by product of the mining process but it also had the effect that ballast could come right up to the tops of the ties and to the ends of the ties, unlike the main where the top few inches of the tie ends were exposed.  As LION points out the goal is to have a flat surface where crewmen can walk in the dark without tripping on stuff if possible.  Ditches were also minimal for the same reason - the surface is fairly flat. 

Some other yards use gravel as ballast, and in steam days cinders were common, but again one goal was and is a flat walkable surface 24/7.

Dave Nelson 

[Jeff1952]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input, AND the photos!!

[hardcoalcase]

The technique for using grout for HO yard cinder ballast was described in these forums about 6 years ago.  I copied the text for my own reference files (see below) but didn't keep the post or author information.  There was a photo showing the results and it was impressive.

Jim

For yard ballast - I use 2 colors. Both were bought at Home Depot. The brand is PolyBlend Sanded Grout. #156 Fawn and #09 Natural Gray. They come in 7 lbs. bags and cost $7 and change. I use the Fawn as a  basic dirt ground cover. The Natural Gray seems to be a good color and texture for gravel. They can also be mixed together.

I place the grout where I want it, then spray it with wet water only, no glue. After this has dried the grout will stay in place, up to a point. Remember it is cement. Any lumps and bumps can be smoothed out with the tip of your finger or a piece of fine sand paper . When things look ok., I spray some more wet water, then apply the dilute glue.

If at this point if I see something that's not quite right, I leave it  until the glue has dried then  fix it.

The other option is to make the fix while the glue is still wet. The risk here is disturbing other areas making more work.

It bears repeating that you should try these techniques with scrap materials first before using them on the real thing.  Every time I have ignored this advice whether model building or making home repairs, I have regretted it.

[mobilman44]

Hi,

After having just painted sheet cork for my loco terminal and freight yard for some time, I'm now at the point of finally "scenicking" them.

As I model the '50s, the yards back then were just not pretty.   Everything was black or brown or a color in between - and obviously dirt was everywhere.  Yet, the previous photos are really nice examples of what they could/should be, and I appreciate them - and will use them as guides.

Great work!

 

 

[riogrande5761]

hardcoalcase

For yard ballast - I use 2 colors. Both were bought at Home Depot. The brand is PolyBlend Sanded Grout. #156 Fawn and #09 Natural Gray. They come in 7 lbs. bags and cost $7 and change. I use the Fawn as a basic dirt ground cover. The Natural Gray seems to be a good color and texture for gravel. They can also be mixed together.

I am modeling desert scenery and some over at MRH magazine forums recommended Polyblend Sanded Grout for ground cover.  The guys that use it actually recommended against using the method Jim described above (wetting)because it is grout, it can end up looking like grout you see in between tiles after the wetted/soaked grout dries - that isn't the look I want on the open ground anyway - rather I want it to look like dry sand; the method they recommended is using 3M Super 77 spray adhesive and then sift the sanded grout onto it after spraying the surface.

What I did was paint latex over the surface and lightly sift the sanded grout on and it would adhere to the wet paint - and I would vaccum or brush off the loose leaving a thin layer afixed.

For yards, maybe wetting the grout would work, but I would definitely test it on scrap wood before you try it.

That said, sanded grout does make good ground cover and they do have a variety of earth colors - I chose the Linen color but there are plenty of choices.

The prices at my local home depot was about $10 for the 7 lb bag, but for an additional $5 you can get a 25 lb bag for $15, which is a no brainer, an extra 18 pounds for the extra $5 is worth it.

Here is a link to the discussion below at MRH

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/27508

[HO-Velo]

Also laid my yard tracks on sheet cork except for the loco service track on the left which is on plywood benchtop.  IMO varying colors and texture is key when ballasting, especially yards and spurs.  I used three different sizes of real rock ballast and 4 powders along with various colors of craft paint and india ink washes randomly applied.  Spilled lading is good too.  BTW, thinned Mars black acrylic tube paint carefully applied in very small amounts here and there between the rails make for some really convincing oil stains.

Good luck and have fun,  Peter

[jjdamnit]

Hello all,

Like many things the answer is "it depends"...

It depends on the yard and the era modeled.

For an early, small yard: a siding, depot and maintenance facilities; fuel (either diesel or coal), water and sand, the ballast might be the same as the mainline.

Mainline siding ballast tends to be larger in size for better drainage.

This larger ballast would likely be placed like the mainline; sloped on outer sides of the yard and level between the ties of the yard. Probably not level with the heads of the rails.

Rail crossings would probably be fashioned out of stone or old ties between the rails at certain crossing points.

For larger, modern yards; the surface might look like dirt or pea gravel.

As has been posted, cinders were often used as ballast in early yards. This form of ballast would have been level with the tops of the ties.

Then as time progressed "leftover" ballast from the mainline might have been laid over this substrata of cinders, for better drainage between the tracks. 

This ballast might have been laid half-way up the rails on the field side and depressed on the gage side. Crossings would have been upgraded to cement and rubber, if upgraded at all.

Then as time progressed, and the yard aged, the ballast might have been resurfaced with "crushed" ballast resembling pea gravel.

This crush might have brought the level of the fill to the top of the field side of the rails while leaving the gage side fully depressed to the ties.

As time marches on the gage side of the rails might have been filled in by hydraulic action; pooling of material between the rails due to lack of drainage of the now clogged cinder sub-ballast. 

Now maintenance crews need to reestablish the gage side of the yard rails to avoid derailments, and add culverts to aid in drainage. These would appear in the yard a ponds or small catch basins.  

Now, a large, historic yard is completely covered with material and only the heads of the rails are visible along with the clearance on the gage side of the rails for the wheel flanges.

That being said...

If you are modeling a modern intermodal yard there is more to consider.

The ties or sleepers are most likely concrete and the entire yard is paved with asphalt to facilitate wheeled traffic in the yard.

Again, the field side of the rails are asphalted almost to the heads of the rails and the gage sides are kept open by MOW crews. 

So...

Again it depends.

Hope this helps.

[Jeff1952]

Wow! Much to consider. Another of those "one size does NOT fit all" projects. To be more specific, if it matters, my yard is set in northern Minnesota, early September of 1962, near Lake Superior. A setting much like Duluth or Two Harbors, hosting rail traffic from the Great Northern, DMIR and Northern Pacific railroads. My original thoughts were of grays, dark grays and blacks...cinders and basalt, unless the yard has traffic from the Iron Ore trains...in which case there might be tints of rusts and reddish-browns. Arrghhh. Guess there's no ONE correct answer.

I appreciate everybody's input. Ya' learn sumthin' new everyday, whether you try to or not! 

[jjdamnit]

Hello all,

Thanks for the clarification.

I would say a yard like you described would be of the type where the rails are buried up to their heads in the materials you describe. With the gage side of the rails exposed.

There would definitely be traces of iron ore between the tracks or possibly spillage piles beside the tracks.

I recall an article in MR by Cody Grivno about kitbashing a Rix structure to make a small engine facility.

There was a sidebar on ballasting the adjacent track to make it appear to be a yard track as I've described. I'm sure you can find it in the MR archives.

Hope this helps.

[Jeff1952]

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll see if I can hunt down that article in the MR archives. I also stumbled across a series of great Duluth area rail photos on Flickr.com by Jeff Lemke called "Twin Ports Rail History". Lots of valuable reference pix, as well as historical notes, and just what I need! Thanks to all

[BRAKIE]

A lot of yards in the 60s still had cinders ballast with lots of weeds and leaked grain,corn,wheat etc in the gauge.

Even today in some little used yards in small cities and towns you can still see remnants of cinder ballast among the dirty ballast and dirt.

A major yard is well maintain and I will add clutter free for safety reasons..