Arizona Rock and Mineral Products

[richhotrain]

Good looking ballast, Wayne. Those containers look very much like the larger Scenic Express containers. Scenic Express also sells 25 pound sacks of ballast. Looking back, it would have been a whole lot cheaper to buy the ballast in bulk.   

Rich

[doctorwayne]

A friend gave me two of these containers, filled with screenings from an order of crushed stone for his driveway...

...they did a fair amount of track....

...but when it ran-out, I went to a nearby quarry, hoping to get a couple of buckets of screenings.  Unfortunately, they no longer sold direct to the public, but mentioned a nearby lumberyard which sold bagged screenings (normally used for interlocking brick walkways/driveway, etc.
For $12.00, I got three 50lb. bags (I needed some to set some brick) and screened the rest to get ballast...

Wayne

[richhotrain]

SeeYou190

I will only have about 18 feet of visible double track mainline around Centerville, then 20 feet of single track going to Port Annabelle. 20 feet of yard in Centerville, yard tracks in Port Annabelle are on a carfloat. I think I have plenty.

There are a dozen bags of CSX gray. When I ballast I always mix two bags of CSX gray with a different color for texture. The yard will be dark. The dingle track mainline will be a different color.

My layout will be pretty small compared to most people on here.

-Kevin

 

Yeah, that will make a big difference - - the size of the layout and the amount of trackwork. My 165 feet of double mainline was a daunting task to ballast. I kept ordering more and more ballast until I finally completed the task with more than 3 gallons of ballast and plenty of spent dollars.

Rich

[SeeYou190]

I will only have about 18 feet of visible double track mainline around Centerville, then 20 feet of single track going to Port Annabelle. 30 feet of yard trackage will be in Centerville, the "yard" tracks in Port Annabelle are on a carfloat. I think I have plenty of ballast.

There are a dozen bags of CSX gray. When I ballast I always mix two bags of CSX gray with a different color for texture. The yard will be dark. The single track mainline will be a different color.

My layout will be pretty small compared to most people on here.

-Kevin

[richhotrain]

I just went back and looked at my notes. It took me 13 quarts (3.25 gallons) of Scenic Express real rock ballast to cover a 165 foot double mainline.

Rich

[richhotrain]

SeeYou190

 

 

richhotrain

I used to use Woodland Scenics ballast on my old layout but switched to Scenic Express ballast for my new layout, primarily because I preferred real rock as opposed to crushed walnut shells.

 

 

I used Woodland Scenics ballast on my first couple of layouts, but once I tried real rock, I switched to Arizona Rock and Mineral.

They got all the money from me they are going to get!

I have a lifetime supply on hand.

-Kevin

 

Dunno, Kevin, that is a whole lotta little bags of a whole lotta assorted colors. Unless you have a heckuva lot more of each color, you won't have enough to ballast a moderately sized layout.   

Rich

[SeeYou190]

richhotrain

I used to use Woodland Scenics ballast on my old layout but switched to Scenic Express ballast for my new layout, primarily because I preferred real rock as opposed to crushed walnut shells.

I used Woodland Scenics ballast on my first couple of layouts, but once I tried real rock, I switched to Arizona Rock and Mineral.

They got all the money from me they are going to get!

I have a lifetime supply on hand.

-Kevin

[richhotrain]

I used to use Woodland Scenics ballast on my old layout but switched to Scenic Express ballast for my new layout, primarily because I preferred real rock as opposed to crushed walnut shells.

That said, Arizona Rock and Mineral has an advantage over Scenic Express with the variety of colors. In HO scale, Scenic Express only offers Gray and Light Gray. That suited my needs, but others will likely want a color of ballast that more closely replicates the prototype that they are modeling.

Rich

[AZ Rock and Mineral CO.]

We are still in business at armballast.com

rrscenery.com will get you there too.

[CalSoRwy]

i model SP in southern california...  and they have the closest thing to the greenish ballast lining much of the coast line.  its an awesome product.  also, the HO scale rock does not look oversized like WS ballast.

[bnsfjoe]

Thank you all for your input, this product sounds like something I should explore further. I don't post much on the site, but I'm always impressed with the wealth of knowledge that people are willing to share, its one of the reasons I enjoys this hobby.

[dknelson]

I used some of their Chicago & North Western "pink lady" ballast and was pleased with the fineness of the ballast and the color, which I assume to be crushed from actual examples of the rock.  Unfortunately the current pink lady is pinker than it was in my era as they dig deeper into the seam of rock.  But qualitywise it is very good stuff.   For some reason few hobby shops seem to carry it, at least where I live.

Dave Nelson

[jbinkley60]

Joe,

Allow me to add my "rave" about Arizona. The product is that good.

From your handle, I'm guessing you model BNSF. I do Santa Fe, and the owner of Arizona Rock literally crushes the same rock that the SF used out west, from the original source. That way, it can't help but look correct, and SF modellers all know that the correct pink stone is the only way to go.

The owner doesn't want to do wholesale business with shops anymore, but will do retail sales. He also offers a discount on quantity, and ships very quickly. He has retired a couple of times already, and may do so again, so if you are interested you may need to move quickly.

One caveat, plan ahead. He sometimes is out of stock on some items. Since I'm modelling the Albuquerque District, I had him supply me with ground rock in various sizes which came from the exact location I am doing for my ground cover and mountainsides. It doesn't get any more real than that.

Good luck,

Jeff

 

Add me to the list of raving fans.  Top notch products and service.  I am using his ballast on my entire layout.  Nothing looks like real stone other than real stone.  Note that he also has mix for things beyond ballast.  You can get paving, concrete, cinders and rock coloring from him.   

 

[simonjeff1]

Joe,

Allow me to add my "rave" about Arizona. The product is that good.

From your handle, I'm guessing you model BNSF. I do Santa Fe, and the owner of Arizona Rock literally crushes the same rock that the SF used out west, from the original source. That way, it can't help but look correct, and SF modellers all know that the correct pink stone is the only way to go.

The owner doesn't want to do wholesale business with shops anymore, but will do retail sales. He also offers a discount on quantity, and ships very quickly. He has retired a couple of times already, and may do so again, so if you are interested you may need to move quickly.

One caveat, plan ahead. He sometimes is out of stock on some items. Since I'm modelling the Albuquerque District, I had him supply me with ground rock in various sizes which came from the exact location I am doing for my ground cover and mountainsides. It doesn't get any more real than that.

Good luck,

Jeff

 

[canazar]

I know a few poeple who have used that product line and everyone of them raved about it. 

[Walter Clot]

Thanks for the info.  I'll have to try it sometime.

[simon1966]

They are great.  they have many more color choices and IMO the ballast looks much more realistic than WS product, which is too uniform in color.  All my main lines use their product.  Images on my picturetrail site.

[bnsfjoe]

Has anyone used the Arizona Rock and Mineral products and any feedback? I know their products are real rock which is different than Woodland Scenics producst.

Thanks for any feedback.