At Milwaukee's Butler Yard (a Chicago & North Western yard now operated by the UP), the CNW used chips of their famous "pink lady" ballast -- undoubtedly an otherwise "waste" byproduct of the ballast quarry at Rock Springs. The advantage of the chips was (just as with cinders in the old days) that they could ballast very evenly right to the tops of the ties, making for a safe and even walking environment for yard crews even in the dark of night. If you have ever tried to walk on main line ballast you know how difficult that can be.
Dave Nelson
I used fine WS cinders and dirtied it with black, dry, tempora paint. DJ.
actually the practice of using cinder ballast for some yard tracks lasted longer than a lot of people think it did. many large railroad terminals had coal fired power plants long into the diesel era. while these facilities did not generate the quantity of cinders and ash that steam locomotives did, they were still a source of usable yard ballast material.
grizlump
Thanks for the kind words, Aikidomaster, but the brass CNR loco in the foreground belongs to a friend and that NYC switcher poking its smokebox out of the shop annex belongs to another friend. The loco sticking out of the main shop's door is a modified Bachmann USRA Light Mountain. The tender just visible at right belongs to a Bachmann Consolidation, and that's an IHC Mogul between it and the NYC loco.
I do have a couple of brass locos, but they're not in the photo.
EDIT: Oops! On closer inspection, you're right: the CNR loco is one of mine - I couldn't make out the number on the rear of the tender, and thought it was one belonging to my CNR-fan friend - I paint and detail most of his locos, and there are usually a few of them scattered about the layout at any time.
Here's a better look at both locos, mine in the lead with his late-'50s re-numbered version trailing:
And mine on its own, assisting the disabled "Bee" into town:
Wayne
DoctorWayne,
Great photo!!
I like the looks of the ballast. Also, seems like someone else likes brass locomotives!! That is way cool.
Craig North Carolina
Aikidomaster Rich, I have used medium cinders as ballast around my coal mine. It looks OK but not great. I am going to do more weathering of the ballast for the mine, but that is why I wondered if the smaller cinders would work for the yard. Do you mix your medium cinders with anything else or have any weathering techniques that help?
Rich,
I have used medium cinders as ballast around my coal mine. It looks OK but not great. I am going to do more weathering of the ballast for the mine, but that is why I wondered if the smaller cinders would work for the yard. Do you mix your medium cinders with anything else or have any weathering techniques that help?
Aikidomaster,
Nope. I just use Medium cinders and glue it down with a 50/50 mix of matte medium and water. When it dries, it has a slightly dull look but still some shine. I do not weather it either. Those that have seen my layout in person seem to like the look, and I am happy with it.
Rich
Alton Junction
I used the fine cinders around my turntable and shops, and while it doesn't look too bad, I plan on adding something even finer to tone down the grainy appearance.
Most yards I've been in had ballast at one time, maybe around WWI. They can be anything from plain dirt to new ballast, but mostly a hodge-podge of mixed areas where there is some new ballast where track may have been repaired and weed covered cinders mixed with chunks of coal, wheat, iron ore and unknown junk. The ballast profile is normaly not noticable except on the end tracks and even then it may or may not have one. Yard tracks are normaly made up of used mainline track that is no longer suitable for high speeds and has been recycled for yard use, ties were once made of wood but would probably fall apart if you ever tried to move one, spikes are random (when we test the tampers it's not uncommon to pull the rails off the ties during a lift cycle). It is not uncommon to see yard rails date stamped prior to WWII and some I've seen had dates as early as 1910 and all of it can be mixed and matched. As a general rule, yards don't get maintained so your model should reflect that.
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
Don't really have much access to yards anymore, not like when I was a kid and they formed shortcuts and even playgrounds. What little trackwalking I've been able to do in the last 20 years, shows mostly very dark grey or near black gravel with a fair amount of oil absorbed in, with some patches of dirt, enough to have small amounts of weeds. When I was growing up, the old B&O yards were ballasted with a combo of gravel and cinders from the coal fired steam switchers and road engines. Also, since the yards serviced a steel plant with blast furnaces and open hearths, as well as a very active port that shipped coal and recieved Taconite, most tracks had lines and small piles of spilled limestone, Taconite, coal, and sometimes even sulfur and other less identifiable substances. Also, no matter how smooth the yard areas were, there were small patches of weeds, and even depressions between tracks with oily water puddles. The switch to diesels only seemed to add more spilled oil.
During the winters, the yard provided lots of coal for an old pot-bellied stove in the shack at a nearby ice skating pond. Always had volunteers to scavange the tracks for coal. We had the warmest shack in town. No rationing of coal.
Aikidomaster I am wondering what to do with ballasting the arrival/departure tracks and the classification tracks. I use code 83 for mainline and arrival/departure tracks and code 70 for classification tracks. I airbrush all rails and ties railroad brown. I individually paint some ties SP light gray and cut some ties shorter than others. I use powdered chalk for the middle of the tracks for oil and other weathering. But, what should I do with ballasting the yard? The mainline will remain its usual mixed gray medium blend. But, I was thinking of using a combination of real dirt and small cinders. I like to still be able to see the tops of some of the ties. Looking at photos, some real yards look like black mud. Not certain which way to go. Suggestions, please!!!
I am wondering what to do with ballasting the arrival/departure tracks and the classification tracks. I use code 83 for mainline and arrival/departure tracks and code 70 for classification tracks. I airbrush all rails and ties railroad brown. I individually paint some ties SP light gray and cut some ties shorter than others. I use powdered chalk for the middle of the tracks for oil and other weathering. But, what should I do with ballasting the yard? The mainline will remain its usual mixed gray medium blend. But, I was thinking of using a combination of real dirt and small cinders. I like to still be able to see the tops of some of the ties. Looking at photos, some real yards look like black mud. Not certain which way to go. Suggestions, please!!!
I essentially have done the same thing as you. My double mainlin is a 50/50 blend of Woodland Scenics Gray and Dark Gray. My A/D track and classification tracks, and the yard itself, is Woodland Scenics Cinders. It looks great to me.
Incidentally, all of my ballast including the Cinders is Medium in size, not Fine.
I think you have the right idea. A little depends on your era. Steam and early diesel would have cinders if there was any servicing done near the yard. Since people walk in yards, even what they use is usually finer than mainline. Dirt works its way in and if the yard wasn't built in an ideal spot, certainly mud can be a factor.
Good luck,