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I don’t know where you are from, but I was passing through some BNSF country between CA and AZ off RT40 after some big rains and had to stop at a crossing while a train was going by. Then I noticed that pink lady sediment had washed out onto the pavement around the crossing, so used the plastic sandwich bags out of my lunch and scoped some up.
I model N-Scale so I didn’t need so much, but after I sifted it into smaller granules I realized that I needed more. As luck would have it I got to make another trip to where it was except this time it was mixed with a lot of dirt. This time I filled my whole lunch box. When I got home I filled the lunch box with water to get rid of the dirt which dissolved and easily washed away. I spread it out to dry so that I could sift out the large stuff. I ended up with just enough for my layout.
I haven’t got to ballast my layout yet or I would have a photo, but here is a photo of the first batch before I sifted it.
Geared Steam is correct. I have it from the owner of Arizona that the ATSF ballast was/is ground from the same quarry rock used by Santa Fe.
Go with his advice, it looks just right on the layout.
Jeff
Well thank you all very much! I think I'll be going with Geared Steam and jrbernier's suggestions. The ballast manufacturers colors look to be just what I need.
Again, thanks!
-Nathan
Are my posts invisible?
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
'Pink Lady' is the Baraboo Quartzite that the C&NW used. It is quite pink with purple streaks in it at times. AT&SF ballast can be had from Arizona Rock & Mineral. They have a 'traditional' AT&SF ballast and also 'Winslow Pit' ballast. I suspect what you are seeing is 'Winslow Pit'. Here is their web site:
http://www.rrscenery.com/Home/Links/AZROCK5.html
BNSF also gets 'Sioux Quartzite' just north of Sioux Falls, SD. I would not use the W/S stuff - real rock ballast works so much better....
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I have been using a coarse sand found at Michaels that is a reddish color. It may be too dark for your application but matches the red rock around Helena, MT I am using for my Great Northern/Montana Rail Link layout.
The Woodland Scenics "iron ore" is way too dark for the pink lady ballast, plus it's a tough product to get good results from (look at other threads on this site for more on that).
Several companies have offered suitable ballast colors, and you can check before ordering to ensure the product is real rock and not the Woodland Scenics ground walnut shells that float away when you glue them. This source is reportedly ground up from the prototype quarry where the actual stuff is sourced: http://www.greatdecals.com/Scale.htm (scroll down to the ballast).
Rob Spangler
Arizona Rock and Mineral
They have 2 pinks, to me the AT&SF looks like Great Northern Pink (err BNSF that is)
and
Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe (New color Winslow Hue)
Hi everyone,
I am currently about to embark on creating a modular section for a model railroad club. I want to make one based on one of BNSF's mainlines in the South Western deserts. I was wondering if anyone knew of the manufacturer that made the correctly colored ballast. I was thinking of using Woodland Scenics IRON ORE BALLAST, however, it appears to be too dark and more of a brownish-red color rather than "pink".
I was also wondering on some of your opinions. Would you suggest I use flex-track with black ties or use the flex-track with brown ties?
Thank you all very much,