Other than screening for size, does anyone see a problem with using kitty litter for ballast or even rocky ground cover? No jokes please.
There is at least one other member of these forums who uses cat litter for ballast/scenery. Personally I think it's a bit course for ballast except for 'O' scale...maybe. Seems like something workable for talus...in 'HO'.
But...to each his own. Whatever works for you.
The Broadway Lion can better advise in this realm.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
Yes, the Lion has been mentioned already....
I use the super cheap, no frills, huge granular stuff for floor dry in my shop and as an added bonus I also use it for HO talus/ loose rock. It does absorb water right now when wetting it for gluing, but a little practice and common sense will direct you in a hurry. It also takes acrylic washes nicely for color.
As for ballast? Not so sure about that aspect. It kind of comes down to whether it looks fine for you or not, after all, it;s your layout. Lion will be along shortly and offer more. He uses it along with gravity to hold it in place and it works well for him.
Happy RR'ing!
Duane
Why do you want to use kitty litter? Cost? It is too big for HO scale and it is perfumed to absorb odor, so a lot of it on a open layout is going to smell weird.
Rich
Alton Junction
Shop floor dry isn't scented and you can buy is 25 lb. bags. While I feel it is too large for HO scale ballast, it certainly can be screened to remove all sized too big and would make good ballast if the color is right for the person using it as such.
Like someone else has said it is great for talus and can be painted what ever color is needed.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
The cheap kitty litter is just fine clay particles, no scents added. The better kinds which have more uniform particle size and look more like ballast (but too large for HO) tend to have the deodorizers added, though they do make unscented because some people are allergic to the chemicals used, so you can use kitty litter without having strange smells (until the cat figures this out....). Sealed up with dilute glue like regular ballast, there should be no odors nor should it attract the resident feline.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Yes, it is cat litter. It is sifted through a window screen, and this is what I got. It may be a little large, but then again maybe it is not.
Why do you want to use kitty litter? Do you have that much track that needs to be ballasted. LION has 14 scale milse of track, but much of it is in Subway tunnels that do not require ballast.
Nin the secont picture (a real train, not a model) notice that there are both grey and white stones. LION has been using Arm and Hammer clumping ballast for the cat of him, and it is mostly grey with some white chips, so this is what I will use when I repallast the tracks. I had vacuumed up the previous ballast to do some track work. That is nice about gravity, you can pick it up without damage to the tracks. Make an adjustment, just brush it aside. LION is installing signals, so when project is finished, the ballast will returen.
Regular clay ballast is ok, and should take glue etc ok, though I have not tried it. The clumping ballast is a different sort of beast. Maybe you want to nail a track to a board and try it out before you put it on the layout.
The LION uses not roadbed, tracks are laid directly on the subroadbed. Vibrations will not cause the ballast to roll off of the roadbed. So the glue was not necessary. If you are using a tall cork road bed this may be a problem. LION would recomment white glue on the cribs of the roadbed before applying the ballast, this will (should) hold the subsequent stones from rolling off.
Also to be said, is that LIONS are not particularly fussy with how things look because him is a beast of limited skill sets, and as a monk, has no source of money for which to buy things. The cat is more than willing to share her (unused) litter with me. She had better do so, because I also control the cat food.
This section of track has not been ballasted yet, Third Rails made of baswood, painted brown on top to represent the protection board, and black on the sides to represent the shadow under the protection board. The platform is made of cardboard. The wind break wall is made of a computer ribbon wire, the lamps are made of coffee stirrers (the kind with two chanels) LEDs are inserted in them and a painted thumbtack with the point clipped off give it a finished look. The building behind the wall is a pair of photographs of the same building that is found in this location in Brooklyn, NY.
HEY! Who put the tootsie rolls in the cat litter!
Who? Me?
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
The only brand of cat litter I have found that can be used as HO scale ballast is Cat's Pride by Oil-Dri Corporation.
Cat's Pride is ground up kaolin clay, so it doesn't swell or clump when moistened with glue and wet water.
We use it in such minute quantities that no cat is going to try using it even if it is not glued down.
The only drawback to Cat's Pride is having to pick out the blue deodorant crystals that are within it.
I have also encountered different sizes of litter between production runs, which I attribute to the location where it was actually packaged.
When I need more, I open the jug and look inside before purchase to make sure it doesn't have larger pieces in it.
In addition to kitty litter being a bit too large in my view for HO ballast, I'd be afraid of the consequences of sending a mixed message to our cat. He is praised for using his litter box and scolded for eyeing the layout ....
Dave Nelson
Thanks for asking the question, I will be ballasting soon as well. I kinda remember that kitty litter reacts to water (clay certainly would), but I can't find the reference.
On the other hand, has anyone sifted sand? I read that someone used it for N scale, but unless my measurements are wrong, it would work for HO, right? I guess it would depend on the sifter but scale ballast should be pretty tiny (1 inch max in 1:1 scale in our neck of the woods).
Simon
Instead of sand, the LION would recommend that you visit a contractor's supply house and ask for thier varities of sand blasting medium. I have often eyed this product as a ballast or even as live coal that can be loaded and unloaded from hopper cars.
New York City Transit even uses sea shells on some of their tracks.
Lion, maybe it's low tide! Thanks for the tip about sandblasting material.
Litter/Floor dry ( same stuff ) will change color when in contact with liquid and also will expand. I would never use is for ballast myslf. I worked in machine shops for over 30 years. I speak from experience.
snjroyOn the other hand, has anyone sifted sand? I read that someone used it for N scale, but unless my measurements are wrong, it would work for HO, right?
I use sand for ballast everywhere other than my mainline and some passing sidings. I employ commercial ballast on those tracks because of the colors available. The Scenic Express ballast I use for the main and sidings is also essentially sand that's been dyed.
This yard is ballasted with sand. I have a few different colors from different sources. This is HO.
This yard ballast is also sand.
I dig mine up to get a selection of colors, but you can use sand sold for kids' sandboxes, pavers or other stuff too. It also makes a great base layer for ground cover.
Rob Spangler
snjroy Lion, maybe it's low tide! Thanks for the tip about sandblasting material.
The seagulls put the shells there. They catch a little sea-critter and drop him on the hard surface to break the shell, and then they come in to eat the critter.
A motorman that I was chatting with (while the drawbridge was open) told me all about it. He also told me that he has NEVER seen the boat for which it bridge was opened. By the time he gets out there it is long gone.
You want to be careful with using used Sand Blasting Media, as it likely has steel dust in it from being used to blast steel parts previous to painting. Steel dust is a big no-no around our little locomotive motors!
Which reminds me, that litter/floor dry is very dusty as well another thing to take into consideration.
wp8thsub I use sand for ballast everywhere other than my mainline and some passing sidings. I employ commercial ballast on those tracks because of the colors available. The Scenic Express ballast I use for the main and sidings is also essentially sand that's been dyed. This yard is ballasted with sand. I have a few different colors from different sources. This is HO. This yard ballast is also sand. I dig mine up to get a selection of colors, but you can use sand sold for kids' sandboxes, pavers or other stuff too. It also makes a great base layer for ground cover.
Can you repeat your ballast selection?
Sand or commercial product?
What color is it, and how do you achieve that effect?
What if I tracked down to the beach about 10 blocks from me hauled back a bucket of sand sifted it to get the crud out ran a magnet over it and use it. Would not that work for the price of free?
Joe Staten Island West
If you get new medium from the supply house this will not be a problem. Used medium from a contractor would be another story.
richhotrainCan you repeat your ballast selection? Sand or commercial product? What color is it, and how do you achieve that effect?
Thanks for the kind words, Rich.
All the ballast in those photos is dug up from outdoors somewhere. The top photo features mostly material a friend acquired near a river in Oregon, with some additional sand that I found on a parking lot adjacent to a beach in northern California. The second yard is two different colors of sand I found next to a road in southern Idaho.
The effect seen in the photos is no more than a combination of the different sand colors, plus weathering applied with acrylics and chalk dust after the ballast is glued down. I use prototype photos extensively, as well as observations from railfanning, to get a feel for how track looks.
joe323What if I tracked down to the beach about 10 blocks from me hauled back a bucket of sand sifted it to get the crud out ran a magnet over it and use it. Would not that work for the price of free?
Yes it would. I've done the same thing.
wp8thsub richhotrain Can you repeat your ballast selection? Sand or commercial product? What color is it, and how do you achieve that effect? Thanks for the kind words, Rich. All the ballast in those photos is dug up from outdoors somewhere. The top photo features mostly material a friend acquired near a river in Oregon, with some additional sand that I found on a parking lot adjacent to a beach in northern California. The second yard is two different colors of sand I found next to a road in southern Idaho. The effect seen in the photos is no more than a combination of the different sand colors, plus weathering applied with acrylics and chalk dust after the ballast is glued down. I use prototype photos extensively, as well as observations from railfanning, to get a feel for how track looks.
richhotrain Can you repeat your ballast selection? Sand or commercial product? What color is it, and how do you achieve that effect?
I use the inexpensive simple gray variety, non scented. I have 900 ft of HO and 350 ft of O scale track painted rail brown. Most of it has been there for more than two decades. None of it is glued down making modifications to track work as simple as vacuuming the desired area and make the change,paint, and ballast. In my opinion the desired effect is achieved at a reasonable cost. I have over 100 Atlas turnouts on the HO layout with no issues. The O scale layout is entirely Gargraves flex track and switches,again no problems for decades. The layout is built in the second floor of a custom built oversize two car garage Which is kept extremely clean with it's own furnace. As a side note.....the HO layout is Model Power code 100 flex track with Atlas turnouts.....all brass and in service for nearly 30 years with no problems. The HO layout is on the top level and the O scale on the bottom level. In summation.......my experience has been favorable, spend your money on a good quality locomotive.
joe323 What if I tracked down to the beach about 10 blocks from me hauled back a bucket of sand sifted it to get the crud out ran a magnet over it and use it. Would not that work for the price of free?
Lake Superior Park Point beach sand makes excellent ballast, but there are laws now about removing sand from many public beaches. Just be warned.
LION uses kitty litter, and that is no joke. Him not glue it down either.
BTW, my cat...
It very probably is illegal on Staten Island based on some research I did. I think the NYPD has better things to worry about then a guy removing a pound of sand but I guess illegal is illegal.
Have fun with your trains