Need inexpensive alternatives for ballast

[brothaslide]

Buying the bagged ballast from the LHS is somewhat expensive. Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, or insight how to make your own, etc.?

I forgot to mention - I model in HO.

Take care,

[GN-Rick]

You could try a bag of sand for concrete use. It is available through many
home improvement stores and is relatively cheap. OR-if you live near a
beach with fine sand you could get some there. Either way, run the sand
through a screen to rid yourself of contaminants and to obtain a uniform
size. Then, if you want a different color-other than the sand's natural gray-
you could tint it with thinned paint or a dye. Do this in small batches in
some sort of mixing container (that you don't need for anything else!).
I know-this is cheap and dirty but it does work-better than you might think.

[lupo]

Grinded kitty-litter, you could use an old electric coffee grinder
afterwards sift the out the big lumps in a mesh, to get an more evenly sized structure.
coloring can be done as Rick writes by mixing with small amounts of water color or dye.
other possibilty is grinded wallnutshells
also found some nice structured gravel / sand in a petshop, it was sold for use as bottomcovering for an aquarium ( fishtank? )

[Fergmiester]

Try coffee grounds or used fi***ank charcoal.

Fergie

[hminky]

I model in O scale but the sands at Home Improvement centers are cheap enough to sift down to finer levels. I use it as a basic ground cover.I have a web article discussing my theory of gravel at:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/gravel/

Thank you if you visit,
Harold

[Anonymous]

There are firms that market ballast in larger quantities, I think Arizona Rock & Mineral is one of them, don't have any more info. Might be worth a search.

Bob Boudreau

[jrbernier]

I would agree with Bob, you can buy good ballast at reasonable prices via mail order. Arizona Rock & Mineral, Greeat Northen, and Dale Kuhn all produce real rock ballast.
I would avoid the kitty Litter, walnut shells, and coffee grounds. They all can grow fungus type crud after time. A club I belonged to bought fine sand, screened it, and did the dye thing - lots of work. They also dug real cinders out of the ash pit at the old St Paul Union Depot, screened it, baked it, and ran it through a large magnet to make very nice yard ballast - a lot of work!

Here are the URL's for the companies I mentioned:

Dale Kuhn - http://www.greatdecals.com/Scale.htm
Great Northern Ballast - http://www.ballast-train.com/
Arizona Rock & Mineral - http://rrscenery.com/

Jim Bernier

[Anonymous]

from the model railroading handbook it suggests to use common dirt or sand for ballast. Pick a color that corresponds to the type of ballast used on your real railroad. You can even pulverize chunks of real ballast by putting them in a thick cloth bag and hitting it with a hammer. Sift the "ballast" through a piece of door screen. Use only the finer portion that passes through the screen.

[Anonymous]

I've been going up to railroad yard and getting a bucket of the silicanic sand. Then i take a 5Qt.icecream pail fill it about half way buy some black liquid Rit dye add about 1/3 of the bottle to the half pail. Mix it together,use an old wooden or metal spoon, (you may want to wear a pair of rubber gloves for this.) After you have the sand mixed and well colored lay out some newspaper, our what i like brown paper bags, put the sand on the paper and just let it dry out spread it out in a very thin layer to help it dry faster. You may end up with some bigger clusters of sand but just break it up with your hands. Cost one bottle of Rit dye about $2.50 and alittle gas to find the sand. One 5gal.bucket and a bottle of RiT dye should give you enough cinders for a life time. Rit also makes a grey dye for main line ballast.

[brothaslide]

Thanks for the input - anymore would be appreciated!

[AggroJones]

Pay the $9.50 for giant 32oz. shaker of WS ballast. That amount goes a long way.

[Anonymous]

WHATEVER BALLAST YOU COLLECT, MAKE SURE YOU SPREAD IT OUT THINLY AND GO OVER IT SEVERAL TIMES WITH A STRONG MAGNET!

It is astonishing how much magnetic material can be found in even the most innocous looking sands.
You don't want any of that finding its way into your motors and wheel bearings!

[bikerraypa]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bilby2k

WHATEVER BALLAST YOU COLLECT, MAKE SURE YOU SPREAD IT OUT THINLY AND GO OVER IT SEVERAL TIMES WITH A STRONG MAGNET!

It is astonishing how much magnetic material can be found in even the most innocous looking sands.
You don't want any of that finding its way into your motors and wheel bearings!

VERY VERY true. Make sure you demagnetize it first or you'll have problems. The kitty litter works well too, but when you grind it, mix in a few drops of concentrated Lysol (the stuff in the brown bottle) to prevent mold, etc. Gotta watch with the kitty litter, though, because it draws damp.

The best alternative I've found to regular ballast is fleck paint. I used the PlastiKote Fleck Stone spray-bomb stuff. You can get it for about 5 bucks a can at Wally World. It looks pretty good.

Ray out.

[Anonymous]

I have used rice in my freight containers sitting on my flat cars, used up batteries wrapped up in tissue for my container cars, coffee grinds for my coal cars, and even real water in some of my tank cars that are actually water tight. With the heavy weight of the locs I run (metal frame), I don't like my rolling stock to be too light.

[Anonymous]

I used patio and paver base, which is available at Lowes. A twenty pound bag is only $5.00. I was able to sift out my ballast and had some nice rocks left over. It is the same color as the light gray ballast by Woodland Scenics.

[cacole]

Cat's Pride cat litter can be used for HO scale ballast and does not need to have anything done to it except spread it out and glue it down. A 20 pound jug costs less than one small package of ballast from a hobby shop. Check your local supermarkets and stores such as Wal-mart.

[RedLeader]

Grounded marble. You may find it at any construction supply store. Grain comes in different sizes and colors. Really cheap!! and work really well. Very prototypal, both in size (for any scale) and colors.

[Bikerdad]

One problem with using kitty litter:

If you have a cat that is litter trained... it frequently doesn't distinguish between the cat box and the ballast... not good.

[twhite]

Bikerdad's absolutely correct. Kitty litter attracts Kitties. Indoors or out. I tried using kitty litter (suggested by a well-meaning friend) as ballast on my outdoor railroad about six years ago. I don't want to tell you what I had to use my snow-plow for!
Tom[:O][:O]

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AggroJones

Pay the $9.50 for giant 32oz. shaker of WS ballast. That amount goes a long way.

I must urge you to go with the Woodland Scenic jug-o-ballast. Its non-magnetic, you don't need to worry about cats crapping on it, and mold/bacteria will not grow. Plus, its totally safe, non-toxic.

[Anonymous]

I heard the Sierra Pacific Line club layout in California uses ground walnut shells. I don't know where you would get that many walnuts though. Seems pretty cheap.

[brothaslide]

QUOTE: Originally posted by twhite

Bikerdad's absolutely correct. Kitty litter attracts Kitties. Indoors or out. I tried using kitty litter (suggested by a well-meaning friend) as ballast on my outdoor railroad about six years ago. I don't want to tell you what I had to use my snow-plow for!
Tom[:O][:O]

Thanks twhite - You gave me a good laugh.

I think Aggro is right. It seems like the shaker bottle is the most simple thing to go with. Too much work (for me) with the other methods mentioned - all input was appreciated.

Take care,

[CBQ_Guy]

If you think a bag or two of ballast is too expensive, you just might be in the wrong hobby . . .
seriously. Sorry. [:(]

[brothaslide]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CBQ_Guy

If you think a bag or two of ballast is too expensive, you just might be in the wrong hobby . . .
seriously. Sorry. [:(]

I read this post and I just had to shake my head.[V] I'm not down on you CBQ_Guy but your post comes off negative and a little arrogant. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I'm starting to see more of these types of posts that are negative and of no value and no one benefits from it. I believe many people in our hobby are on a tight budget and any way, method, or technique to stretch a dollar makes you a better modeler and helps to free up finances for more expensive items like engines, rolling stocke, etc.

Peace

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BoRockhard

I heard the Sierra Pacific Line club layout in California uses ground walnut shells. I don't know where you would get that many walnuts though. Seems pretty cheap.

you should be able to buy ground walnut shells at home depot or lowes for sand blasting.... Sand blasting has been using walnut shells for several years now because it breaks down and is enviromentally friendly.... you may need to break it down a little more but I am sure it would make great ballast.

[KemacPrr]

Woodland Scenics ballast is ground up walnut shells so if you're looking for that just buy some Woodland Scenics ballast. --------------------Ken McCorry

[jfugate]

If you make your own ballast from sand or whatever, I cannot stress enough the importance of running a magnet through it.

Years ago, I found some finely ground gray sand at a gravel pit and used it for ballast. An old timer model railroader found out about it and he stuck a magnet in my box of ballast, saying I should check the stuff to see how magnetic it was. I thought he was crazy.

Well, he pulled out the biggest wad of ballast hanging on the end his magnet that you ever saw.

I was shocked.

Whoops! That stuff gets in your loco motors and does not do good things.

Since that time I decided cheap substitutes for ballast just aren't all they are cracked up to be, so I went with commercial model ballast and haven't had any problems since.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by brothaslide

QUOTE: Originally posted by CBQ_Guy

If you think a bag or two of ballast is too expensive, you just might be in the wrong hobby . . .
seriously. Sorry. [:(]

I read this post and I just had to shake my head.[V] I'm not down on you CBQ_Guy but your post comes off negative and a little arrogant.

I don't think Paul was trying to be arrogant. I believe Paul's point was if you are worried about the price of a $4 bag of ballast, then you better not go over to the loco section of the hobby shop!

Be prepared to spend some money if you are serious about the hobby. But hey, have you checked out the price of a new boat lately, or the price of ski lift tickets? Many of the more interesting and fun hobbies cost some money, and I don't think model trains is even that high on the list compared to the price for other popular pastimes.

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by KemacPrr

Woodland Scenics ballast is ground up walnut shells so if you're looking for that just buy some Woodland Scenics ballast. --------------------Ken McCorry

Really? Where did you find this out?

[twhite]

Egad! Woodland Scenics is ground up walnut shells? First I had to worry about cats using my ballast outside for poopies, now I have to worry about SQUIRRELS in my garage eating my TRACK? Whoever said that this hobby isn't interesting, LOL?
Tom [:O][:O]