Woodland Scenics Ballast; What Do You Use?

[Anonymous]

are you modeling a prototype railroad or are you freelancing?

[Anonymous]

WS medium gray ballast mix for all main lines, and heavy use sidings. I also use fine cinders along the right of way, along side the main ballast "hill". it seems to make the ballast mount a little more pronounced.

[beegle55]

I use a variety, gray, black, and brown. Maybe even a little red once and awhile, whenever it is needed. Good luck!

[RoyalOaker]

Take a look at your prototype.

The line by my house has grey rocks with a good mix of black and even some brown.

I use Fine grey for my HO scale layout and mix some fine black cinders in along with some fine brown. All woodland Scenic.


Now, how to model a dead and rotting racoon???

[loathar]

WS fine grey blend for everything and fine grey or lt. grey to show where new ballast has been put down.
Finlay-LOVE your quote! I'm a member of Ted Nugents PETA (People who Eat Tasty Animals)

[Anonymous]

I think the cheapest way is to use kitty litter... just an idea.... you can even get it scented.

[waltersrails]

dittio....................

i also agree with ns railfan.

[Anonymous]

I've seen a WS dark & light grey mix that looked interesting... BUT...
if you really, sorry that should be, REALLY want to know click on my name and wade through the threads where I've gone on about ballast. This should keep you busy for a day or two. then check out Joe Fugate's stuff on ballasting... he's good.

Have fun :-)
Welcome David Foster.help :: update profile :: logout



Forum Index | Active Topics | Members | Profile | FAQ Advanced




Forum Index
Search Form


Search Results for ballast
Searching Text in Subject of posts made by David foster in All Forums (Non-Archived)
Posted Between 20 Jun 2005 - Today


Pages: (4) [1] 2 3 4 ... Last »


RE: Yard Ballast Question. What colour should I choose?
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 21 Mar 2006, 23:22:07

Loco yards are different from almost all other yards... generically black.. but study pictires for your location/road and era. A new yard or a yard with recent maintenance will look difernt from an old yard.
Locos shouldn't leak whether steammor diesel. Lubricants don't help bearings if they've spilled on the track and create slip hazards. Fuel is supposed to drive the train not decorate the track. One thing that would colour an area in steam days is ash... different coals produce different ashes. Despite all that whole yards or areas within them will accumulate mess over time. Modern facilities are extremely careful about mess because of the environment and to reduce hazards to staff.
You can't get a shining loco out of a muck swamp.

Other yards... a lot of the same applies... the big difference would be where a yard handled large amounts of anything producing spillage... especially dust. Grain produces dust, so does sand, coal, fertiliser. colours can vary from black to white. the product is supposed to travel not stay behind though... it often gets weighed at both ends... so losses have to be accounted for. A yard doesn't want to be buried... it impairs working. it would be cleaned up periodically. Spillage, especially of powders, can block drainage... causing puddles and problems (look at where puddles occur in photos of yards... and damage from wheels (of trucks) in bad surfaces... also tyre trails from puddles.

Both yards...
When drainage gets bad/blocked ties rot easily and the track can set solid or pump up and down - check videos. Spikes can break out, get sheered off or get yanked loose. This can allow the road to spread. SO maintenance is usually kep up... at least as traffic pays for. One thing no-one wants is a car or loco in the dirt... it's dangerous, time consuming and potentially damaging to both the car and load (or loco). So both balast and ties get regular maintenance in a yard... often between work on the main tracks. Frequently it will be piecemeal... partly (in a busy yard) to fit between cars/trains. usually odd ties will be swapped, ballast loosened, cleaned by hand, packed up and occasionally replaced. Rail bars will be kept tight and replaced if cracked... damaged ones will not (usually) be left about for people to fall over. Remember... people walk about in yards and vehicles move around in ways that do not happen out along the main track... so a yard should be cleaner under foot. Very occasionally a whole track or just a panel or two may be repaired and even completely replaced. Big thing to remember is that this MUST fit between traffic... a holiday shutdown, slack period or similar may be used (even Christmas). If that can't be done new tracks may be provided alsewhere and the old ones abandoned or recycled to another use... relocating especially happens when bigger, longer, heavier cars (new) are introduced... no-one wants to damage new cars... the yard tracks may need to be of heavier build and longer to accomodate them as well... this could apply to larger diesels as well as the steam - diesel transition. An alternative is for traffic to be diverted elsewhere while work is carried out... this can make for interesting/unusual traffic moves... and signs of the diverted traffic at the alternative yard as well as clearly new track in the regular yard.
then again there's all the MoW equipment...
Or you could model the marks of derailed cars... from damaged ties to load spills... even cars lifted off and stood to the side...
Rails do get changed but this would be hard to show. Yard rail can be new or cascaded from the main. Cascaded panels might have concrete ties... or even a mix of cascaded concrete ties and replacement wood ties. Cascade rail could mean a track or a length or two of significantly heavier (taller) rail in one or more roads within the yard... this might be what had become the most neglected/worn out road... which might have become overgrown but now be cleaned up because of a growth in work for the yard.
Don't forget to give road vehicles room to move about and places - where rail cars won't stand and block them - for road vehicles to cross the tracks. Truck suspensions don't like being bounced across rails... if a temporary crossing is needed ties may be used.

HOPE THIS HELPS [8D][8D][8D]


RE: Shrinkage?
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 18 Mar 2006, 16:00:25

What's the building made of? Could it have sucked the water out of the ballast so that it dried funny?
You now have a great chance to add some detail to the ballast along the building edge![;)]


Loading Gauge, Structure Gauge and Out-of-Gauge Loads
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 18 Mar 2006, 13:32:16

I often go on about gauges. this pic is a great example...
http://southern.railfan.net/flat/cars/loads/vessel/canada3/104_0433a.jpg
The cylinder is definitely OOG ... lookat the loco beyond.
The guy on the right must be glad that it's inside the structure gauge!

This is the site it's from...
http://southern.railfan.net/flat/cars/loads/vessel/vessel.html

Have fun!

...and have you ever wondered about overhang at the ends?

http://southern.railfan.net/flat/cars/loads/vessel/canada2/dscf0027.jpg

http://southern.railfan.net/flat/cars/loads/vessel/canada2/villeroy1.jpg

Both trains include loaded MoW ballast hoppers... I think that this is to provide adequate brake force.

have even more fun!



RE: Tunnel Troubles
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 14 Mar 2006, 10:07:18

Mister Beasley
If you can cut section gaps with a dremel tool you might be able...
Reason I mentioned the approach length of track was that I guessed you must have power at the back to be pushing through on 2 rail.
If you need to alter your ballasting to solder in new power feeds why not detail the ballast as maintenance work... like i'm always going on about :-)

and Spacemouse...
I think this applies to you... If you switch your power with the lay of the points/turnout/switch you shouldn't get any problem of derailing going through in a trailing direction. Facing you should only ever go the wrong route... which is okay so long as it's not a dead end. Maybe you can do this before you do the scenic stuff. Some sort of switch indicator would probably be a help... even just a mechanical one to the face of the board?
Mr B... what cameras are you using? Could you post a thread to guide others please?

[:)][:)][:)]


RE: Painting track
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 12 Mar 2006, 05:22:38

You might want to take a look at my various posts on ballast and track. A uniform track colour is okay if that is what you want or you may choose to take more time and detail it the same way you would weather a boxcar. Whichever you choose you will have the pleasure of looking at the product of your time and effort every time you run a train over it.

have fun :-)


RE: Older Diesels - new ballast
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 12 Mar 2006, 04:14:57

Tukaram...
If you really want grassy ballast and haven't started already I'd suggest using dyed sisal string (in UK we call it binder twine)... poke stubby lengths of it into glue between ties in clumps. When it's hard trim it to length and then ballast pretty much as normal. It's easier to ballast round/into grass than vice versa.
Have fun :-)


RE: Older Diesels - new ballast
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 11 Mar 2006, 14:49:16

Brilliant responses folks :-)
I based my guess on hand spreading by the size of the pile down the middle and the fact that it looks like the track is a switch . A flanger would pu***hat lot all over the place.
Switches often require special tampers. A Tamper lifts and levels but doesn't spread... we now have things we call "stone blowers" which pick up and redistribute the dropped ballast in a set profile. Tampers now not only line by lasers but use GPS as well. (When Isay they "level" that includes setting cants - super elevation-).
Then again I finally ended up close to one of the five car ballast hopper sets that carry a power plant... they discharge ballast according to instruction from a hand-held set pretty much like a DCC controller... bit different from the old days when guys rode the wagons and wound the doors open and shut by hand.
Any pictures of the Mannix machine(s)?

I like the poem.

Network Rail have put out a safety film called "Hit and Miss"... you know how Railroaders always talk... they don't for half an hour or so after this film. It makes the point.

As they used to say in Hill Street Blues... "Let's be careful out there".

Thanks everyone :-)



RE: Broken ties
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 11 Mar 2006, 14:16:52

I'd forgetten that! ...and they tell us it again every 2 years when we re-certify for Personal Track Safety (PTS).
Yes treading on a rotten tie is pretty disastrous although (over here) we usually only find really bad ones in sidings. I'm sure you'll know that even a good tie is pretty lethal if it's icey or wet with anything (grease or green stuff - under trees- )... anyone wants to get for ultra fine detail I've left a few skid marks along such ties (and clouds of blue air). Trouble is, sometimes the ballast is worse! (See the pic I've posted in Old Diesels and New Ballast).
To correctly model track men walking along the formation you'd often have to have them looking at everything they're treading on.


Older Diesels - new ballast
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 11 Mar 2006, 08:44:46

This 1981 pic shows nice clean GP7s and masses of new ballast just dropped ready for spreading... possibly by hand?
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=134111
It's really bad when you have to move around on foot on ballast like that.


Broken ties
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 10 Mar 2006, 10:33:03

I've copied this over from the weathering thread in case anyone wants Broken ties in their scene.

Broken ties... one or two: use balsa cut to size, break and then stain/paint....

Lots of broken ties and other ties (stored and car loads) buy real wood ties and work on them.

Track weathering...have a look at my previous posts... short version is that track weathering is as complex as car weathering... you won't make it look right if you just spray it all one colour.

Simple example...

if a tie is just broken the broken wood will be a "fresh" lighter colour (but not white wood unless the tie is untreated - as it might be on a logging road - most ties are high pressure impregnated).

If a tie has been broken some time the shattered ends will be closer to the rest of the exterior tie colour.

Just a thought... what's going to have broken your tie(s)? they are hefty lumps of wood. They only usually break about the middle with a lot of force... like a BIG digger on a building site crushing through the middle. Sometimes they are cut through the (approximate) middle when track is being taken out.

Otherwise they only usually bust when they are rotten... in which case they will be black(ish) right through and tatty. Where are these rotten sleepers relative to the track? Have they been replaced with new unweathered ones? Has the wet ballast (if a log road has ballast) been changed and/or drainage improved?
have fun :-)

Concrete ties shatter rather than break. As far as I know they all have rebars through them... so if you cut one in two or more bits and insert wires to link the bits together and bend it about a bit you can create a small work of modern art. It shouldn't end up longer than the original tie. Aggregate material from the middle can just crumble away. Some concrete ties are taken out because they have chunks knocked off them or cracks right through but nothing much missing. Concrete ties are 2 to 3 time heavier than wood... that's what tie handlers were originally developed for here in the UK. tie handlers don't get on well with rotten timber sleepers.
Usual thing for breaking a concrete tie would be a car in the dirt... on timber it could/would leave grooves along the line of ties but not seriously damage the ties strength. I think this is why Railroads stick with timber.

Evidence of derailed car's wheels cutting the surrounding scenery is something I've not seen modelled... even when there's a car down a bank.

Have fun :-)



RE: The Weathering Thread-For Newbies and Seasoned Weathering Gurus Alike
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 10 Mar 2006, 02:43:11

Newbies... BE WARNED! If you spray dullcoat over chalk or other powdered weethering it will probably blast the powder(s) straight back off the car you spent hours getting just right... in my experience...anyone know how to not achieve this?
I was also wondering whether those "seasoned gurus" should be "well weathered gurus"?
Broken ties... one or two: use balsa cut to size, break and then stain/paint.... lots and other ties (stored and car loads) buy real wood ties and work on them. track weathering...have a look at my previous posts... short version is that track weathering is as complex as car weathering... you won't make it look right if you just spray it all one colour. Simple example... if a tie is just broken the broken wood will be a "fresh" lighter colour (but not white wood unless the tie is untreated - as it might be on a logging road - most ties are high pressure impregnated). If a tie has been broken some time the shattered ends will be closer to the rest of the exterior tie colour. Just a thought... what's going to have broken your tie(s)? they are hefty lumps of wood. They only usually break about the middle with a lot of force... like a BIG digger on a building site crushing through the middle. Sometimes they are cut through the (approximate) middle when track is being taken out. Otherwise they only usually bust when they are rotten... in which case they will be black(ish) right through and tatty. Where are these rotten sleepers relative to the track? Have they been replaced with new unweathered ones? Has the wet ballast (if a log road has ballast) been changed and/or drainage improved?
have fun :-)


RE: NetWork Rail Vans
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 10 Mar 2006, 02:08:13

Working on UK railways I've not yet seen anything other than five car sets of ballast hoppers and five car sets of ballast side-dump boxes with Network Rail markings. This is because Network Rail is the infrastructure organisation NOT a carrier. The locos on ballast trains were EWS and are currently Railfreight. Vans (boxcars in American) are unusual/ few in number as most van traffic goes by road in the UK (lines of semi trailers grinding up the motorways). Since the tunnel opened rail van traffic tends to be European stock that fits within the GB loading gauge... which is smaller than the Eu (Berne?) loading gauge... 'cos we started first and got ourselves stuck with the small gauge... except the Great Western... and (I think ) the Great Central???)
Most other Network Rail stock is probably still painted "Railtrack". This would include things like brake vans (cabooses). Most, if not all, of these would be "Sharks"... that is ballast ploughs rather than brakes. this is because British Rail went to all Fully Automatic Braked trains about 1975/6/7 (?) and did away with brake vans on freights except for special loads and Permanent Way (MoW).
Hope this helps
Oh yes, van type traffic on rail is almost all containerised except for a very few specialised point-to-point users. General freight loaded in goods sheds just doesn't go by rail any more. It's not "commercially viable"... especially since they closed all the goods sheds...

Road vans and crew buses get repainted or replaced faster than the paint can dry every time there is a change of name or part of the privatised maintenance contracting network gets taken back into the still government run Network Rail. Personally I think that all that side of it will stay in government control (as BR was... BR was NEVER "state owned"... unlike most Eu railways)... the freight which can make money will be private and the passenger side will keep the TOUs (Train Operating Units) will stay as a franchise system getting way more tax payers' subsidy than British Rail ever got (still... 10 years after "privatisation...???) and keeping a buffer between the politicians and the public.
I reckon that half the reason for the name changes is to keep the paint industry in business... and the painters... and the letter head printers and sign makers... Who says I'm cynical?
Oh yes, the next big industrial injury claim will be all the Network rail maintenance guys claiming for piles (hemeroids) brought on by riding around all day in the vans and crew buses...


RE: Painting Bridge Track
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 05 Mar 2006, 14:03:36

If you look through my stuff I wrote a whole chunk on the weathering of bridge track about last November... and before that tons of stuff on ballast/track colours etc.
Hope you can find it :-)


Hoppers and covered hoppers
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 04 Mar 2006, 14:11:42

I'm not really planning to scale time but something made me wonder...
What sort of time does it take to unload hoppers and covered hoppers?
Does the load drop out with a huge thud or trickle out?

In all my years on track the only hoppers I've seen unloaded have been MoW ballast cars which could dump fast or slow as regulated by the men riding them.

Does anyone have pics of the pits hoppers drop into to feed elevators?

Thanks in advance.


RE: Wanted: Something cheaper than WS for ballast
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 11 Dec 2005, 04:52:07

For ground sources don't forget to sterilise it unles you want plants starting in your track or wiggly things wiggling [:)]
There have been previous threads on this subject... also on what colours you might want and how to colour... look at Joe Fugate's stuff.
Another source of (clean) material is aquaria... they have lots of sizes and colours of grit.
I've posted a tiny bit of stuff on ballast [}:)] (and fell over on it again at work last night[B)]

have fun!


RE: Roadbed for a switching yard and round house facility?
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 10 Dec 2005, 11:07:31

Except for temporary lines and extremely broke RRs ALL track is ballasted... just may not look like it is if it hasn't been maintained properly for some time... or if it is in pavement or other concrete/tarmac surface. REALLY bad track does end up in mud but this rides badly, helps derailments by rocking or spreading and causes immense trouble...

ANYWAY... one way round the different levels question is to do everything flat but look at the real thing for what goes on between tracks... there is often a drainage ditch between main roads and yards or a hump of material. The actual difference between mains and other tracks is often not much more that 6" ..=1mm in N and 1.75mm in H0.. which you will barely see even if you try to look across the roofs of box cars. So i would suggest that for anything less tha 12" difference you would make life easier for yourself by creating an illusion of diference in height rather than trying to actually do it.

Have fun.


RE: OK, now WHO was it that likes vintage pics of M-O-W trains?
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 10 Dec 2005, 10:19:31

[bow][bow][bow][bow][bow]
MORE! MORE! MORE! PLEASE!

It looks like the ties have been busted out and then heaped... if you look in front of the loco in the 2nd pic it looks like they've been replacing just some ties not all... the ballast is very limited around a couple of tie ends... this is excellent detail for track "weathering"... this break in the ballast occurs ahead of the ties being pulled out and after until the ballast is replaced. Where there is a lot of work to be done in a length a "Slow"order" will be put on several days ahead and the ballast cleaned out around all the ties to be changed. The ties may be pulled by hand or machine and new ones put in. If the ties have been damaged by water it will usually mean that the ballast around them has been staturated or very poor/dirty so new ballast will be dropped and worked in. The bad ballast has probably already been removed from heaps before the ties have been pulled ... if it wasn't dumped down the bank... leaves spoil lines.
A tie cut in half is much easier to remove than a whole one... I think it was much more common in the USA than here... partly because a machine would cut the tie... you don't want to cut one by hand... not even with a chain saw... and definitely NOT while it is in place in the track with ballast to be hit and thrown around.

THANKS FOR THE PICS![:D][:D] RESCUE MORE PLEASE!
These are rare and even damaged ones give us massively useful information.

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]


RE: Best Method for Weathered Realistic Track?
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 02 Dec 2005, 11:56:28

Try the thread "Show me your Ballasting" of Oct 31 05

Then... "weathering Rails" of 3 Nov 05


RE: Best Method for Weathered Realistic Track?
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by David Foster Posted: 02 Dec 2005, 11:42:29

Seeing as no answer so far to Q for help above... here's some copied stuff from my files...

I don't think that any one has said...

All the main Nickel Silver Rail makes are pretty much ok... you can pretty much mix them together.

BUT... if you mix rail size... code 100 in your staging tracks and code 83 in the scenic bit (or diferent rail sizes between main and yards...

YOU MUST... ensure that the top of the rail head is at the same height (and will stay there) at the joins.

I've seen short lengths of conversion track in Walther's catalogue. You can also shim the lower height track up to meet the higher.

You ALSO get differences in tie thickness between makes (and maybe within some makes between grades). This means that you have to take the same action to avoid problems.

I would put a length (More than a loco/longest car) between any rail /tie height change and any switch or diamond.... it would keep life more simple.

Nearer what you're looking for...

Why are you mixing such different colours of ballast?
It could happen... but usually a RR would get all of it's ballast in any one area from pretty much one source.
Ballast is HEAVY so it is usually only moved as far as it has to be.
It might come from a number of quarries but these wold be likely to be in much the same rock type unless you are in an area of very variable geology... you might get a mix of something like a hard limestone with a volcanic intrusion nearby... but I don't know US geology (It's hard enough working out which way round your country is... we (well I) think north-south... the USA goes an awful long way east-west).
Another possibility is a shift from furnace slag ballast to limestone. This would be blue/black to white becoming grey.... but the blue black could be all sorts of colours including red depending on the origin of the slag.

I'm not saying you're wrong... just trying to help out with detail. The first issue with all ballast colour is where the rock came from... in modern track. You'd pretty much have to go back before 1900 to get other than rock ballast unless the line was very cheap/broke, temporary or (maybe) serving a quarry/mine and using tailings.

I suggest that you look back through my earlier posts.

I like the notes on weathering ballast.

may I suggest...

1. Decide on what your new ballast colour would be... depending on source... look at
any examples of new work on your favourite road and in any MoW cars.
A. Then decide what way the colour is going to develop over time...events... and...
2. Decide if there have been any big changes ... i.e. material type/colour.
3. Decide how old the ballast is.
a. Heavier use/more profitable lines get re-ballasted more often.
NOTE... a massive hauler would have massive track... you don't want to put a
Challenger in the dirt... so, subject to getting in between the trains the big coal roads
had very highly maintained clean, well graded track.
b. Some lines almost never get re-ballasted... and the track may be pretty awful.
4. Decide how (if) re-ballasting has occurred.
a. Has it been cleaned right out and completely replaced?
This can happen on plain track but espescially happens when any major
alteration is made... like changing a grade, putting in an new bridge (usually
under rather than over)... this may include re-aligning a grade... when a
diamond is taken out, when switches are altered (including replaced), when a
major change in traffic (e.g. Powder basin coal) brings both sudden new
prosperity and weight of traffic, when a line is brought back into traffic, when an
adjacent or alternate route is abandoned (upgrading your route may be needed
and/or part of the deal... savings from the dead route may help pay for it... where
there has been a washout or landslide. .... where track type has been
changed... e.g. a change to concrete ties. A change in rail weight... usually
applies with traffic change.
b. Has it been taken out, cleaned and topped up... with other cleaned or new material?
This could apply in most of the above cases. New material is much more
common (here) than recycled... most recycled material goes to the construction
industry as hard base material for things like car parks... I suspect that far too
much of the original ballast has been worn down below the required size... it
may have become to "flakey" and not have a long enough anticipated life for the
work to pay off.
c. Has it just been topped up with new? (Was this from the same source)?
Top ups may have been regular (not necessarily frequent) or random. They
may be patches, short lengths or long runs. just to add interest they may be
different across the track... if material is being lost on one side... again one
side may need cleaning out more often... in the days before machine ballasting
it was less work/cost to maintain as required than to shift the whole lot out...
this means a difference in ballast by era. Gangs of men could strip out and
replace as required a machine sweeps the whole works.
5. So ballasting can have been -
almost never... yeuky mud coloured track
occasional.... frequent... layers or patches of difference
regular to a clear pattern... may be quite clear distinction between older and newer
material colours blended together or new stuff sitting on top of old... the new may be
in patches or strips (depending on how it was shoveleed out, tipped or run out of
hoppers)
a major change... either a clean or a replacement... this shows up best as a clean
break where the old stuff ends and the new work begins... this may be a patch or a
long run.
Large new works usually start from a clear feature:-
a milepost
one line in multiple lines
on three track this may be repeated with three bands of ballast (and others in
yards alongside)
junctions / switches
these work two ways... the junction or switch may have the work done and not
the plain line or vice versa. With machine worked track there is usually a gap
between the feature and the start of work ... this is often about the machine
length.
Diamonds will be done clear of the rail bars and possibly a rail length each
side where the work runs through one route or all four ways round where just the
diamond has been done. This is to make the diamond as stable as possible
and reduce bad ride in all directions... if a train crossing on one route is causing
damage it will distort the track on the other route.
Crossovers may be worked on one track or both... the one track work may be for
a short interval.... or the whole crossover plus a length or two each side may have
been done... ... and I haven't even touched on changing all or part of the rails of
switches.

So you can see that, like your highway after the utility people have been around a few times, the track ballast can be pretty patchy.

The thing is to work out the story you want to picture in your ballast.

The yards will be one story (or sets of stories)
Sidings, loops etc may be another bunch of distinct histories... a loop holding sand hoppers regularly may have a distinct strip of sand from leaking hopper doors... again you may have a big spill patch where a car has derailed or been side-swiped - usually near/at a switch- On older layouts there would be interesting effects on roads that held livestock trains... livestock needed feeding and disinfecting... weeds could be encouraged. Grain cars also spill...
Then you get to your main track(s)... what has been going on... over 50 -20- 10 - 5 - 2 - this year?

THERE IS A BIG ISSUE about spills ... especially on main tracks... the loads are supposed to get to the consignee and fuel is supposed to go up the stack NOT onto the track. Gearbox oil doesn't maintain the loco if it's on the ballast. Mucky deposits ONLY develop where there is heavy traffic over time... so... in loco yards, where locos idlle for long periods or where cars either stand as warehousing or get banged about (to shake dust out... as a by-product of switching not deliberately).

Then ther'es atmospheric pollution... look at the crud on your auto if you park near a big industrial plant... multiply that by 10s or 100s for plant and period and the track in some areas got blended to dark grey with everything else in some areas... in others the weeds came in.

What makes cleaning / replacement necessary is the infiltration of other matter and the degradation of the ballast material.

From a modelling point of view... once you've worked out your history... you want to choose your ballast colour(s)... assuning that you will use a few and then weather... you lay the oldest (usually darkest) first and then build up. Later you add the weathering.
A Black oil patch will show up much more on new ballast... but it will be much more distinct and localised. (and new ballast - a repair - will stand out like crazy in a heavily soiled length of track... possibly where the track became so clogged it wasn't draining and began to "pump" under locos and cars and has therfore been dug out and repaired... this especially occurs around rail joints.... which are a whole different subject... but look at film - especially of passenger yards in the bad days... the worst vertical track movement is almost always at rail joints... which are the weakest part of the track... almost like having a hinge in the middle of a bridge.
On old track (maybe in a yard) a white, yellow or red sand spill will show up... again in a distinct pattern... was the spill a big dump and largely cleaned up? Did it slop over the end of an over filled car? has a car with a bad door run through a few times?

These are all ways that you can build up the picture that your layout is painting... they say as much as the micro-scenes with a fender bender or a cop pulling a truck over.

Like my writing... they can go on adding forever...

Wherever maintenace is needed, in progress or recently done... or where only one side of a crossover has been completed... Slow Orders may be in force...
The slow order may be on either track of the crossover or both... depending...
You can have a track in need of work slow ordered next to a track that has just been worked but not finalised that is slow ordered.
This means that you can have a reason for all trains... including hotshots... to run slowly through your layout. If you have multiple track (2 upwards) you can slow order some and not others. There are always slow down and speed up zones either side of slow orders.

This gives you more time to enjoy your trains... also if you can only fit in a short run (so there is no way for an intermodal to get up to speed) you have a reason for traffic to run slowly... other than building a switching layout.

Whenever work is going to be done, is ongoing or has been largely completed there will be signs of material and machines being prepared for the job, standing by or waiting to be removed... sometimes old ballast as well as old ties and rail are left dumped for some time (defered maintenance...forever).

The best thing, if you can, is to go and look at the real thing SAFELY and work out what has been going on in the area you are looking at... it's a sleuthing job.

Then there is always litter that gets into/onto ballast... especially near fast food joints...

If this is good tell me and I'll dig out more :-)

BE WARNED! [}:)]

Correction... that only gives recent stuff. A search with the subject "ballast" and me as author will turn up more... such as...

[bogp40]

The WS fine med gray is blended with some gray Scenic Express. this has worked well for mainline and matches the area ballast that my club models. Yards and sidings are treated differently though. Heavy cinders for the yards. Some yards are done with play sand for a base a nd top dressed w cinders. Dark washes give a good result and varied look.Narrow gauge is done with soil and real dirt over a base of the play sand.

[simon1966]

I hands down prefer the Arizona Rock Company http://www.rrscenery.com/ ballast. You can get colors based on your prototype rail http://www.rrscenery.com/azrock3HO.html and there is a lot of texture to the fine material. IMO it is far better than woodland scenics ballast.

[orsonroy]

Fine is slightly oversized for most HO scale ballast, and is much too large for cinders. However, ou work with what you can get, so I use fine for everything. One of these days, I'll find something extra fine to use for cinders, and will switch to that.

As for colors, go with whatever your prototype uses, or what looks the most realistic. I see too many layouts with that bright brown WS ballast, and it looks horrible. Most railroads use crushed limestone or granite, which is a variety of light gray.

[GAPPLEG]

Fine medium gray and light gray and black. I also use the fine light gray for gravel roads. Sometimes I mix the two greys.

[bandit0517]

I use the mdium gray for ballasting the tracks. I use fine gray for gravel roads.

[nbrodar]

It's really up to you. For HO I use medium. To my eye fine doesn't have enough texture. I also use fine for gravel roads, and like the difference between the roads and ballasted track.

As for colors, I use Lt. Gray for the mains. Although, if I were to do it over, I would use Gray. The Lt. Gray has a tendency to wash out when photographed. Brown for the branch and secondary lines. Cinders for any industrial spurs.

Nick

[roadrat]

I think that the fine is closer to prototype for HO scale. as for color that depends on the area your are modeling and the year. Old steam lines might have used cinders for yard ballast.

bill

[Anonymous]

I have tried fine, medium, and coarse ballast in a variety of colors. I would say that I like the Medium Gray Blend Ballast better than all the others.

[myred02]

I would reccomend Woodland Scenics Grey Fine ballast. I looks prototypical for pretty much every railroad. Plus, the grain is perfect. Have fun! [:D]

-Brandon

[whitman500]

I'm about to start ballasting my track and am a little perplexed by the range of alternatives that Woodland Scenics has. What size and color should I use and how would this vary between mainline, branchline, yard and urban area? What do the rest of you do?