track and ballast in yard

[wdcrvr]

I am installing a small yard, five tracks, about 5' long.  Would the ballast between tracks in a yard be level all the way across the yard or would there be a depression between each track as there would be on a two track line? 

Thanks

wdcrvr

[cowman]

The ballast would more than likely be flat, as they were not too worried about drainage.  It would also not usually be the same material as your mainline ballast.  Dirt, cinders (steam era or shortly after) and other misc products were used.  Ties were often burried or nearly burried in the mud.  Where traffic was slow, little maintenance was done.  Many layouts do as the prototype did and have the yard tracks lower than the mainline, less ballast and it kept stray cars from rolling out onto the mainline.

Have fun,

Richard

[tomikawaTT]

cowman

The ballast would more than likely be flat, as they were not too worried about drainage.  It would also not usually be the same material as your mainline ballast.  Dirt, cinders (steam era or shortly after) and other misc products were used.  Ties were often burried or nearly burried in the mud.  Where traffic was slow, little maintenance was done.  Many layouts do as the prototype did and have the yard tracks lower than the mainline, less ballast and it kept stray cars from rolling out onto the mainline.

Have fun,

Richard

The surface of the yard would be flat at tie-top level for safe footing.  Drainage would be handled by French drains below the ballast.  Ballast quality might have been high when the yard was new, but blown-in dust, spilled lading and a lower level of maintenance would degrade it.

If revenue dropped sufficiently, yards would sometimes degenerate into little better than mudpuddles, choked with trash, bushes and even small trees.  I doubt any modeler would be willing to go that far searching for realism.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[dknelson]

Butler Yard in the Milwaukee area, Chicago & North Western, was ballasted mostly with ballast "chips" -- the same rock (pink lady) as the main but smaller and probably unusable waste from the ballast process.  The advantage of the chips was that the ballast came up exactly to the tops of the ties.  That way the walking surface was quite even.  Even at night a guy in strong boots was unlikely to trip on the end of a tie, etc.  I assume the drainage and weed control from the chips was about the same as normal rock ballast. 

There may have been a modest little depression between tracks for drainage but not like you see on the main.  Again the idea was a reasonably smooth flat and safe walking surface for yard crews. 

An older yard in the Milwaukee area had presumably been similarly ballasted but with cinders and as they washed away and were not replaced more of the tie was exposed. 

Dave Nelson

[Motley]

All of the modern yards I've seen in my area, were compacted dirt/mud/grime. Almost smooth, so the crews can easily maneuver around the tracks.

So what I did, was mix some real dirt, (sifted), with some n scale dark gray ballast. And wet it with scenic glue, and used the palm of my hands to compact it down. And you can barely see the ties.

Then I used a black wash for oil/greasy stains.

[mobilman44]

Hi!

I've walked a few "yards" and have found everything from halfway decent ballast for the tracks, ballast - dirty and old - pretty consistent over the entire yard, and yards with practically no ballast at all - just dirt.

My opinion is that you would "ballast" your yard based on two factors - age of the facility, and wealth of the RR.  The yards of the late '50s and '60s and '70s tended to be pretty old (ballast wise) as compared to today, and the ATSF and UP and the like did a much better job of it as compared to the lines that were not doing too well.

For my HO ATSF layout circa late 1950s, the yard is covered with cinders and rock and what have you - all over the entire area.   Of course weeds and trash are found between the tracks to some degree or another.