Ballast for an indoor line

[Mohawk Valley]

Indoor loft layout, so the weight has to be kept to a minimum.
Has anyone tried Perlite? It’s very reasonably priced and very light.
Suggestions will be very gratefully recieved.
Cheers
Martin

 

[David1226]

Granulated cork?

Grey Cork Granules for Scenic Display 2.0mm / 3.0mm

David

 

[Mohawk Valley]

Thanks David, I‘ve never thought of that. Is this correctly sized for G scale? They are a bit expensive though. I might get a pack to experiment with.
Perlite is around 5.99 for a 3 litre tub.

cheers

Martin

 

[FatherMcD]

Thanks David, I‘ve never thought of that. Is this correctly sized for G scale? They are a bit expensive though. I might get a pack to experiment with.
Perlite is around 5.99 for a 3 litre tub.

cheers

Martin

I'm attaching a recipe for Perlite ballast. I've been looking at ground cork. There is vendor in the US that sells "recycled" ground cork rather cheaply. A chemical wash as is used to cause wood boards to turn grey should give it the right color.

 

[korm kormsen]

i used either filtersand for pools, or cat litter.
in both cases i dry-mix it with black colourpowder for cement.
never used glue. easier to change/lift or relay track.

 

[dunnyrail]

Perlight should work fine in the loft as would granulated cork if it can be obtained chepply enough. Colour would certainly be an issue, not sure the suggested colour method would work in an English winter unless you had a garage floor to use. However a grey spray when glued down with painting the rails and sleepers could work on a small layout but be quite tedious on a larger one. Might be worth trying FatherMcD ’s method using old trays inside for smaller quantities.

 

[Mohawk Valley]

i used either filtersand for pools, or cat litter.
in both cases i dry-mix it with black colourpowder for cement.
never used glue. easier to change/lift or relay track.

I used black aquarium sand on my O gauge layout, the G scale layout is being built on the remains of that. It worked very well, but was a little reminiscent of ash ballast that was used quite a bit on UK lines. I’m not sure if it’s prototypical for a US Shortline. Being on the wrong side of the pond doesn’t help although I’m looking through as many Shortline vids on YouTube as I can…
Cheers
Martin

 

[Mohawk Valley]

I'm attaching a recipe for Perlite ballast. I've been looking at ground cork. There is vendor in the US that sells "recycled" ground cork rather cheaply. A chemical wash as is used to cause wood boards to turn grey should give it the right color.

Thanks Ken, I’ve not seen recycled ground cork in the UK, or maybe I haven’t looked hard enough!!!
the Perlite recipe looks good, and perlite is very cheap in comparison to cork. I’ve ordered a small bag of cork granules that are recommended for G scale, so I’ll try them out before I get some perlite.
Cheers
Martin

 

[Mohawk Valley]

Perlight should work fine in the loft as would granulated cork if it can be obtained chepply enough. Colour would certainly be an issue, not sure the suggested colour method would work in an English winter unless you had a garage floor to use. However a grey spray when glued down with painting the rails and sleepers could work on a small layout but be quite tedious on a larger one. Might be worth trying FatherMcD ’s method using old trays inside for smaller quantities.

Thanks Jon,

I’m going to do some experimenting with this…

Cheers
Martin

 

[dutchelm]

I have used Green Scene 0 gauge ballast. Available in different colours. I believe it is ground up coconut shells. Not cheap but looksOK.

 

[Mohawk Valley]

I have used Green Scene 0 gauge ballast. Available in different colours. I believe it is ground up coconut shells. Not cheap but looksOK.

 

[Mohawk Valley]

Do you have a link to it please?

Cheers
Martin

 

[dutchelm]

Just put green scene scenics in Google.

 

[David1226]

Thanks Ken, I’ve not seen recycled ground cork in the UK, or maybe I haven’t looked hard enough!!!
the Perlite recipe looks good, and perlite is very cheap in comparison to cork. I’ve ordered a small bag of cork granules that are recommended for G scale, so I’ll try them out before I get some perlite.
Cheers
Martin

I would be interested to know your opinion of the granulated cork as I have had an eye on this produce for some time, with a view to using it myself.

David

 

[Mohawk Valley]

I would be interested to know your opinion of the granulated cork as I have had an eye on this produce for some time, with a view to using it myself.

David

I’ll show you it when it arrives…

 

[justme igor]

i used vermiculite i believe, 1 bag of 100l mixed with 1 bag of portland cement.
It wil give a very natural look and the size is right also.

Type of Ballast on Portable Railways?

I have certainly enjoyed the pictures of the Peterborough show. But, it has raised a question about the ballast used. I noted that some modules seemed to have loose laid gravel, others fastened down gravel and some seemed to used something like ground cork? for a portable layout, weight would...

www.gscalecentral.net

post 12

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Cat litter absorbs moisture, so not a great idea in a climate with humidity, although there are different types of cat litter.

 

[Flying15]

Indoor loft layout, so the weight has to be kept to a minimum.
Has anyone tried Perlite? It’s very reasonably priced and very light.
Suggestions will be very gratefully recieved.
Cheers
Martin

I’ve used Perlite for the various incarnations of my exhibition layout Inglaterra/Sagor/Crib Lane

 

[curtis]

Incidentally, I stumbled across this video today which may be helpful:

 

[dunnyrail]

Incidentally, I stumbled across this video today which may be helpful:

Hm google translate class that ‘fungensplitt’ fungus? Is that in effect what Perlite is? But ours is white not black.