Ballast recomendations?

C

CoggesRailway

Registered
Thoughts please on ballast...

I want something to cosmetically ballast up my new track. I don't want to stick anything down, just gravity..

Anyone think of a cost effective way to buy a biggish quantity - I need to cover twin tracks that encircle the whole of a suburban garden.

Thanks...
 
check out your local bulders merchent ,ask for a price for a ton delivered.. it might suprise you how "cheap" it can be ,comparded to buying sack fujlls from "B+Q/homebase ecxt
 
Sharp shingle, 3-5 mm. NOT pea shingle.

Might be worth contacting your local quarry if there is one close to you, and buy direct.

I used to go up to a quarry nearby with my trailer and get 1/2 tonne. Cost me less than a tenner about 5 years ago....
 
CoggesRailway said:
Thoughts please on ballast...

I want something to cosmetically ballast up my new track. I don't want to stick anything down, just gravity..

Anyone think of a cost effective way to buy a biggish quantity - I need to cover twin tracks that encircle the whole of a suburban garden.

Thanks...
Click to expand...

If you don't stick it down or contain it in some form you will be forever topping it up just like the 1:1 railway!! Try to find a crushed rock of some kind small pepples will dissapear faster than chipings which lock together somewhat. but as Mike suggested try a quarry or stone merchant first. When I did mine the first time I bought 2 yards of Grannite fine's just about got 3/4 done!! last year I used 2 big bags just to top up and mine IS glued down.............................
 
If you don't have access to quarry, or builders merchants you can try this link:

http://www.creativegardenideas.co.uk/multibuy-3-bags-j-arthur-bowers-coarse-grit

Its free delivery anywhere in the UK if you spend over £30 and with the multibuy offer its not too bad on the pocket either, when you consider the price some DIY superstores would charge for a delivery of anything.
P.SI have no affiliation with this company, just a happy customer.
 
Somebody suggested to me to use Grano (from builders merchants) used for aggregate in fine concrete. Basically it's granite chippings from 6mm(ish) down to dust, but that sounds not such a good idea to me unless it is re-sieved or washed to remove the very small stuff, Comments anyone?
 
I have just discovered the best ballast in the world and its free, its the graulted chipings the road relaying people discard in some laybys and it truly is perfect !!!!!!!!!!!!!! its a combination of dust and every size up to about an inch and although its mainly black in colour when layed it looks more real than the realest real stuff i will post a pic tomorrow as its to dark tonight. i just collect it in buckets and it works either tipped on to dirt then wiggle the track into it or where i have screwed track on to boards sprinkle it over and with a soft hand brush just brush along the track and you will find the small bits fill the gap between the sleepers and the larger bits end up on the edge. one more thing i havnt tried yet is as its still got some tar in it i recon you could blast it with a hot air gun and get it to stick together if not il try with PVA

ok bit unfair to say how good it is and not post a pic or 2 so just taken these but bear in mind id just watered the new plants so everything is soaking wet and it looks a bit to black in the dark but will do some more tomorow

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Tony
 
Looking good Tony, progressing well.The chippings also make good loads. The connie i bought from you is great, absolute joy to watch in motion.
 
I have experimented with all sorts of ballast material, about half of my line is lgb flexi track which floats in ballast like the real thing. The most successful and pleasing is in a fine white lime stone chipping between 2 and 5mm which I have sieved into two sizes, roughly £200 per tonne (my brother in law gave me about 1/4 ton) the larger sizes has been used to blind course rubble below, compacted and leveled with the fine stuff on top, more decorative and holds things in place. In contrast the same approach with sived granite quarry waste/crusher runs, the fine part just disappaers over winter! the more economical and readily available materials seems to be a base of gravel, even pea gravel, topped off with horticultural grit, not too expensive and stays in place reasonably well if contained on both sides.

Geoff the garden navvy
 
My local builders' merchant sells ton bags of something called M O T for about 28 quid. It's what the local council often use for countryside footpaths and when you wet it, it sets a bit like cement and holds my flexible track in place. It can be easily broken up and reused if you want to move or change your track.
 
marshman said:
Looking good Tony, progressing well.The chippings also make good loads. The connie i bought from you is great, absolute joy to watch in motion.
Click to expand...

Stuart Glad to hear your pleased with it you will hav to pop round again soon as lots of things have changed i really seem to be getting somewhere now although lots still todo and the headache of wiring it all up seperatly is next although i did manage 4 complete trains at once today and no accidents and they all ran for 2 hours non stop until i tried to ballest a bit of track and didnt get it swept in time, ho hum

Tony
 
Tony said:
marshman said:
Looking good Tony, progressing well.The chippings also make good loads. The connie i bought from you is great, absolute joy to watch in motion.
Click to expand...

Stuart Glad to hear your pleased with it you will hav to pop round again soon as lots of things have changed i really seem to be getting somewhere now although lots still todo and the headache of wiring it all up seperatly is next although i did manage 4 complete trains at once today and no accidents and they all ran for 2 hours non stop until i tried to ballest a bit of track and didnt get it swept in time, ho hum

Tony
Click to expand...

Will give you a buzz. Looking forward to seeing how its going.
 
Tony said:
... I have just discovered the best ballast in the world and its free, its the graulted chipings the road relaying people discard in some laybys and it truly is perfect !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Tony,
Exactly the stuff I use!
The local council even delivers it in two grades - 3-5mm and 10-15mm.
They kindly leave it in seperate piles as well.
 
I have always used 5mm white granite chippings sold by builders merchants for putting on flat felt roofing

Cost around £2.50 for 28KG Bag, they are 'sharp' and lock together well like real railway ballast,

very white to start with but soon mellow down to a nice grey apperance.

You can get other types from garden centres but uusally expensive

Steer clear of PEA Gravel it is round and does not lock in palce!!

edit earlier error not 2kg but 28 KG bag, they do sell bulk but I find it more manageable to handle it by the bag less mess and more convenient to store!!
 
not sure where you are or how far they deliver but these people sell 6mm limestone chips. They are angular, and lock LGB track really firm after a few rain showers.

http://www.offertonsandandgravel.co.uk/

Available in 25kg bags at £2.00 each including VAT. In bulk bags at £28.00 each plus VAT and delivery and loose loads at £23.00 per tonne plus VAT and delivery. They are South East of Manchester.
The chips are a nice grey colour, the photo doesn'y show that too well.

9f11c4fc19874b8aaf8e7b2aaeefa820.jpg
 
Over on Continental garden railways,Mikey H has been using wood ash out of the wood burner for ballasting,over a short period of time it sets quite hard.If you know somebody with a woodburner it might be worth mixing a bit of ash in with the girt to keep everything in place.
 
I use lime gravel with 3-6mm.

The advantage is, that this stuff is quite dusty, what gaves a sort of "bakened" roadbed with time.

In original scale, the lime ballast ist used just for lower costs. With the movement in the roadbed, it gets more and more round, making dirtpools and loosing stability.
the 1:1 Scale often uses Granite ballast, what works quite well. The granite stays sharp for a long time and therefore the roadbed lies well, hooked on in another.

But:
for G Scale the granite cant score with that, because neither the little stones nor the track lies with weight. While nowhere else it is liked to be a bit dirty, for a g scale roadbed the lime durst and a bit of dirt is useful.

What i always thought about (but never done) was a kind of "T" or "H" profile under the track. That would allow to lay the track even in hard and clean granite or in some roundshaped gravel stuff....


Greetings

Frank
 
Sorry to resurrect this one from so long ago but I've just been dragged, kicking and screaming by "trousers", round a garden centre. Further back in this thread Genesis1210 suggested using horticultural grit, available in this particular G/centre for £3.99 per bag (£10 for 3), BUT right next to it was Potting Grit, which is appreciably smaller and the same price. It's texture is very slightly more rounded than H/grit. Both were produced by Westlands. It should look very good, particularly on NG. I'm not ready to ballast yet, things are still settling but I think that's what I will use.
 
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