How to buy ballast?
- Thread starter Mobi
- Start date
funandtrains
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Yes like most builders' merchants they will sell to anyone but they will charge you "full price" as tradesmen get a discount even more if they have an account.Mobi said:
The Devonian
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Eight years ago, when I built my railroad, I used gravel/granite type chippings that I purchased from a DIY store. I did encounter the issue with the electrics that Charles, in Colorado, mentioned. I changed to buying gravel chippings from a builders merchant ever since. The colour, incidentally, is. more or less. the same as the ballast used on must British railroad track formations.
I buy it in 25kg. bags: both 10mm. and 20mm. Certain areas are suited to each size. In some areas I mix it.
A base of 3" thick timbers and concrete blocks are what I used initially in the track beds construction. None of it has ever moved and of course weeds do not come up though it.
I do, on a regular basis, prick out seedlings which have germinated in the ballast: that will happen when your track bed is a ground level. But that is all part of the garden railway maintenance schedule.
Every couple of years I replace the ballast; it is surprising how much loam is beneath the ballast generated from dust and decaying foliage etc. This is sifted and laid on the gravel areas - driveway and greenhouse surrounds, so it is not wasted. Working on a Heritage railway did give me a good idea how railways were built and of course built to last.
I buy it in 25kg. bags: both 10mm. and 20mm. Certain areas are suited to each size. In some areas I mix it.
A base of 3" thick timbers and concrete blocks are what I used initially in the track beds construction. None of it has ever moved and of course weeds do not come up though it.
I do, on a regular basis, prick out seedlings which have germinated in the ballast: that will happen when your track bed is a ground level. But that is all part of the garden railway maintenance schedule.
Every couple of years I replace the ballast; it is surprising how much loam is beneath the ballast generated from dust and decaying foliage etc. This is sifted and laid on the gravel areas - driveway and greenhouse surrounds, so it is not wasted. Working on a Heritage railway did give me a good idea how railways were built and of course built to last.
funandtrains
Registered
Most railways in the UK use crushed granite ballast as do tarmac roads. The stone is just graded in size from rocks down to dust. Therefore as said above you can't get anything more realistic as it is the real thing. Even though the builders merchants will sell it to you at a much higher price than they do the trade the larger sacks will work out the same or less than the small bags garden centres or DIY shops sell. If you want to cast your own bridges it also makes better concrete than the usual round shingle ballast.
viaEstrecha
Spanish metre gauge in G scale (on the cheap)
Mobi said:
If you want to try a bag of horticultural grit, before committing to a large purchase of fine chippings (which can be pricey), Flitvale Garden Centre in Flitwick will sell you a 20kg bag for about £4. It is a reasonable shade of grey with a rather pleasing pink hue when wet, and if you don't like it, you can always use it up as the base for another material. They are also a reasonable source for alpines and heathers, at the appropriate time of year. I'm in Harlington, if you fancy seeing some used in situ!
The Devonian
Registered
Steve is correct, the real looking ballast is best: it looks right. In my view decorative chipping do not look well at all as ballast and I have noticed that garden centre decorative products are expensive. The crushed granite type is usually only about £2 per 20kg. bag. The pricce does vary: I have, over the years paid from £1.15 to £2.20 per bag.