(Telford) need help with ballast for garden

[YoshivsJoshi]

(Telford) Hello, I’m a new G scale modeller, I own Thomas & Friends G scale stuff, I wanna start building my garden railway, I have the track but I’m struggling with what the best would be to buy for ballast under the track, my close friend was chatting to me about it but he has sadly passed away so I can’t ask him for help, he suggested digging 3mm under the soil then filling self binding grit and a foundation geit sprinkled on top but I cant find any of that in the UK, below are photos attached of my garden, thank you so much!

 

[PhilP]

Your biggest problem is going to be your four-legged friend..
You will probably have to 'bond' your ballast, with something like SBR. - Else a boisterous doggy, may well disturb your track formation?

PhilP

 

[dunnyrail]

I built a railway for a guy, dig down around 6-7 inches filled with large gravel on top of barrier to discourage weeds. Black Plastic builders sheet works best but not best approved by many but weeds do not get through. The odd hole puntured with a spike allows water to drain. Some put in wooden spikes every foot or so to support the track. Track laid on top then as your pal said 2-3mm ballast for track to look realistic. Look out for block paviour gap fill, sundry builders merchants and even BnQ (if you are lucky here) sell suitable material in carry sized bags.

 

[Gizzy]

You can get self binding grit from Bannold's in Cambridgeshire, but I think delivery to you might be prohibitive.

It's around £7 per 20 kg bag....

 

[Steve Seidensticker]

After many years of experimenting with ballast I finally settled on something we in the U.S. call polymeric sand. I suspect that it is the same as others are referring to as self binding grit or paver gap fill. Put it down dry, shape it the way you like, and then mist it. It will set but remain a bit flexible. That allows both the track and ballast to float without the ballast cracking, a problem in sunny San Diego.

Steve Seidensticker