what types of ballasts to use for usa railroading..? gravels? pea shingles?

[steven large]

hi members.....

i was thinking i mite re-layed new ballast using gravels but some peoples used pea shingles on their tracks but i saw someone got different various of gravels on their layouts so can anyone have a photos of them for me to see what is it like on the tracks.?

some of them use normal pea shingles,gravels.cotswolds,etc aslo some colour effect?...

im happy with my track covered with pea shingles but it time for me to change it as possible...anyone help me? thks u all.....

p.s.some of got nice colour on the layouts....mmmmmm......

 

[Gizzy]

Steve,

I always get sharp shingle, never pea shingle which is round and rolls away.

Sharp shingle locks together like real ballast.

I have 5mm, but 3mm would look better....

 

[steve parberry]

How much do you need?

Could possiably supply you a full split 20kg bag of alpine grit free!!!

Steve

 

[Westcott]

I have noticed that the fine stuff used when roads are tar-and-gritted looks about right.
Sometimes the council leaves piles of it ready in lay-byes.
Even when they finish for the year, quite a bit is left behind.
So I'm told.

 

[stevedenver]

and you may want to mix lightly with powdered glue this helps it set and stay put
or
-understand concrete, lightly dusted in will also help it set yet will easily break up and clean off if need

 

[trammayo]

I use horticultural grit which is nearer to scale than most gravels. It needs holding in place - dusting with cement (as mentioned above) should work.

Mick

 

[garrymartin]

I used horticultural grit too, & the dusting with cement method. Unfortunetly a heavy downpour washed it all out of position ( as it did at the 1to1 scale Sheffield station a few miles away) so i mixed 3 parts grit,1 part sharp sand & 1 part cement , the resulting mix has stayed put during all weathers.
Cheers Garry

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[Rod Fearnley]

I use Granite fines, sometimes known as decomposed granite. Lots of dust in it, so it sets up farly hard.
I get mine from the local lafarge plant/quarry. They use it to stop bitumen and ashphalt from sticking to the bottom of the delivery hopper trucks.
Rod

 

[Shawn]

I use crusher fines for my RR. Its basicaly crushed limestone. Also called stone dust and a few other names. It work great, the rock is small and within scale. The dust that is mixed in once wet packes down nice and holds everything in place. So far I amvery happy with it. It has held up in heavy rains, freeze thaw cycles and snow. Since I have a logging railroad I let the plants creep into the track bed. This spring I want to experiment with using a darker sand to put on top. I want to get a more realistic look for a logging RR. All pictures I see they did not use balast but rather layed the track on top ofthe bare ground.

 

[rayna]

Hi I have just laid some here using our equivalent of crusher fines ( sharp edged small stuff) which has been great before but this time I seem to have not used enough cement. hope you don't mind me asking on this thread if anyone can suggest a fix?. Is there any point in putting extra cement on top and "spraying " it in with water. it currently has a light crust but I can easily puncture that with my fingernail.
thanks
Rayna

 

[MRail]

Crusher fines, known up here as "Grano to dust" is pretty good.
Dry mixed with cement and brushed into the track base, it takes up natural moisture and sets hard.
The process can be accelerated by damping gently with a plant sprayer.

 

[minimans]

Crushed Granite for me.

 

[mike]

dam fine shot Sir!!

 

[minimans]

dam fine shot Sir!!

Yucky woo woo gone but not forgotten!