I am a fan of detailed trackwork, and I believe in ballast as part of it. I want it to compliment my track rather than just lay there looking off scale and off color etc. I like what I see from Brennans Better Ballast...Old Pullman is selling his stuff also. Seems a bit pricey but then again you get what you pay for in general. I know that buying a hundred bucks worth of crushed stone doesn't have the excitement a few new cars would, but track without ballast is just not getting it for me. So I'd be interested in hearing what other are using and their reasons.




Bob

Bob,
You may want to check out the Scenery section of this forum. There have been a few discussions recently over the relative merits of various ballast choices.

Jim

Bob,
I heard Brennan's was good so you can't go wrong there.

I used Woodland Scenics ballast and followed the steps here:

BALLAST TECHNIQUES

I don't think there's anything you can do to keep from making a mess, so just have at it and clean up afterwards.

One thing that I think makes a big difference is to weather the sides of the rails. I do 3-rail and those shiny rails are an eyesore.

I paint / Weather and ballast track as I put it down. The ballast is what holds it in place. I found some sandbox sand that looks a lot like the ballast that I have seen while walking along the tracks. I bought a couple of bags of it and still have quite a bit left. As I add scenery close to my tracks, I will add a bit more ballast to finish off the scene.

Well all I can say is I have used Dennis Brennan's Model Railroading Products
for the last 5 or so years and the info you get with all his Products not to mention the tips and tricks is first class.you just cant find a better looking Product.

I'll put in another plug for Brennan's. Dennis is a first rate guy and his product is excellent! I had the pleasure of picking up my ballast in person about a month ago (haven't got it down yet) and if my results are anywhere close to what is on his layout, it is outstanding. As mentioned, he also sends out a tip sheet with all of his products.

-Glenn

I use playground sand for ballast. The price is right and the appearance is excellent according to folks who have seen it. It is held in place by a mixture of Elmer's, water, and a drop of detergent. After it hardens we paint it with latex paint diluted about 50% with water which also acts as a bonding agent.

I purchased a 50 lb bag of poultry (chick) grit. That 50 lb bag of crushed quartzite rock costs about $8. I have enough of the stuff to ballast several model railroads. I suppose that you would have to have access to a farm or feed store in order to find this product.

Thomas Conway
Troy, Illinois

I have used Woodland Scenics for ever with great success. More expensive but a consistant and quality product.

Dick

OGR Publishing should do an article on Ballast materials and their appearance/prototype qualities. Its an important part of a person's railroad and a photo comparison would be great.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveJfr0:
OGR Publishing should do an article on Ballast materials and their appearance/prototype qualities. Its an important part of a person's railroad and a photo comparison would be great.

Well Dave that's a good idea, and at one time I wrote in to Model Railroader suggesting they investigate the various types of roadbed materials modelers were using in order to find out once and for all which was the overall best for sound deadening which seemed a real debatable issue. Their reply was they didn't have the budget for such comparison projects at that time. I found that to be a bit of a disappointing response. Now whether an O scale publication would consider ballast materials a worthwhile substance for investigation I don't know. But it's obviously seeing much experimentation amongst the O Scale hobbyist.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by flanger:
I am a fan of detailed trackwork, and I believe in ballast as part of it. I want it to compliment my track rather than just lay there looking off scale and off color etc. I like what I see from Brennans Better Ballast...Old Pullman is selling his stuff also. Seems a bit pricey but then again you get what you pay for in general. I know that buying a hundred bucks worth of crushed stone doesn't have the excitement a few new cars would, but track without ballast is just not getting it for me. So I'd be interested in hearing what other are using and their reasons.




Bob

I just purchased several bags because I was not sure how much i would need turns out 1 bag covered 9 liner ft of double track main line with a little left over. This was my first time ballasting anything, the instructions were very straight forward and I found the product very easy to use.

Bruce