Ballast

[bcrn]

Once upon a time, Campbell Scale Models, made ballast called decayed limestone, is it still available, and, or, what would be the commercial equivalent? Ken

[Christian]

It's also called limestone sand. Probably available from a large garden supply. According to a quick Google it is used for baseball diamonds.

Decomposed Granite also had a run in model railroading as ballast. Again, your landscaping dealer.


Or just buy rock ballast from Arizona Rock and Mineral or from Scenic Express and be done with it!

[alco539]

I still have two bags, I saved from 30+ years ago of the real stone ballast. I checked the Campbell web site and they list a ballast that is made of crushed walnut shells now. I quess the old stuff is gone. There was a thread somewhere about ballast and Woodland Scenics is walnuts too. I think that thread said something about Highball brand still is stone. Sorry I can't remember where I read it. Charley.

[bcrn]

I was just wondering, seeing how, limestone and the Rock Island go together Ken

[Deleted]

Highball is still real stone, or so says Walthers.

[umtrrauthor]

The last package of Highball ballast I got was real stone, but I have no idea how old it is.

My preference is Arizona Rock and Mineral also. They make (well, maybe "make" isn't the right word) limestone ballast used by the New York Central and others. They do try to get railroad specific with their products.

[Donnell Wells]

I actually went to a rock qarry and got two 5-gallon buckets full of rock dust. I took it home and ran it through several successively smaller screen until got all the useful sizes I needed.

It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. I won't be buying ballast for a long time!

Donnell

[DHTR]

That's what I did,the same as Donnell Wells. And you get the same color as the RR in your area.

[Donnell Wells]

Rio, no one is saying you have to do what I, or dhtr have done. We were merely sharing our experiences. However, I find it hard to believe that there is no place where you could go to find or purchase materials that could represent those found on your particular railroad. The quarry I went to was more than 40 miles from my house, and the rock the I got was not a perfect match for my railroad. There also is nothing saying you can't visit several different quarries, or home improvement centers that sell rock material and get several samples to mix and get a direct or at least an approximate match to your railroad.

Finally, there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying commercially available rock ballast. I have many, many bags of AR&M Southern Pacific ballast in addition to the rock I got from the quarry.

Donnell

[keystonecrossings]

I used Scenic Express on my former N scale layout and was very pleased with the results.

[KIM]

Are there certain types of "natural" rocks to stay away from? I heard or read something about some rocks having magnetic qualities that could cause operation problems.

[Christian]

May 25, 2012 13:14:06 GMT -8 KIM said:

Are there certain types of "natural" rocks to stay away from? I heard or read something about some rocks having magnetic qualities that could cause operation problems.

Run a magnet through it. If the magnet comes out fuzzy, don't use the rock/sand/dirt.