Ballast questions


M

mowman24

Member
I am new to ballasting, so have questions. what is the proper size (in fractions of inch) for the granules of ballast for O gauge. I have not yet decided on the medium, but also need to know when gluing it down, I know to wet it first, but is it then let dry, or apply the glue when wet with the wet water?? Also I will have about 100 feet of track, so how many gallons of ballast will I need??
Thanks all in advance
 
You don't really have to worry about the size as long as you buy what is marked for O scale. Wet it down with a weak mixture of alcohol and water, or use a couple of drops of Dawn detergent in the spray bottle with water and glue.
 
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Perfect for O scale ballast. :)
 
Lots of variables in ballasting model train track, but here's my take............... Probably somewhere around 1/16" to 1/8" or so grain size. The 1/16" would probably be a good 1/48 O-scale size, but for O27 post war/toy train layouts, it little larger grain size might be just fine, or whatever looks good to your eye should suffice.

My favorite ballast fixing method: mist the ballast down quite damp with wet water (tap water with some drops of liquid dish washing detergent mixed in). Then while still wet, liberally douse it down with ballast cement (a 50/50 mix of Elmer's Glue-All and tap water). Apply with an eyedropper or better yet, a squeeze bottle with a long, pointed spout for good control of the cement placement. The wet water misting will allow the glue mixture to permeate all throughout the ballast, and will dry clear and flat (no gloss) and have a natural look.

Really hard to say how much ballast it will take, especially with O-gauge. Another big variable that depends on other things. Maybe start with a couple of gallons of ballast and see how far that takes you. Then get more as needed based on that.

Hope this helps. :)👍
 
Big, modern ballast is in the 3-4" range, earlier ballast is smaller, cinders are in the 1/2 to 1" range.

For O-scale, 3" ballast would about 1/16" in size, 1" ballast would be in the .020 inch range, roughly 1/64".

As was said before, O scale ballast or stuff about 1/16" of an inch should be fine. If you are trying for scale you can go smaller, if it looks better to you with larger ballast, go larger.

How much ballast you need depends on how deep you apply it, how wide, whether you have a ballast section or not. Buy some and measure out a cup or so and see how far it gets. Then estimate how much you need from that.

I like to apply the ballast, spray it with wet water fairly wet, then apply a 50-50 mix of white glue and water with a couple drops of dish detergent in it while the ballast is wet.
 
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