Ballast size


Waaay too big, the larger rocks need to be crushed to ~1/8th of their current size.

Have a look at the ballast in this proto-photo, that should give you some idea. Each stone is roughly 2-3 inches across, max.
 
That's more on par with the size of cat litter. You need to go smaller. I used to use pieces of cement that I broke up with a hammer until I got them down to about 1/32 of an inch. Even that was a little large.
 
for my HO layout, I used N-scale ballast.
 
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I think that size ballast would work for O scale, but not HO scale, too large. Can you crush it finer?
 
Here is a picture of typical Mainline Ballast.

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Was there a major storm and an inspector was sent to run down the line to check for any potential damage before sending any trains? There doesnt look like much of an access road to that area. Did the heavy equipment get hauled in close enough to the site by rail?
 
In reply to first post.

If you live near a beach? Use staind sand. I used to build a lot of dioramas years ago and found that regular beach sand workd great for stuff like rail rock oe gravel roads. The greyish color is pretty easy to obtian. Grab a little jar of grey acrylic paint. ( costs about 1.99 cents at walmart ). Mix some sand with the grey paint cut with some tap water. Youll need to get the paint thinned out enough that the sand does not stick together and clump up. Lay out the color tinted sand on some tinfoil in a thin layer and let air dry. Or if your in more of a rush toss it in the over for a few minutes. You can get a nice natural real look if you do it right. As well you can make darker and lighter shades if you add a little black or white into a few mix's.

Once all your paint staind sand is dry. Mix it together and BANG! you have rail rocks. The good thing about sand is its free and you can get as much as you need plus its easy to clean if you need to. As for tools. The only ones you may want on hand for this other tinfoil and some acrylic paint for this type of staining job is a piece of screen ( like in your wndow ) or a floor sifter and something to mix with. I.E a stick. I actualy have to make some myself sometime in the next few weeks. So if you can make it yuor self. PM me and I can send you some. lol But remember sand in large amounts can get heavy. Ill be asking for the shipping cost if you need a lot. :)

Main thing is
 
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ChevelleSSguy said:
Was there a major storm and an inspector was sent to run down the line to check for any potential damage before sending any trains? There doesn't look like much of an access road to that area. Did the heavy equipment get hauled in close enough to the site by rail?
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This happened in 2005 and we had a lot of flooding up in New England. There was actually 3 major and 5 minor washouts between Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, VT. The first and biggest washout was along the CT River and had no road access so I walked down the tracks over a mile to get the pics the 2nd one the repair Co. built a road to the site along the main line and 3rd one was by a siding that had road access. The phone Co. actually found the big washout as the Fiber Optic Cable got ripped out and they went to inspect the line. Originally the track inspector put a 10 MPH slow order on because it was just a dip and hadn't slid into the river yet. But 3 Miles north of that one there was another washout which had us terminate in Brattleboro instead of continuing to White River, Jct. The line was shut down for over a week and I decided to stay in Bratt and work the work train shuttling side dump cars full of rock to the site. There was 2 crews working 12 hour shifts around the clock for 6 days and in the end we dumped 244 carloads of rock. Then 18 cars of ballast for that one washout. Management said that the line would be open in 2 days, LOL and it wasn't back to full operation for 2 weeks, LOL. It was quite the experience and I know that before I started working for the NECR there was a washout on the same stretch of track where the train hit it and derailed but luckily the lead unit made it over and the rest of the train went into the river. Here are pics of that one.

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You see all kinds of things on prototype RR's...cinders, dirt, & various sizes & colors of stone ballast...

I live in KY (USA) & ballast around here is mainly limestone, which starts off nealy white when it's new, but ages to a dark gray over time...
Typically the coarsest ballast you'll see on a prototype RR is stones about 3 -4 inches across...
You can guage the size of the ballast in your photos by comparing them to the ties, which are typically 8 -10 inches in width...so yes, your ballast is a little on the coarse side...
A rule of thumb to follow in scale modeling is that it's always better to be under scale than over...
 
Mike, truthfully, most people just buy model ballast. N scale ballast is about the right size for HO scale and you can get 32 ounces for about $8 at on-line disount train stores. 32 ounces will cover a lot of track. If you want to keep trying with what you have, get a heavy canvas bag and an 8 pound sledge hammer and whack the heck out it. It will take a lot of force to reduce that rock to the size you need.
 
UP2CSX said:
It will take a lot of force to reduce that rock to the size you need.
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Ill add alot of hard work and sweat to what Jim said LOL. I just buy Woodland Scenics Ballast, works fine for me and the price isnt that bad either, of coarse now i get it for way cheaper dealer cost, but thats besides the point.

In all honesty, i think buying the ballast already crushed is alot easier, but if you prefer to crush your own for your layout, then all the power to you :D
 
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