John C. posted:PS: ANOTHER THREAD just brought this idea to mind. Collect some actual ballast and earth from the canyon and use it on your line! We have done this on the Glacier Line. We really think it's cool that actual ballast and earth from the prototype main is on our layout. BNSF may not feel the same way.
Fortunately for me, the area I was modeling had been abandoned and the tracks gone. That said, I know of a guy who spotted a freshly dumped ballast pile for future track work. He returned with a few five-gallon buckets and some sifting trays. He collected the "dust" from the ballast and threw the ballast back into the pile. A couple of trains passed by and one of them radioed security. When they showed up and found out what he was doing, they advised him to stay on the side where he was working.
While I wouldn't go onto [active] railroad property, there are some who have managed to gather ballast dust without ending up in handcuffs.
