Anyone Know of a Ballast Mat?

The old school way..."mineral faced rolled roofing"...not perfect...but it works..and creates a base...it's a goog starting point...

Howard...north Florida...

This is from England, but says they ship world wide.

Gagemaster Scenic Mat

Not sure, but you may be able to get this through your LHS or a forum sponsor? I would try them anyway.

Thanks Howard.  That didn’t even cross my mind but it’s a great idea.  Not sure if the added thickness of the roofing will effect how well the screws hold the track in place.  I’ll have to experiment.  You’ve also got me thinking about using three tab shingles, cutting the shingles to fit pieces between the ties and just putting ballast where the ties are.  That way I wouldn’t need to lift the track.  And there is most likely a greater variety of colors to choose from.

Thanks RTR.  That’s pretty much what I asked for.  I’m just wondering how it will scale out since they say it is for everything from Z to G.  I will definitely check it out if a nearby LHS carries it.

Someone had sand colored or desert like mats, but I can't remember who it was? Also don't remember if they were grass or gravel or what?

Here's another one from Scenic Express, made by Heki

Gray Gravel Mat - May have a better chance finding this at your LHS.  Hmmm...I may need to get one of these as well?

Also check a company called Noch, they have mats as well. I think they are also European, don't remember what country?

Some seem to call them Scenic Mats.

You may want to consider creating your own.  Rustoleum has 3 variations of textured spray paints that have allowed me to create sandy, grassy, and gravel areas that can blend together as in real life.  The Rustoleum product lines are Textured, Multi Colored Texture, and American Accents Stone Spray Paint.  They can be found at Walmarts and Home Depots.  I have used them on white poster board paper which limits me to 22” x 28” size but as I have them on my “temporary/learning” layout, I can live with the seams/overlaps.  I have thought about what I could use in the future for larger “mats” (considering experimenting with window shade fabric, vinyl shelf liner, etc.).  I have used the American Accents Stone - Gray Stone for ballast areas between Fastrack and to create parking lots.  The Multicolor Texture colors of Desert Bisque works well for sandy areas and Deep Forest for grassy areas.  Here are some pictures showing the results.

Larry

Larry, your spray paint work is very convincing.  I may have to steal that for some wargaming projects.

This morning, I looked for the 39” X 29” mats at the one local place that I thought might have it.  They didn’t.

I thought about using the textured spray paint, but I didn’t think it would give me the texture I’m looking for.

I tested how well a screw holds down the track when installed over a spare roofing shingle…no problem.  So I ended up getting a 36” X 100’ roll of charcoal colored roofing.  I think it will work out well.  It’s a little darker than I had in mind…some granules are black and some are dark gray.  The ballast I’ve been using is lighter, but it may actually work out with the dark color looking more weathered than the freshly ballasted track.  I may also use a darker wash when I make some of my ballast.  I might also incorporate LJ’s idea and spray the roofing material to make it a lighter shade of gray.

Thanks for the ideas guys.  I’ll let you know how it works out.

I did the rolled roofing.  the roll was heavy as hell from lowes. I believe the weight and density of it will also drastically help sound deadening

I returned the charcoal roll roofing (it was too dark) and got white.  Cut it into manageable size mats (about 32”x 40") and put on a dark gray wash coat.  I also made some matching ballast using play sand and the dark gray wash.  It doesn’t look too bad even before I put any ballast down.

Interestingly, Lionel sold Life-Like grass and ballast mat as the 973 Landscape Set in the 1960s.

http://www.tandem-associates.c...l_trains_973_acc.htm