Crazy Question About Ballasting

@452 Card

I have done some ballasting on large layouts but never attempted to estimate from the start how much would be needed. I don't know of any mathematical formula for such a calculation. My suggestion is to buy one container of ballast, use it all and see how many running feet of track it ballasts. Then, measure the total length of the rest of the track and divide by the number of feet one container ballasted. That should get you real close to the right amount.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Ballasting!!!!! Please include photos or your finished product.

P. S. - Do the rest of your ground cover first and then do the ballasting on top of that. In real life, that is how ballast is laid, on top of existing terrain. It makes for a more realistic scene.

I agree with Randy. Further, go to a mason supply store or big box and buy a sack of polymeric sand—used between pavers.  You’ll have all you’ll ever need.

Apply it as Randy said (after scenery), then simply wet it.  It will set up in 24 hours.  If you change your track plan, it scrapes up easily.  It also suppresses noise!

Scientific Wife to the scene! We took the dry test section:

Removed the test section and recovered the ballast into a scale cup:

And weighed it:

Looks to be 3 oz. per 10" track section. I dug out the AnyRail track plan which lists the total amount of track at approximately 162'. Wifey calculates 4 oz/ft., for a total of about 40 lbs. of ballast. I don't have enough.

I second Polymeric sand. I did my patio last Spring. The stuff moves easily when dry. Once you wet it down it dries hard as concrete. The mason supply product is better quality than the big box home centers.

Available in various colors. By coincidence its in a 40# bag.

Another tip is you can get fine sand at Menards and put a thin layer down first and then top coat it with your expensive ballast.  This will save you a lot on the costs and give you the look that you want.

Art

I am using 3 parts polymeric sand (Gator SuperSand, slate gray), 1 part Woodlands Scenic coarse, 3 parts Brennan's gray for my mainline ballasting.  Your calculation seems close - I would have guesstimated 45 lbs total, based on my consumption rate of Brennan's.

The polymeric sand is not expensive.  I would not use it exclusively on a main track, as its size seems a bit small for O gauge, by my sight, but it significantly reduces the amount of "better" ballast needed when mixed.  It will be a larger proportion of the mix in the yard.  And it is nearly ideal in size for S gauge.  I used it to ballast the club's S gauge travel layout.

Lots of useful information here, thank you.

Peter

OK so I answered my own question after Party A decided to help. I'm using RossBed, so the amount of ballast will probably be not what others here recommend. Right now, my test was done with a mix of 5 tablespoons of Lucas C76 Medium Gray roofing granules to one tablespoon Woodland Scenics coarse gray blend. I like the look, it seems to mimic the real deal.

Merry Christmas to everyone here on the forum, and to our hosts that make it all possible!

I snatched this from Brennan's Better Ballast website. His product is excellent.

"A 5 pound bag of my ballast will cover 22 feet of Atlas O or GarGraves track ballasted even with the tie tops and with a gentle slope along each side."

Bob

Pretty darn cool on figuring this out.

Thank you for this thread and its helpful suggestions. I am using Fastrack (I have a ridiculous amount of it so don't try and change my mind; trust me, I have thought about it). I plan on ballasting over it for more realism at some point when the layout is further along this summer. Polymeric sand is something that I hadn't thought of.

Mikki