16mm scale ballast!

[METHSSNIFFER]

Since my railway is based on the FR I collected a few bags of the diorite / granite from the local quarry at Minfford and a few rocks of the same nature as used on the trackbed these are beige in colour it looks like a hard shale. The idea is to crush by some means and then sieve to the rightish scale mixing the two rock types together. Im currently carrying out track maintenance on my railway having now treated the sleepers and replaced some damaged chairs I am now taking the opprtunity while the weather is fine and dry to dress the trackbed. Does anyone no a better method other than PVA waterproof that adheres the ballast better! or maybe Im diluting the pva to much.

[METHSSNIFFER]

Rhoslyn bridge with new ballast and railings! I stuck to the old faithful method of pva which I thought will waterproof the bridge at the same time.

[laalratty]

Looks brilliant, lines that arn't ballasted are always missing something atmosphere wise. Your line looks very scenic as well

[taliesin001]

Looks great.

[METHSSNIFFER]

I think it needs weathering a bit with some rust and time but its coming on. I used a kitchen cullander and one of those mesh filing trays to get the right grade of ballast from the grit I collected.
Can you see how Ive painted mountain scenery on my shed to give a bit of a backdrop.

[Merddin Emrys]

very nice, I walked under the real bridge just the other day (to put posters up)

[METHSSNIFFER]

Are you still putting posters up Andy! Do you walk the line doing this!

[Merddin Emrys]

just finished them for some time, I drive to all stations except Plas Halt and Dduallt where I walk the last part (not on the line) and get some stunning views!

[METHSSNIFFER]

Another pic from another angle. I still have a lot of work to do.

[mhlr]

Looks very nice! Fantastic railway!

[Narrow Minded]

Looks terrific! Thanks for posting them up and here's to seeing some more!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Interesting idea with the mountain backdrop there, something which I hope to be employing with the new railway to screen the fact that it is a tiny garden surrounded by walls. Ballast scares me... what is the best way of going about it, soo many people suggest different things!

[METHSSNIFFER]

If you have access to a local quarry then they will provide you with finings thats everything below the grade of 5mm ie the rubbish thats no good for garden centes and road surfacing. Suffolk might be a problem as you have chalk and carstone am I right. Granite or limestone is your best medium. The quickest method is to take a brush and dustpan and sweep the roadside and sieve to the grade you require. Scale ballast is about 1.5mm so you need to get hold of a sieve or some mesh that size. I use a mesh filing tray and a kitchen sieve. Its time consuming but the end result is worth it.
Chippings and gravel on some lines looks so out of place its as though there are rocks between the sleepers. Fine ballast also has the advantage of holding your track better just like the real thing, once sprinkled on the track bed I spray diluted pva waterproof over it. This adheres it together well the dilution factor Ive found best to be about 4 to 1.

[Narrow Minded]

Ballast scares me... what is the best way of going about it, soo many people suggest different things!

Fear not! Mr B. It's easy to eliminate the methods that either don't work (or don't last) or you personally don't like the look of, or are simply inappropriate for your railway (cost / time / maintenance etc)

That should leave you with a much smaller shortlist to choose from. - after that, you can always change your mind, even after it's been laid! (The W&LLR is now sporting its third different method of ballasting! )

I must say, now that the Rowlands Mix has had time to really "go off" I'm well pleased with it scenically and it's made clearing the line before a running session loads quicker

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Yup, the rock in Suffolk consists mainly of chalk, London clay, cement stone, Red Crag, and exclusive to Suffolk, Coralline Crag. Although very interesting when looking for fossils and providing a fertiliser industry to the River Deben for 100s of years non of this useless crumbly rock is any good for ballast. This is why I was going to have ballast of scale shingle as would be found as a cheap alternative for a coastal railway. Areas will also be set into the road surface tramway style. I suppose some ballast would have been imported in but it is sourcing it for me which is the problem! I shall look around local garden centres and builders merchants to see what is available.

[METHSSNIFFER]

Shingle would look good or as my father suggested clinker. My father modelled the station at wells next the sea and he used budgie grit! Which looks like shingle.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Hmm, now there is a good idea! Bird grit ought to be fairly cheap (I am sorry and truly ashamed of that one...) and small enough to look good. Add some yoghurt and in a year or so nice over grown trackbed.

[METHSSNIFFER]

Remember its natural yoghurt otherwise you will have strawberries cherries or rasberries growing between your sleepers lol!
Volcanic ash could be the new trend in ballast!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Hmm, there aren't that many volcanoes in Suffolk....  ;)
EDIT: Just heard about the volcanic ash cloud - this makes sense now...

[SillyBilly]

Shingle doesn't work as ballast in the real world, it's too round, Porthmadog slate carrying ships returning empty from Hamburg were filled with shingle to compenstate for the loss in weight, they tried to use this for ballasting on the FR but it didn't key with the sleepers properly, so they dumped it just outside Porthmadog's harbour, the island created got the name 'Ballast Island'. Still to this day Hamburg ballast can be seen in the FR trackbed.