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Ballast for O Gauge
Reader Rob T wants to hear your thoughts on ballasting:
“I am building a O gauge layout and ready to put down ballast. Is there a better source to buy ballast than Woodland Scenics? Woodland has ballast in fine, medium, and coarse sizes. What size of ballast would you use? I was thinking about going with the light gray coarse ballast since most of the roadbed here in Texas is from limestone. At $13.00/bottle I would like to get it right the first time. I enjoy this website and used alot of suggestions.”
4 Responses to Ballast for O Gauge
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I use the real stuff “stone” for my HO and O gauge. I get screenings any where I can find them, then use a screen sift it to what looks good to you.
Depending on the size of your layout, you might be better served using alternate materials. For O scale, “silver” #16 construction sand available at building supply centers is about the right size. We paid about $10 for a 100-pound bag. The problem is the color — it’s very light, You can spray paint it with gray auto primer and it will work nicely.
Another alternative is “Dumor Chick Grit” available from Tractor Supply Company stores. It’s finely crushed granite and costs about $7 for a 5-pound bag. You want the grit only as the “starter” has grain in it. In either case, you’re going to get a better quantity for the price.
If there’s a sand/gravel pit nearby you can sometimes get crusher fines. You’ll have to sift/classify it yourself, though.
Lastly, I know of one guy who spotted a fresh ballast pile next to a rail line (of the road he was modeling). He grabbed sifters, a shovel, and a few 5-gallon buckets and set up by the pile. He shoveled some ballast into one bucket and sifted it into the others. The large chunks went back into the pile. Railroad security dropped by as he was finishing up and determined he was not a threat (and had a good laugh about it). I wouldn’t recommend this one as some railroads are pretty testy about getting that close to a main.
I use bargain brand kitty litter on my 0-Scale lay-out, it is cheap, on hand because I had a cat, and it looks real. Here in Abilene TX we have a grocery store called HEB and it is their brand of kitty litter that I use. It is gray in color and looks very much like coarse stone. Hope this helps.
Ken
I recently purchased some decomposed granite from Brennan’s Model Raolroading Products. He sells them in ‘Origianl’ and ‘Yard’ for $15,95/bag plus shipping (which for me, here in Alaska, was another $13.95). This stuff looks great but can be cost prohibitive depending on just how much track you have to ballast.