Home made ballest

[JazzDad]

... with a hammer and anvil in a cardboard box crush the actual ballast into small pieces ...

Working on the chain gang.

 

[MikeGTW]

So after a little more experimenting the pool sand is my joice from two feet away it looks great and I'v got the color where I want it now I think
The play sand is too fine It just looks smooth no texture
My second batch was too dark so mixed just some plain with it looks great to me
I use rit dye charcoal grey for the color vary the amount for darker or lighter heat on the stove in old fry pan helps to set the color

 

[Iron Horseman]

From a totally different perspective. I used real rock for ballast and other scenery on a modular unit. Discovered that it added 20 lbs to the weight and that was just a 2x4 foot. Since this is supposed to be portable, I switched to the non-rock, light weight, commercial ballast for the next one.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

This was made from used coffee grounds! Boiled, rinced, combined with a mixture of thinned White latex paint. It is light and tends to "float" when applied with glue, but makes pretty good looking ballast!

 

[MikeGTW]

Been busy making ballast couple pictures still working on it though
some I made a lighter grey then some dark and mixed in the plain sand
This is all the medium grade pool sand

 

[migalyto]

Looks good! What did you figure the cost savings were doing it this way versus commercial ballast?

 

[MikeGTW]

So figure 1/2 gal cost is $22 plus shipping I've made about 3 to 4 gal so far and still have some left in the bag
3 gal $132 + my cost so far $8.00 for sand and $3.00 for the dye I think I'm way ahead

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Mike- This seems very cost effective if you did not put a price on your time.
Personally, I like to do this sort of thing to have a product that is a little different than what you see on other people's layouts.
Short lines are famous for using various materials due to cost and local availability.
Around Birmingham, Alabama there was a lot of steel mill slag used in the area during the late 40's to 1960's. Often it was laid down as a gray color and would turn a rusty brown in a few years.

 

[MikeGTW]

I thought when you retire you're supposed to work for free that's what my kids tell me
So a rusty brown color hmm rit dye has mixing charts for any color so maybe I'll have to experiment some more
there is one they call rustic brown it's a mix of cocoa brown and tan

 

[MikeGTW]

went thru that 50# bag

 

[MHinLA]

Kitty litter OK the guy that invented that stuff lives just half hour from me I've met him a few times nice guy
here's his base location that is by me check out his wood caboose
https://edwardlowe.org/virtual-tour-big-rock-valley/

But, does he have cats ?

 

[MHinLA]

Working on the chain gang.
View attachment 44345

I'm just a "Prisoner of Love".... Hey ! Did you know Mathis' "Misty" is in D, not Eb !!

 

[Graff]

I use either crushed and sifted Chamotte clay that I stain, or sifted pumice stone.
Both are very cheap.