I am just starting to ballast my track and in the area that I am modeling, the ballast is a white/dark gray/light gray mix. Anyway at work the other day a truck driver that comes in all the time overheard me talking to another guy about my layout and we got to talking and he is into model rr. We got to talking about how am starting to ballast my layout and he told me that he used scoopable cat litter as his ballast. To make a short story long, I got to check out his layout and it is in HO scale and the ballast looks great. It had almost the exact same look as the woodland scenics mixed gray/white blend in medium texture. He did the water/glue mix to secure the litter and it is bonded like CONCRETE.I do not know if it is because it is scoopable or what but it looks great and holds great. Like he said, 4.00 for a small bag of woodland scenics ballast or 4.00 for 14 pounds of litter. I know that the colors do not work for everyone but what do you think...
cat litter as ballast? Sounds crazy but....
- Thread starter dekker
- Start date
ballast
I thought kinda the same thing at first, I should have mentioned in my post that he put the litter through a strainer as he needed it. I don't know about the dust factor but I would think that if you are using small amounts at a time it should not be a problem, plus once you glue it down the dust goes away. Another neet thing I noticed that the stuff fresh from the box looks very clean and once it gets wet and dries it has a darker more wearthered look.
I thought kinda the same thing at first, I should have mentioned in my post that he put the litter through a strainer as he needed it. I don't know about the dust factor but I would think that if you are using small amounts at a time it should not be a problem, plus once you glue it down the dust goes away. Another neet thing I noticed that the stuff fresh from the box looks very clean and once it gets wet and dries it has a darker more wearthered look.
CP9302
Member
If your friend was able to make it work, give it a try... on a spare piece of rail.
As the owner of two cats, I don't think litter that has been wetted down looks like very good ballast at all. It usually becomes a clay like mass with little definition.
I have heard of people using non-clumping cat litter. I'd try the non-clumping type if I was going to experiment.
As the owner of two cats, I don't think litter that has been wetted down looks like very good ballast at all. It usually becomes a clay like mass with little definition.
I have heard of people using non-clumping cat litter. I'd try the non-clumping type if I was going to experiment.
Rico
BN Modeller
Our club tried using some kind of litter, likely not the clumping kind, and when we got back the following week the track was two inches off the ground! Turned out the litter swelled to over twice its size as it dried!
They then went with roofing grit from shingles... I'm not impressed with it.
As said above, try a test section and give it a few days.
They then went with roofing grit from shingles... I'm not impressed with it.
As said above, try a test section and give it a few days.
OldGettysk
Running the MC & Buffalo
I would stay with the Scenic ballast which is made from crushed nut shells !!.Is it worth the effort or cost saving ?
Trussrod
Well-Known Member
Another source yet for ballast!
When doing your ballasting you'll want to try and tie it in with the rest of the scenery for any given location as well as the material readly available there from a coloration, material and ground cover standpoint. Keeping some consistancy makes things a lot more believable and looks much more natural!
Now as far as looking natural your probably passing over and walking on something or it isn't too far away and its 'free' and that's dry dirt. If you happen to be anywhere near any cuts in hillsides of roads etc there is pleanty of loose dirt and rock in all different sizes which can be sifted too to get the desired consistency and various locations usually will yield different colorations to add interest to your layout for free too other than the time an a bit of gas. Just take a container or two along plus maybe a shovel or scoop. You might even have this available in your back yard as I do and in a variety of material consistencies.
So go outside and scout around, you'll be surprised at what is available as well as the variety to scoop up for free. Don't forget there are many types of small tree branches and twigs that can also be used for scenery too just lying around to be picked-up for free again.
As I've heard, in Paul Scoles Scenery Videos - really great information, use 3 parts of water to 2 parts of white glue and ad a few drops of dish soap to act as a wetting agent to get the misture to flow freely causing everything to readly adhere.
The fine non-clumping CL can be used but how much are you intending to ballast in that one shade? I'd say it would be better to vary the ballast along the main line and especially along spur sidings to different locations. Again dependent on the scenery and rock in that local.
It might make some difference if your talking mainline as compared to branch-line but I'm sure they would tend to make use of whatever is most readly available even on the real railroads.
HTH,
David
When doing your ballasting you'll want to try and tie it in with the rest of the scenery for any given location as well as the material readly available there from a coloration, material and ground cover standpoint. Keeping some consistancy makes things a lot more believable and looks much more natural!
Now as far as looking natural your probably passing over and walking on something or it isn't too far away and its 'free' and that's dry dirt. If you happen to be anywhere near any cuts in hillsides of roads etc there is pleanty of loose dirt and rock in all different sizes which can be sifted too to get the desired consistency and various locations usually will yield different colorations to add interest to your layout for free too other than the time an a bit of gas. Just take a container or two along plus maybe a shovel or scoop. You might even have this available in your back yard as I do and in a variety of material consistencies.
So go outside and scout around, you'll be surprised at what is available as well as the variety to scoop up for free. Don't forget there are many types of small tree branches and twigs that can also be used for scenery too just lying around to be picked-up for free again.
As I've heard, in Paul Scoles Scenery Videos - really great information, use 3 parts of water to 2 parts of white glue and ad a few drops of dish soap to act as a wetting agent to get the misture to flow freely causing everything to readly adhere.
The fine non-clumping CL can be used but how much are you intending to ballast in that one shade? I'd say it would be better to vary the ballast along the main line and especially along spur sidings to different locations. Again dependent on the scenery and rock in that local.
It might make some difference if your talking mainline as compared to branch-line but I'm sure they would tend to make use of whatever is most readly available even on the real railroads.
HTH,
David
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Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
I bought a 50# bag of course sand blasting sand yesterday for $4.65 that I'm going to try. It's just the right size for HO ballast. I can always color it w/paints.
I'll keep you up to date on my sand ballast.
I also use dirt for ballast & ground cover. Well, in Fla. everyone says it's brown sand. LOL
Larry
I'll keep you up to date on my sand ballast.
I also use dirt for ballast & ground cover. Well, in Fla. everyone says it's brown sand. LOL
Larry
OldGettysk
Running the MC & Buffalo
Larry I would still run a magnet through the sand before using it !
I am a newbie at model rr my self but have been reading alot on build the layouts and all that wonderfull great stuff
and one site was talking about the Cat litter... If I can find it i will let you know.. only thing i hate about cat litter for the ballast is that if the glue gets on the rail you are in trouble.. if you do use a VERY VERY VERY FINE grit sandpaper and LIGHTLY go over the litter on the track you can alson use the very fine grit to clean old tracks. i had about 50 peices of HO track that was all dirty to the point my train wouldnt run so i got sand paper and it work like a charm. after you sand use some Q-tips and Rubbing Alcohol and clean up the tracks a little and after the cat litter with all the dust from it your going to have to clean the tracks. if you dont u risk screwing up your train. another thing you can try is the cork bed but you put the cat litter on that than you put the track on that
and one site was talking about the Cat litter... If I can find it i will let you know.. only thing i hate about cat litter for the ballast is that if the glue gets on the rail you are in trouble.. if you do use a VERY VERY VERY FINE grit sandpaper and LIGHTLY go over the litter on the track you can alson use the very fine grit to clean old tracks. i had about 50 peices of HO track that was all dirty to the point my train wouldnt run so i got sand paper and it work like a charm. after you sand use some Q-tips and Rubbing Alcohol and clean up the tracks a little and after the cat litter with all the dust from it your going to have to clean the tracks. if you dont u risk screwing up your train. another thing you can try is the cork bed but you put the cat litter on that than you put the track on that I'd really lobby against cat litter for ballast. It doesn't really look much like ballast, it's dusty, and it's full of impurities. Unless you have a gigantic layout, ballast is a very small cost fo the total scenery. You'll probably end up spending less that $25 on good ballast on a medium size layout. The few bucks you'd save using cat litter will not compensate for all the problems it will cause.
litter
I have decided to not use the litter(as far as for ballast). I will more than likely use a different mixter of woodland s. ballast. Just as one of you posted, the price for W/S ballast is not really that much more and I do not need all that litter. Thanks for all of your input. Mark
I have decided to not use the litter(as far as for ballast). I will more than likely use a different mixter of woodland s. ballast. Just as one of you posted, the price for W/S ballast is not really that much more and I do not need all that litter. Thanks for all of your input. Mark
JazzDad
Gandy Dancer
I used cat litter for the ballast in these shots: http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8961
I used the old style, which is clay, and sifted it down to size. I know- it's too big, but it was cheap. And (added bonus) the cats appreciated the larger leftover granules in their box.
I believe the "clumping" variety would swell and lift the track from the roadbed. I'd even be concerned that ambient air moisture might be picked up, let alone affixing it with matte medium and wet water.
I used the old style, which is clay, and sifted it down to size. I know- it's too big, but it was cheap. And (added bonus) the cats appreciated the larger leftover granules in their box.
I believe the "clumping" variety would swell and lift the track from the roadbed. I'd even be concerned that ambient air moisture might be picked up, let alone affixing it with matte medium and wet water.
