Thank you! I had thought about something similar, though the ratio of the materials mix is VERY helpful. My biggest problem so far is finding a texture that's small enough for N scale. The smallest ballast/sand mixes still seem more suited to a very coarse gravel (see the gravel pit where that green fuel tank is) and would have too much texture for asphalt. Heck, it really has too much texture to even be believable gravel. Mixed in with paint, though (esp. the black latex (actual house paint) that I already did use on the road surface (thinking that thick house paint might leave some texture behind), maybe it could be do-able if the paint will sort of fill in between the grains. I'll do an off-layout test section and see.
BY THE WAY: For those who haven't seen the similarity, those pre-made asphalt road section rolls? Those are basically roofing "felt" paper, other than just having the yellow lines painted on. I got those road sections as part of a collection I purchased, and once I noticed that I went to the hardware store and bought a HUGE (really...HUGE) 4' x 60' (yes, those are the dimensions, in FEET) roll of roofing felt for under $15. It's the exact same material, goes down just the same, just doesn't have the pre-painted lines. And that one roll is going to last an entire lifetime and more. So if you do use those (like pictured above), there is a much cheaper alternative. I'm still going to use that as a good solid road "base" even if I do find the right mix of texture paving to put down on top of it. It just makes a good structural support.
Okay. That's it. Anyway...I do love how much layout I can fit into a given space using N scale, but it does suffer in the detailing. That's one reason I know I'm eventually going to set up a second HO layout, even if it's nothing but a small switching setup. Too much satisfaction in getting those details just right to not have ANY outlet for it.
-Mike
