Ballast - would you do it this way?

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Would you spend the time to sift material to get ballast?

  • Yes

    Votes: 15 35.7%

  • No

    Votes: 27 64.3%
  • Total voters
    42
thaddeusthudpucker said:
You could take it so far as to equip your hoppers with rotary couplers, build a couple of rotary dumpers, build an auger to haul it to the top of your mill, have a couple of vibrator motors in there, haul the too fine stuff off to the shore of the HO scale lake, haul the correct size stuff to the other end of the layout and have a separate dumper that dumps into a five gallon bucket that you would repackage and sell back to your LHS...

Sorry, did I go off on one of my tangents? :rolleyes:
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Hey Thadd. Sounds like a great idea. I love it!!! Let me know when it's finished.:D

Sorry but Leno is on and I gotta get back to my siften....
 


On the subject of sand.... sort of:
Did you know there are over 50 types and varieties of sand?
I live in rock country, just West of me is sand country with countless pits and piles.
There's even an automated dredge that floats around and has two clam shells that drop a few hundred feet down into the water!
Cool thing to model.
 
Ehhh, it's like project management - you have to allocate your resources. If you have lots of money, you can buy things to save time. If you have lots of time, you can (usually) save money by scratchbuilding or whatever.

Personally, it's a game for me to find materials for cheap or free that hobby shops charge big bucks for. The best example I've found is the graphite-based stuff that people use for weathering. Found it online for $10 a gallon with shipping - the hobby suppliers charge $9 for 8 OUNCES of the stuff. Or the little machinist's squares that the LHS charges $10 for which I found at Ace Hardware for $2 in the bargain bin. Quite the racket.

Conversely, I'd never scratchbuild a piece of rolling stock - I don't have the skills or the time or the patience to do that.
 
Beachbum,

Well said. Sometimes the task at hand is beyond my abilities and I have to buy "it". But where my patience, time and ingenuity can save me from getting ripped off, I'll do it.;)
 
Rico said:
On the subject of sand.... sort of:
Did you know there are over 50 types and varieties of sand?
Click to expand...

Rico,

I've actually heard of people who collect different types of sand from around the world. Boy that would be waaaayyyyyy too exciting for me.:D
 
Its all a personal question of how much money is your time worth. If your retired, got the time, or just want to do it 'old school', thats your perogative so go for it.

A craft chain called AC Moore runs 50%off coupons once a week typically in sunday paper. They have a decent WS section where w/coupon you get 32 oz for about $6.

The $12 Ill spend to ballast my layout justifies the gas id burn to find a rock/sand/gravel/quarry, and the time to collect, sift/clean the ballast.
 
Lost the connection of the OP and having a beer on the porch. But if I do, its my beer and my porch. And in our town, it is not a violation of any law so no issue with a situational ethic.
 
bigB said:
Its all a personal question of how much money is your time worth. If your retired, got the time, or just want to do it 'old school', thats your perogative so go for it.

A craft chain called AC Moore runs 50%off coupons once a week typically in sunday paper. They have a decent WS section where w/coupon you get 32 oz for about $6.

The $12 Ill spend to ballast my layout justifies the gas id burn to find a rock/sand/gravel/quarry, and the time to collect, sift/clean the ballast.
Click to expand...

You forget that I live north of the 49th. Your $6 bag of ballast would cost me $12-15 after shipping.:rolleyes:

After about 4 hours work, I have over 9lbs of perfect grey ballast, 7lbs of coarse sand that I'll dye black for my yard and finally 10lbs of small crushed stones that I can use for scenery elsewhere. That's about $50 where I come from.;)

My total cost is a 20 mile round trip to the cement factory. At 42mpg with my Echo, my total outlay is about $1.50.:D

And I still have half a pail of unsifted manufactured sand left.:eek:

Oh, and Duckdogger won't have to preach to me about situational ethics since I asked the guy in the office for my pail of sand.:p
 


duckdogger said:
Lost the connection of the OP and having a beer on the porch. But if I do, its my beer and my porch. And in our town, it is not a violation of any law so no issue with a situational ethic.
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You might want to check up on the law about consuming alcohol in public.;)
 
cncproadwarrior said:
You forget that I live north of the 49th. Your $6 bag of ballast would cost me $12-15 after shipping.:rolleyes:

After about 4 hours work, I have over 9lbs of perfect grey ballast, 7lbs of coarse sand that I'll dye black for my yard and finally 10lbs of small crushed stones that I can use for scenery elsewhere. That's about $50 where I come from.;)

My total cost is a 20 mile round trip to the cement factory. At 42mpg with my Echo, my total outlay is about $1.50.:D

And I still have half a pail of unsifted manufactured sand left.:eek:

Oh, and Duckdogger won't have to preach to me about situational ethics since I asked the guy in the office for my pail of sand.:p
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Ya done good. :D There is a huge limestone quarry about a mile south of my place... hmmmm... ;)
 
Beachbum said:
Ya done good. :D There is a huge limestone quarry about a mile south of my place... hmmmm... ;)
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which one is that?

no quarries near me that i know of but there is a cement plant. was thinking of stopping by there to see what i can use
 
tankist said:
which one is that?

no quarries near me that i know of but there is a cement plant. was thinking of stopping by there to see what i can use
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If it's a cement plant, ask for "manufactured sand". That's what the guy there called it.;)


I'll take a few pics of my "booty" and post it later.
 
The first pic shows manufactured sand in it's raw form.

The second shows ballast.

The third shows coarse sand.

Forgot the crushed stone...
 
I have read that during the Spanish inquisition, model railroaders were punished for using horn-hook couplers. I am haunted by the images of the torture to this day.

The bishop of the Kadee province was suspected of collusion with the tribunal judiciary.
 


As if HH couplers weren't punishment enough...

OTOH, many times have I had a sagging Kadee shank, bent dragging "air hose", etc...
 
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