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After a LONG search, I FINALLY located a local source for ballast material!
- I had originally tried looking for “crusher fines” or “decomposed granite”; when I walked into the garden center of Home Depot & asked for either of the former, the sales people looked at me as if I was from another planet.
/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/angry.gif I then noticed an ad for a local (@ 1 mile from our house!) building material supplier this past winter for something called “blue stone dust”; it looked a PERFECT “ballast grey” to me!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blush.gif
It also had a rough “toothy” texture to it, so it tends to stay put (a BIG consideration on an elevated layout!). I had thought I might have to actually “glue” it down somehow, but so far just wetting it down with a garden house after applying it seems to work fine; it seems to be staying in place so far, even after several heavy downpours this past week./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/satisfied.gif
- The first area to be done was the passing track area in front of the mine complex; last fall, in preparation for adding ballast, I had temporarily removed the screws holding the track to the HDPE roadbed, lifted the track a bit (with everything still fastened together), & slipped some porous plastic “weedblock” cloth underneath the track. The track was then screwed back down in place. (It sat like that all winter while I tried to find a ballast source). This picture shows that area just before the addition of the weedblock cloth…/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/ermm.gif
- And as the saying goes, “That was THEN, this is NOW!”/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif
- Happily, it’s also CHEAP!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif I didn’t want to “bust my hump” hauling it (or mess up my minivan’s nice interior), so I’ve been using a 40-lb. capacity cat litter bucket to pick it up; just go over to the bin they store it in, & shovel the bucket full. It’s cost me the grand sum of $1.58 per bucket; so far I’ve used 3 buckets, plan to pick up a 4th in the next couple of days. A little seems to go a LONG way; from what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s going to take only a total of 5 ~ 6 buckets to cover the ENTIRE railroad. This is still a “work-in-progress” at this point. (But it’s already made a HUGE difference in the railroad’s appearance).
- Of course, the “Bridge Inspector” had to check it out…/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif
- I’m hoping she DOESN’T confuse this with regular cat litter!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif
(Else I might have to haul out the Aristo snow plow for moving something a LOT more disagreeable than snow!)./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sick.gif So far, she seems to understand that it’s NOT the same!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif
/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gifTom

- I had originally tried looking for “crusher fines” or “decomposed granite”; when I walked into the garden center of Home Depot & asked for either of the former, the sales people looked at me as if I was from another planet.
It also had a rough “toothy” texture to it, so it tends to stay put (a BIG consideration on an elevated layout!). I had thought I might have to actually “glue” it down somehow, but so far just wetting it down with a garden house after applying it seems to work fine; it seems to be staying in place so far, even after several heavy downpours this past week./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/satisfied.gif

- The first area to be done was the passing track area in front of the mine complex; last fall, in preparation for adding ballast, I had temporarily removed the screws holding the track to the HDPE roadbed, lifted the track a bit (with everything still fastened together), & slipped some porous plastic “weedblock” cloth underneath the track. The track was then screwed back down in place. (It sat like that all winter while I tried to find a ballast source). This picture shows that area just before the addition of the weedblock cloth…/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/ermm.gif

- And as the saying goes, “That was THEN, this is NOW!”/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif


- Happily, it’s also CHEAP!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif I didn’t want to “bust my hump” hauling it (or mess up my minivan’s nice interior), so I’ve been using a 40-lb. capacity cat litter bucket to pick it up; just go over to the bin they store it in, & shovel the bucket full. It’s cost me the grand sum of $1.58 per bucket; so far I’ve used 3 buckets, plan to pick up a 4th in the next couple of days. A little seems to go a LONG way; from what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s going to take only a total of 5 ~ 6 buckets to cover the ENTIRE railroad. This is still a “work-in-progress” at this point. (But it’s already made a HUGE difference in the railroad’s appearance).
- Of course, the “Bridge Inspector” had to check it out…/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif

- I’m hoping she DOESN’T confuse this with regular cat litter!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif

(Else I might have to haul out the Aristo snow plow for moving something a LOT more disagreeable than snow!)./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sick.gif So far, she seems to understand that it’s NOT the same!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif

/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gifTom