# What type of dirt to use along side ballast?



## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Decomposed granite appears to work well for ballasting track but for the parts of the garden railway where there will be buildings, trees, plants, and hills what type of soil or rock are people using and how do they place or use it?


Is it a wise idea to put 3"-4" base of decomposed granite _everywhere_ for simplicity and just spread a thin or thick layer of topsoil on top, or dig out sections of DG where plants and trees will be? Or can DG compact too much and cause various problems?


Also how easily can you build small 1' high hills for elevated track with DG?


Maybe it's a good idea to use something else as a general base for a railway area like 1/4", 1/2" or 3/4" minus gravel and put the DG only where the track will go and topsoil everywhere else? I'm personally working on 100% clay/silt ground that settles really bad and doesn't drain water well either, which is why I'm trying to use something that will settle less (DG/gravel).

Thanks,


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Bumping the thread, still wondering... Today I got two samples of DG, one brown and one white. The white is about varies from about 3/8"x1/4" pieces down to stone dust and the brown is 1/2"x1/4" pieces down to stone dust. I ballasted some SVR code 250 "test" track with the brown and a #10 sand (my previous experiment with the sand showed #10 looked realistic but doesn't 'lock' well at all, and the rain washes it away a bit,) 

I also saw something (local item?) called Utelite that's mainly used for soil conditioning. It's slightly light weight with very slightly sharp edged and about 1/8" minus material. I read it's made of crushed shell though that could be wrong. Anyone have experience with this?

Anyway, figuring out what some options are for dirt around the railroad is now the only thing holding up for my railroad going in. I think I'll kill the grass or dig it out, put down a weed barrier (maybe not? thoughts?) and then put one of these or another dirt product on top but I have about 800sqft of grass to cover that will become railroad right of way, forests, villages, and so on and I'm just not sure how I should proceed with all these areas. I'm not sure if DG drains, if plants can live in it alone, how well it mounds, and so on... I could really use any comments on experiences others have had... The ground under the grass is pure clay, nasty stuff that always seems to be moving and settling.


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## Tom Bowdler (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Brandon, 
You don't say where you're located which can influence the best practice for railway construction. I am in western upstate NY and the method I used works well here where winters are severe and summers are quite warm, horticultural Zone 5. I wanted a raised railway which was a garden feature so i surrounded the area (about 15' x 40') with stones to raise it about 1' above grade and filled the area where the roadbed would go with soil. I am fortunate to have a source of pieces of the local sedimentary limestone/sandstone which I used to either dry lay retaining walls or lay on edge (be sure to tilt it back into the hill) to raise the level and provide areas of soil higher than the right of way. If you study full scale railways you will note that they are very level while the terrain around them rises and falls and that the ballast is raised above the surrounding grade for drainage. 
Taking my cue from the prototype I dug a trench about 6" deep under the track location and filled it with #2 gravel. This provided drainage. On top of that I created a ballast profile with 1A gravel which is smaller than what you have obtained and is washed to remove the stone dust. My track was Aristo sectional, some components of which I modified the curvature by hand, (this was in 1994 before dual railbenders) to fit my track plan. Each spring I needed to do some leveling and reballasting but I found it pleasant work along with pruning and trimming the foliage, and other garden chores. On top of the hills I planted Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Blue Spruce and some other deer-resistant evergreens. Over the years they grew together to resemble a thick forest and as a visual block of one side of the railway from the other so the trains disappeared and reappeared. Many other perennials and ground covers were used and since I like a more decrepit narrow gauge look were allowed to grow into the ballast from the surrounding soil. 
This formula was successful for 12 years until a move allowed me to build a new railway. I have built a raised, level frame for my live steam railway but I use similar techniques for the landscaping aspect of the new railway since it served so well at my former location only a few miles away from where we now reside. I believe that drainage is the key to a successful ground level or nearly so railway, as it seems that you are planning, no matter what the climate. It is still possible to integrate it nicely into the landscape while making running trains much more reliable and enjoyable. 
Have fun, 
Tom


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

Utah, 6b. 

Dwarf Alberta's and other plants grew fine in $2 gravel? ... Okay, if that works I imagine DG would be fine for growing plants as well. I'm surprised there's no top soil mixed in. 

I guess I'll try to swing a 3/4" rock, for 2", 1" of 1/2" gravel, then 1" to 12" DG on top for track, plants, buildings, etc...


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## Tom Bowdler (Jan 3, 2008)

No, 
The gravel is in a trench under the track. The rest of the railway is whatever I could find for fill; dirt, some sand, sawdust from my shop dust collector, sod from other garden projects etc. Because the whole railway is raised I didn't have a need for drainage tile under the track as some do and I didn't use weed barrier either. In the garden areas of my new railway I'm using gravel for some of the fill since it is cheaper and there is a quarry about 2mi away then covering it with sufficient soil as planting beds.


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## Bob Pero (Jan 13, 2008)

I used roofing grit for my ballast since it is finer than the DG. I used weed cloth over most of the layout and covered it with DG. See my website at www.liveroakrr.com


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