# indoor layout Ballast??



## todd55whit (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm ready to ballast my layout. All the rails are in, YEA! Now what to use? I thought about kitty litter. I use stone dust on the garden layout, probably not good inside. What does everyone else use? Oh yeah I checked out my local shop(mostly HO), Woodland scenics looks to small. Thanks for the help.....


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## SlateCreek (Jan 2, 2008)

I used stone dust on Mark I and plan to do so again. 

http://home.earthlink.net/~mbrown31/pic3.jpg


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2008)

depends on your scale. 

if you are more in the 1:20 or 1:22.5 group, i would recommend cat litter. 
if you don't like the colour, just dry mix it with dark grey portlandcement, lay it out and spray it over with some waterdust. 
(those manual spraycans, women have to either wet clothes for pressing or for wetting flowerleaves work fine) 

if you are more at 1:29 or 1:32, use swimmingpoolfilter sand. 
drymix it with blackpowder of the sort used by floorlayers, to darken the cement, they are using. 

i have used both, and been content. 
here a pic of the filtersand variation:


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Tidy Cats for Multiple Cats.  Bonded with matte medium diluted 50:50 with water.














Dawg


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## dawinter (Jan 2, 2008)

I've used medium to fine chicken grit. Very inexpensive and it 'locks' in place pretty well. 















Dave


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I went with the kitty litter. a couple dollar bag of the cheapy stuff got me enough to do it twice (good thing since I ended up losing a LOT of it in the move) Just make sure you don't get the pelletized stuff or the stuff with the stupid blue "odor crystals".


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Doesn't that stuff swell up when it gets wet? 

Regards, Greg


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## dawinter (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 04/13/2008 3:58 PM
Doesn't that stuff swell up when it gets wet? 

Regards, Greg





Chicken grit? No. Depending on where it's made it could be made out of oyster shells or crushed rock but it's very near indestructible. I used it outside every spring and it would last through the summer and into "no trains' season. 

Dave


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I use a pink crushed granite, I think it is called Rose Granite. It is the same color as what U.P. uses here in Iowa for ballast on their track and it is sized such that it looks to be in perfect scale for my pike. The only problem I have with it is that my track is so much lighter than the ballast that my track floats "ON" the ballast instead of "IN" the ballast... the more ballast I add the higher my track becomes after a train has passed over it a few times... the ties just work their way up on the ballast until they are completely on top of it.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

The cheapy clay kitty litter might swell a little when it gets wet, but how often does it rain in your dining room (If it does, you probably have more important things to worry about)? To hold it in place I use the tried and true white glue(or matte medium)/water/dish soap stuff....don't use too much dish soap or it will foam and you'll have funny petrified bubbles on the surface after it dries.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

I use chicken grit, but make sure it's the crushed granite and not the oyster shells. I use the "fine".


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## rgolding (Jan 2, 2008)

I've been happy with "Oil dry" that you get at an auto parts store.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rgolding on 04/14/2008 4:22 PM
I've been happy with "Oil dry" that you get at an auto parts store.




Oil dry and cheap unscented cat litter are the same thing, lol


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Tidy cat swelling... humidity over time should make it grow a bit... 

Greg


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

I'll be using Oil Dry or El Gato Cheepo Grande brand Kitty Litter, I might add some acrylic to stain it to match the local rocks so it looks like the ballast was made of whatever was readily available.


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## pacbelt (Jul 8, 2008)

There's a brilliant idea for those of us in the poor a$$ department!


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

I have used outside railroads a product sold for soaking up oil spills on garage floors. It is finely ground, like kitty litter. Most of these products are made from diatamaceous earth. Diatoms are small single cell organisms that secrete a siliceous cell or test. When they are packed togehr by the trillions in a rock it can be used to absorb moisture or oil (due generally do not swell). 

The typical color is a light gray but you can go to Home Depot or Lowe's and purchase a small bottle of concrete stain solution. Mix up the stain in a 5 gallon bucket and pour in the diatomaceous earth. This will stain the diatomaceous earth. I have seen black and reddish brown colors. 

A word of caution the diatomaceous earth will have fine silica dust in the bag, do not breathe in this dust. An old kitchen strainer and a bucket filled with water can be used to rinse the diatomaeous earth before staining. A good dust mask (not the cheapy paper ones) is also a healthy idea.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Heres a pic of mine after staining kitty litter for ballast


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## jr747 (Feb 7, 2008)

I use starter chicken grit but it's a little too light in color so I add coarse ballast that's all black and made by Woodland Scenics to give it some darker shades. The starter grit is really cheap and I've had to buy a whole bunch of it.


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## AppleYankee (Jan 3, 2008)

Hmmm I just finished putting "O" scale cork roadbed under all my track and it's time for ballast. Sooo.... Chicken gritt, Kitty Litter, Rock Dust or ...... 
























What is answer 

Jan /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/whistling.gif


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## Dennis Paulson (Jan 2, 2008)

Around here the chicken grit is crushed granite , and about $5.00 a 50 pound bag , grower size works for me here , have used starter grit the smallest also . 
For years I have chuckled everytime I have purchased some , when I remember what HO scale ballast cost for a little bitty bag , and now , buying it by the 50 pound bag , at not much more money .


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## Doug Bowman (Jan 8, 2008)

I use decomposed granite. I get it for the price of gas. If you sift it outside you can get rid of most of the dust.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

As department head and near Tucson I'd head out to a near by wash and harvest pebbles/gravel, my back yard, with a bucket (I use a kitty litter one) some small hole hardware cloth and a shovel. Unlike beack and river sand, wash sand is coarse and will hold it's shape. (beack above should read beach, but I can't get the cursor to work making me a curser! )
I winnow it on a windy day, the wind pulls out the dust and dirt when a shovel full is dropped from high above the bucket...

I just noticed that the quote is missing! This is in response to the 'cheap a**' modeler above. 

For indoors, where you can glue the stuff down, most anything will work. Many pics of early tracks showed dirt covering the center of the ties between the rails.... back in my old days, I mixed earth with diluted white glue and plastered the spot with it, this leaves a wet look. I found that I could sprinkle dry earth dust on top of the wet mix and it would stick, yet remain dry looking. Yep cheap as dirt+ the glue.

John


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By Dennis Paulson on 22 Aug 2008 12:03 PM 
Around here the chicken grit is crushed granite , and about $5.00 a 50 pound bag , grower size works for me here , have used starter grit the smallest also . 
For years I have chuckled everytime I have purchased some , when I remember what HO scale ballast cost for a little bitty bag , and now , buying it by the 50 pound bag , at not much more money . I go to the quarry and get it for about $22.00/Ton. They let me fill my five gallon buckets, then weigh my truck. I usually pick up about a half ton.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By Doug Bowman on 08 Jan 2010 09:11 AM 
I use decomposed granite. I get it for the price of gas. If you sift it outside you can get rid of most of the dust. 


The dust is what helps keep it together, after it has been wet a few times. Why would you sift it out?


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