Ballast Preference

I am curious what everyone uses for ballast for their layouts. I am mainly interested in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada area. Any suggestions on brands, color, size and other materials other than commercial that can be used.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Thanks,

Jerry

GEOsystem Aquariam Substrate is what i use for gravel, made by HAGEN. www.hagen.com

TerryH

Thanks for the info Terry. I checked the Hagen website and found this product available to Canada but not the US. My store does business with Hagen and I'll see what our rep can do. My boss suggested going to our bulk sand supplier but what grain size would look realistic?

Thanks,

JC

I am using Woodland Scenics fine size. Not sure if this is good stuff, it is certainly a pain, but I will put up some photos soon.

JC, if it was actual Z scale it would probably be dust I don't think it matter too much so long as it sits nicely between the ties and is not metallic. This is just my opinion. TerryH

Jerry
I mix several color shades of Woodland Scenics ballast to make what I use on my UP western layout. I use mostly fine grey, but mix in two types of fine brown, and a little fine black to create the mix. Next I sift the mixture through a tea bag strainer to remove all the larger agragate from the finds. I loose about 25% in this process, but the resulting fines work well for me. I have found that too large of agragate looks weird, and gives trouble laying down between the ties.

Tony B...
Wasatch Z Club)

Thanks to all for your advice!


Jerry

Tony:

I was just thinking the other day about how to break down to smaller fines. The tea bag strainer sounds like a good idea. Thanks for sharing.

Jeremy