Large Scale Central

Black Ballast

Track and Trestles
#1

Unlike my very unlucky good friend, “The Possum”, I have a huge dealer in rocks, sand, bark, etc, close to me. I am not fond of the light gray and white ballast everyone uses around here. So’s I go over and look around the sand lot. Here is 15 yards of black 3/8 and minus crushed basalt. With my riddles (screens or sieves), I can get it down to 1/4", then 3/16" and 1/8" if I need to. The 3/8 and above will be used for top fill. I think this is a lifetime supply, with a little left for my “good friends”. (maybe). TOG

#2

Is that true black? It looks like the grey trap rock ‘rock dust’ we get around here.

I’ve been contemplating using the small slate left over from coal mining, its really black. Just have to take a few buckets with me to York every year, and take a short trip off 81…

#3

Itsabout the same as yours, Bob.
Basalt is a dark gray when dry and really dark gray when wet.
It isn’t true coal black.
Everyone around here uses crushed granite, which is light gray to white and don’t resemble real ballast at all.
The BNSF around here uses basalt, so I got the real thing! And I ain’t no ribbet counter! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

TOG

#4

The “Stone Dust” or “crusher Fines” we have around here are Limestone.

Fr.Fred

#5

I use the same stuff. The guy I get it from says it comes from the same quarry that the GN (now BNSF) uses. Smallest size they sell is 3/8 minus, so, like JB, I screen the stuff. 1/4 minus works well for topdressing ballast.

It’s black enough. And it ain’t magnetic, I checked.

#6

While the BNSF uses basalt around here, the grey crushed granite is also a common ballast on many railroads. It’s just a matter of what you are use to looking at.

#7

I like the look of either the black or grey. If you travel to Montana you will see alot of redish color ballast on the old Northern Pacific rail now owned by Montana Rail Link.

I need to find some of this color.

Chuck

#8

Chuck,

All of my ballast is the reddish maroon color. Its the small rock they use for seal coating asphalt roads here. I’m in good with the city’s street dept. manager so after they sweep up the leftover rock and pile it in the back I am free to use what I wish.

Andre’

#9
Chuck Inlow said:
I like the look of either the black or grey. If you travel to Montana you will see alot of redish color ballast on the old Northern Pacific rail now owned by Montana Rail Link.

I need to find some of this color.

Chuck


They have that color over at the yard.
But you’ll have to get Wayne S. to crush it.
Unless they let us take a riddle over there and sift it our selves and just pay for the bucket of fines.
Heck, it might even be free!
TOG

#10

That redish/maroon colored rock is out of Northern Wyoming. While on my way to Marty’s I noticed that even the hills in some places were of that rock. One part of the interstate was being rebuilt and that was the color of the bare ground. They also use it in road construction…pink highways…:smiley:

#11

Everyone around here uses crushed granite, which is light gray to white and don’t resemble real ballast at all! I would love to have about 10 tons of that. Here in Az everyone uses natural decomposed granite which matches the natural ballast used on the RRs around here. But I grew up in northern Pennsylvania. The ballast there was light gray. (I think they used the slag out of the steel mills but I’m not sure about that). The dark gray or brown ballast looks so unreal to me. I don’t want to ballast my RR until i can find something I like.