I am looking for advice on this Highball N ballast that I just received. First let me say that I am a complete novice about ballasting and I have never done ballast work in my life. What I am wondering about is do you think that this ballast is the correct size? It is Highball N scale ballast in a gray mix. The color is exactly what I expected and wonderful but I didn't expect some of it to be so fine. I realize that it is N scale and that it should be small. I sifted the 1 lb bag of ballast and 3/4 of it is the fine stuff on the right. Does that seem right to you? Anyone familiar with this product your input is much appreciated. Thanks! Walter PS.....larger image is in photo section but I cant figure out how to post it here.
Here is a good way to tell if ballast is the right size. Go to Industrial Supplies and order their nylon mesh #'s CNM 0425 and CNM 0250. These have mesh openings of .0168 and .0098 respectively. This will give ballast that is about 1.5-2.7 inches in size. Get the 6x12 inch piece of mesh and build a wood frame for two sieves. Then pass your ballast thru them. The large stuff that does not go thru the larger mesh can be recrushed to get smaller sized particles. Do not use anything that goes through the smaller mesh. That will eliminate the "fines". You can use the "fines" elsewhere such as a gravel parking lot. Use whatever goes thru the large screen but not through the small screen as ballast.
I think it is probably the correct size. You can email Highball and they will tell you. Highball touts their ballast as being the correct size for scale, IIRC. I'm sure it is an excellent product. Scale ballast is very, very small in N scale. The Belmont Shore club had scale ballast way back in 1975 made from crushed walnut shells. It almost looked like dust it was so fine. I have to say that I didn't like it too much [edit] but not because of appearance. Newer ballasting is now done with commercial products. I would like to be satisfied with the appearance, regardless of the scale. If it is slightly larger than scale, it is no problem, IMHO. I use Arizona Rock and Mineral ballast. [edit] I would say the large ballast in your picture is much too large. Also, I definitely recommend real rock ballast to ease the ballasting process.
Really? I love highball ballast. Layouts ballasted with that look so much better than using WS. Its finer and close to scale. The mercedes of ballast. Go ahead and use it, it will look great.
Instead of using the 'dime', take a picture with a vehicle; or better yet, a scale figure. If the ballast is the size of the figures head... its too large. If it is the size of its hand... its about right.
Highball Ballast is NOTORIOUS for surface tension and "floating" when the air beneath breaks through the surface tension. I would suggest a wetting heavily with rubbing alcohol in a fine mist spray bottle. Then after well saturated wet with a 25% alcohol to water mix. Then apply diluted white glue cut with more rubbing alcohol. Hope that helps, T
another photo of ballast Here's another scan of the ballast with some better reference items. the track on top is code 80 Atlas 9.75" R (scan is bottom of track) a couple of scale figures that came with a N scale building and a resin car. Once again I cant seem to get the photo any larger (I may figure it out one day,maybe) Flash- I have never found an email address for Highball or even a website. The vendor where I purchased the ballast was most helpful in an email reply to me. He advised that this looks like the other Highball N ballast that they have in stock. Also the larger stuff seems to look like a small HO ballast and the fine stuff is what's in the Z scale ballast bag. So this is sort of a blend of HO and Z. The ratio is 3/4 fine and 1/4 larger. The photo (scan) doesnt really show the colors all that well but it is called "gray mix" and looks great in person. Dave Frary sez in his book How to build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery that "a good rule of thumb is to always choose stone one size smaller than you think you need. If your layout is HO, choose N scale ballast". Anyone using Z scale ballast on their N track? Thanks for all the replies.........helps a lot.
The reason your image is so small is that you are linking to the thumbnail image... not the regular image. In RailImages, click on your thumbnail so that it will bring up the regular sized image, then, use the 'properties' of that regular image in the ["img"] & ["/img"]. From what I can see... some of the Highball product on the right is a little too large... while the finer product on the left is a little too small. A larger picture would help, but, right now the finer product looks more to scale for the ballast. If you were to put some of that product on the right on top of the car... it would look like landscape boulders.
I didn't either. I don't know how to contact them. I made the photos larger. Calzephyr has posted the procedure.
I posted above how to achieve protypical scaled ballast for 1:160 scale. If one does follow what I posted they will probably find what I found. That is that the majority of the balast is not 1:160 scale even if it says N scale on the package. Here is why. The ballast material is screened depending on scale. Let's assume the supplier has ballast in scales from G down to N. He has a series of sieves of different size openings that corresponds to each scale. The first sieve is for G scale. the second for O scale, third is for HO and fourth for N. Material is placed on the first sieve. Some passes through to the second and stays there. But some passes through to the third screen where again some is retained and some passes through. You get the picture. Okay the stuff that did not pass through the first screen needs to be re crushed because it is too big. The stuff that passed through the first screen but was trapped by the second is G scale ballast, the stuffed that passed through the first two screens but not the third is O scale and the stuff that passed through the first three sieves but not the fourth is HO. Now comes the part that interests us. All of the material that passes through all four of the screens is labeled N scale or maybe labelled "fine". Being the last in line means we get everything that is left even if it is too small. Currently I am not aware of any ballast supplier that separates ballast into 1:160 (N) and 1:220 (Z) scales. The end result is when we ballast our track the presence of all the sub 1:160 particles or "fines" essentially become mud when wet and causes the ballast to lose its texture. Screening out the fines will result in a lot less ballast material but look a lot better.
Inkaneer, I agree with your previous post for screening the materials from ANY manufacturer claiming to have N scale ballast (or Coal or any other rock-like material). Thanks for the link to Small Products Inc. I have ordered to follow those instructions. BTW... some of those finer screens... albeit expensive... might also be useful for making chain link fence... canvas covers etc
I screened out all of the fines and it's 3/4 of the package. The rest is the larger stuff thats in the photo.
Yep. That is what I found too. When you screen out the stuff that is too small you end up with very little that is usable. That's the way it is when you are at the end of the line.
So get a larger grade? Then it would be better to get the larger grade... HO scale and then crush it yourself to get the correct sizes?
Picked up a container of WS Fine gray blend at a train show for 5 bucks this weekend. It looks perfect, all the ballast is uniform in size. Goes down easy too, dont know what all the fuss is about. So problem solved! Woohoo!!!
That won't solve the problem because when you re-crush the HO material you will be creating "fines" as well as the right size stuff. In the end you are no better off. Better to take the "fines" and use them elsewhere on the layout such as a gravel road or parking lot, a material pile at a concrete or asphalt plant., etc. The problem with the WS stuff is that it is organic material [Walnut shells?] and not inorganic rock. Inorganic rock is preferred over organic material because unlike organic material the rock will not absorb moisture. When organic material like walnut shells or wood absorbs moisture it swells like a sponge. When it dries out it will shrink. Over time it will loosen and may get into locomotive mechanisms. In addition, it will float on water so when you go to fix it in place it won't stay where you want it.
I did a rough estimate of the size of the ballast in the picture based off of the size compared to the dime. I was able to guestimate the size of the fine material to be roughly 1" diameter in N scale. The nominal size of the larger pieces is about 8". without being able to measure the pieces these are only estimates. Dan
Good for you! I have used both Ws and Highball.I prefer woodland scenics becuse of its ease of use.The surface tension issue with Highball leaves a great deal of your work floating to the top,often leaving a hard crust on top with loose inorganic matter below.I think we all have to find a level of realism vs. workability in this hobby.I mean,what exactly is the "standard" for prototype ballast? No two stones are exactly the same size.For this very reason, some modelers never get started because they are caught up by the scale perfection trap.
I havent had any floating issues with the WS at all. And I found it to be WAY easier to spread than the dust in the real rock product.
