Ballast for 1:32

[seagull]

Hi, I'm trying to buy some ballast for my father's 1:32 train.  Can anyone tell me if I want fine, medium or coarse please?  Also, does anyone know how much you get in each packed?  Many thanks.

[simkon]

Are you sure your father has a 1:32 scale train or does he have Guage 1; it would be highly unlikely that he has 1:32 as the only manufacturers that I know of for this scale is Accucraft & Aster Hobbies which is live steam. 1:32nd is larger than O scale which is 1:48 (Lionel or Williams) trains but smaller than G (large or garden) scale (LGB, Aristocraft, & USA trains). Large scale varies from 1:20th to 1:29th.
The amount of ballast included depends on the manufacturer and the type you want depends on the scale and what you are modeling.

[seagull]

Yes sorry, it's gauge 1. Thanks for your reply

[Jim Banner]

Gauge I track, 45 mm between the rail heads, is used for various scales from the 1:32 trains produced by Marklin and others to the 1:20.3 trains produced by Bachmann and even beyond.  But is your father's railroad is in the garden, there are factors other than exact scale which affect the size of ballast.  If his trains are around 1:32 scale, the "correct" size for the ballast would be about 1/16" sand, about the size of what we use in the bottom of the canary's cage.  Used outdoors, it will likely blow away in the first wind.  And when seen from normal viewing distances, this fine sand will not look like gravel at all unless you are blessed with 40/20 vision.  The solution, in the garden, is to use over sized ballast.  Most of us in Saskatoon use #2 chicken grit made of crushed granite and available from our local seed and feed dealers.  The individual grains are about 3/16" across, which is large enough to look like gravel at normal viewing distances.  The grains are also heavy enough that they do not blow away and are rough and angular enough that they tend to interlock so that they do not wash away too easily.

If your father's railway is indoors, a somewhat smaller gain size is appropriate.  The group I model with has a large, portable, indoor layout where we run everything from 1:29 scale to 1:20.3 scale on the same gauge I track.  Because weight is a concern (we are all old guys) we used Kitty Litter for ballast, crushing it a bit and running it through a 1/8" sieve, then a 1/16" sieve.  The portion that passed through the 1/8" sieve but not through the 1/16" sieve was used for ballast.  The material that passed through the 1/16" sieve was used for gravel roads.  In both cases, we spread it in place then sprayed it with a fine spray of water using an old Windex bottle, and finally soaked it with a 50:50 mixture of white glue and water.  This keeps the ballast in place even when we move the sections of the railway or vacuum it to clean it.  It your father's railway is indoors but never moved, then granite chicken grit is probably a better choice because it is pre-sieved.  Because indoor layouts are generally viewed closer up, the #1 (smaller) chicken grit can be used.  It can be left loose or glued down as explained above.

A final note of track size:  gauge I is also often referred to a G-gauge.  However, I and the fellows I model with insist that that term does NOT stand for GEEZER GAUGE!  And I am sure your father will agree.

Hope this helps.

Jim

[JerryB]

Simkon:

I don't understand why you write that ". . . it would be highly unlikely that he has 1:32 . . ." scale trains? 1:32 scale is the correct scale / gauge combination for standard gauge model trains running on 45mm (Gauge 1) track, and has a very large following.

I also noticed that no one mentioned Mike's Train House (MTH), one of the leading suppliers of 1:32 scale trains.

As to the OP's question, if you are looking at those small bags of ballast material available from the hobby shops and on-line, you would probably want the coarsest material. Those small packages are really designed to be used with smaller scale trains. You might have a hard time affording enough material in those bags to scenic a 1:32 layout.

Instead, follow Jim Banner's suggestions on other materials not usually purchased from a model RR shop or on-line supplier. I screen my ballast for my 1:20.3 scale RR out of a very large pile of mixed sand and gravel. The gravel is used as underlayment for the roadbed. It truly does take a lot of material to ballast large scale track.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

[simkon]

Although it may have a large following in your eyes, the way I see it is that it is not the most popular with HO, O, N & OO having a large following, as well as a few main G gauge scales like 1:20.3, but not 1:32. Then there are less popular scales like S & Z and 1:32 Gauge 1. Most people on this forum either refer to HO, N, O/On30 or 1:20.3 Large Scale, so without knowing much about the person or situation, due to the lack of popularity of that particular scale as opposed to the aforementioned made me think that perhaps they may have actually meant a different scale.

[Jim Banner]

... it is not the most popular with HO, O, N & OO having a large following ...

Why are we suddenly bringing small scales into a discussion about the relative popularity of large scale trains running on 45 mm track?  Who would be foolish enough to pop into the middle of a discussion on sport cars to tell us that mini vans, pickup trucks, and full sized cars also have large followings?  Neither has any relevance to the subjects under discussion.

Scales 1:32, 1:29, 1:24, 1:22.4, and 1:20.3 are popular scales to run on 45 mm. track, and all have their following.  Other scales, ranging from 1:60 to 1:8 are also used but tend to be anything from less popular to downright obscure.  Just because Bachmann has popularized 1:20.3 scale, thus making it the most commonly discussed large scale of this forum, does not mean that 1:20.3 scale will be the most popular large scale on all fora.  Pop over to Aristo-Craft sometime and see what scale is most often discussed there.

Below is a photo of ballasted 45 mm. gauge track.  Does it matter which of the many scales are run on it?  What does matter is that this is what gauge I track looks like when ballasted with #2 chicken grit.



If he would like to contribute something useful to the discussion, perhaps simpkon could explain why so many different scales are run on one gauge of track in large scale while in the small scales, we tend to stick to the standard scales and vary the track gauge to suit.

Jim

[Woody Elmore]

Jim: as you know the G gauge saga is way too involved to explain here in much detail. I know that Marklin used 45 mm to represent european meter gauge track for the LGB line. I read somewhere that the Aristo 1:29 proportion developed when HO plans (1:87 proportion) were enlarged three times (3 times 29 is 87). 1:32 scale is supposedly representative of regular standard gauge US models. That scale is, I believe, three eights inch equals a foot.

Speaking of gauges, back in the ealy Twentieth century all the train makers used different gauges. Lionel called their gauge Standard Gauge. Not too much later all the competitiors were using the Lionel gauge - such was the power of the Lionel brand.