ballast for ho

[paulb321]

 :)What would be the proper size to use for the ballast.I am
going to use Woodland Scenics ballast,I see they have "course,
medium,and fine".This for an ho layout.Maybe it is a personal
prefirence,I don't know for sure.Thanks for your thoughts.

[SteamGene]

Medium and or fine.  Try mixing. 
Gene

[r.cprmier]

Go out to the mainline wit ha set of dial calipers and measure several pieces of traprock in the ballasted system.  That done, get the set of dial calipers and measure pieces of ballast from Woodland Scenics et al ballast, and make your choice.  Most ballast I have seen is around #2 stone; but that will vary as to the native stone, the process used in manufacturing their traprock, and the price the railroad was willing to pay.  In the New Haven area, there is New Haven Traprock Inc, which supplied most if not all of the traprock for the New Haven railroad, and most of that was #2.  I am sure that would be in keeping with the average.

The old reprobate

[Tom McDonald]

Paul,
I've done a mixture of medium and fine as Gene had said.  However I found out the hard way that the medium ballast between the rails has a tendency to not pack as tightly as the fine ballast.  Consequently, I was getting derailed frequently because pieces of the medium ballast would get stuck where the rail touches the tie causing the wheel to derail.  After several scrapings on the inside of the rail, I removed the offending ballast granules.  The point is I would use strictly the fine ballast between the rails, and the mixture of medium and fine everywhere else. 
Just a thought.

Tom

[Yampa Bob]

The railroads are feeling the pinch for rock and gravel.  Last year I paid  $7 a ton wholesale for 3/4" washed rock, this year it jumped to $14.  Cost of hauling went from $75 an hour to $110.  We need about 300 ton to finish our circle drive. 

One MOW worker said smaller rock had better compaction but cost requires using larger. The shoulders and slopes are cinders that have been there for 50 years.  They had to quit using cinders for the tie areas, due to water retention and abrasion.

Bob