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Ballast Color Scenery and structures
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Regular poster 114 posts hoffertg Regular poster 114 posts
hoffertg

Does anyone know what the original color was for the Monon (CIL) railroad ballast which ran through Indiana from Chicago, IL to Louisville,KY?
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blindog10 Prolific poster 3,315 posts
blindog10

Mostly white in my pics

No wait, that was snow......

Most lines in the Midwest in the diesel era* were ballasted with locally sourced limestone, and that ranges from nearly white to a dark grey.  Light to medium grey is more common.  And from looking at some '60s pics of Monon trains on the mainline suggests light and medium grey are your answers.  So you probably need to specify a certain line segment if you want a more specific answer.

*The Chicago & North Western preferred "pink lady" granite from a company-owned quarry in Wisconsin, so they were the biggest exception. 

Scott Chatfield 
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gmpullman Prolific poster 1,126 posts
gmpullman
LOTS of Monon photos here:

http:// https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/albums/72157640326682563

Sadly, all B&W but there sure are many good shots, even closeups, of the ballast work. As Scott mentions, it sure looks like the "new" ballast is very close to white limestone.
[12296774654_bdff8991d2_o]CI+L383 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr

This looks more like a "salt & pepper blend?
[50864499038_4056790be3_o]CIL Cedar Lake IND MP 38-2 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr


Good Luck, Ed

Travel and Sleep In Pullman Safety and Comfort!
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Pennsy_Nut Prolific poster 3,624 posts
Pennsy_Nut
Don't forget for the steam era. The center of the track was dirtier from ashes, soot, and such. So I laugh at "original color". That's a heck of a long time ago.

Morgan Bilbo, DCS50, UR93, UT4D, SPROG IIv4, JMRI. PRR 1952.
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