I like it I qill have to give

Grout vs Ballast

This is all handlaid track but I used thin ties so it didn't require too much grout to cover them.  One big advantage I see is it doesn't get static electricity when you brush it like my ballast does.  My plan for the full sized ties is to use sand with a thin layer of grout on top.  I'll report how that works.

Peter

Man thats some great looking

It is..........

code 100 because my RR is a ramshackled logging road in the Adirondack mountains of NY state.  To my eye the smaller rail looks better with the finer than ballast grout.  Thanks for the kind words.

Peter

Perfect size for HO!

What brand and color are you using in the photo?  Does the final color look darker than the dry?  

I have a lot of area to cover and this looks to be much cheaper than ballast.

Paul

Sanded grout colors

Paul,

I went to both Lowes and Home Depot, see links below.  The HD link with the Polyblend shows all the colors and they are very accurate.  For the area shown in the photos I used HD sandstone (Behind and around the turntable where there are no tracks) and Charcoal everywhere else.  After it was down, I shaded the Charcoal with Laticrete 1525 Natural Grey a tiny bit.  Being a powder, it darkens when wet but when it dries it is exactly the color shown on the charts.  I apply it using a small sieve as it can get little chunks in it.  

BTW I also use various colors for "Zip Texturing" the scenery shell.  You can sieve it directly onto wet latex paint or bare plaster/homasote/plywood/foam as long as you make the area wet first with a "wet water" spray.  Once down spray it a bit more but not so much that the water puddles and causes running although I do this on purpose on hill sides and other appropriate areas. 

It's cheap and it goes a long way.  The latex in it gives it a certain amount of flexibility and strength.  As to turning everything into a concrete slab-no it does not.  It will come up easily scraping it with a flat piece of thin wood and a stiff bristle brush.

You can also mix the colors together before applying to get exactly the look you're trying for. (suggest you do this with a tablespoon measure and keep track so you can duplicate it later)

Experiment-have fun....................

Peter

http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogDisplay?Ntt=laticrete+1524&storeId=10151&N=0&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&rpp=24

http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring/h_d1/N-5yc1vZaq7r/Ntk-All/Ntt-polyblend/h_d2/Navigation?Ntx=mode+matchall&catalogId=10053&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&langId=-1&storeId=10051&primarySearchOnly=true&currentPLP=true&omni=c_Flooring&searchNav=true

It looks really good!

I'll have to try the wet water pre-spray for my zip texturing.  Thanks for the pics and the tips.

Glad to be able to Returning the favor................

................for your help ingetting the Hairinator, er, Grassinator going!!!

Peter

Tile grout

Peter, I really like how this turned out with the grout. Can anybody tell me what the difference is between sanded and non-sanded tile grout?

Steve

Grout

Whether or not it contains sand in the mix.

Sand

Whether or not it contains sand in the mix.

That make sense. Thanks Alan

Steve

Why sanded vs unsanded grout

The reason for the sand in it is to span a greater gap such as in floor tile vs tight fitting bath tiles which only need pure grout.  I have not tried unsanded as it looks just like colored plaster to me.  Might be useful in zip texturing..........

Peter

What's the Scale?

I had originally assumed this was HO scale, but then noticed your comment about using code 100 rail.  What scale is this modeling in?

Jack

This is O scale.......

The RR is O standard and On30.  If it was HO, it would have been code 50 rail to look so small. (It's funny, it looks "normal" to me!)

So far I've only got this one area with O gauge track and ballast down and took the pictures to show some one who asked what sanded grout looked like on the layout.  I built the turntable and all the tracks as well as the floor of the engine house in my workshop then plopped it down on the RR.  It sure got a lot heavier than when I first took the ply/homasote piece off!!

Peter

WOW Grout as Ballast

What a great idea!

When starting to ballast in my Z scale layout, the Woodland Scenics Fine Ballast looked HUGE, then I remembered this article and figured what the heck give it a shot! 

So very happy with the results! The size looks good and works just like the Woodland Scenics ballast.

I'll be using sanded grout for all my Z scale track from here on out!

Thanks for the great idea!

Dave

Grout again

Hi Folks,

I have used a combination of a light brown and a sandstone grout to creat my dirt roads on my layout. It’s really great. 

Also, I mixed grout with child’s play sand from Home Depot and ballasted my track. I model on On3 and all my track is hand laid. The ballast works really well. However, once set up is is rock solid. You have to break it up if you want to make a change as opposed to wood glue which can be softer with a spray bottle and then removed  the grout surfaces when dry seem impervious to water.  

The photos that Peter has posted look excellent. I really like the realistic effect. 

Cheers,

Sanded Grout

Hi All,

I like the looks of the sanded grout and have been experimenting with it some.  I am wondering how to get it to stick to a building foam base.  Will a scenic goop base work or do folks have a different approach?  I have thought of using Glidden Gripper primer under it because that does a fair job of sticking the foam panels together.  Thoughts??

Doug

Yard Ballast

When I wanted some ballast for yard tracks which would look different from the regular stuff, I looked around the room and saw a jar of Woodland Scenics "Gray" ballast, and some Minwax water-based ebony wood stain. I thought maybe the stain would give the ballast a satisfyingly dirty look (I get dirty looks all the time, so I think model railroads need them too). Yes, I've tried WS "Cinders" ballast, but it came out too dark and uniform for my taste. I diluted the stain 50:50 with water, and did the soaking in a glass pie pan, which I then set on a radiator for a week in winter. Maybe it's not entirely right, but I'm happy with it. Here's a picture with a Tomar model of a Hayes bumper, and you can see that as that's made of soldered metal, there has to be a gap in at least one rail near it. It's hand-laid code 70 rail, HO scale. You can also see a little of the regular brown ballast in the corner.

Sanded grout

I had a lot of sanded grout left over from a small tile job which was sort of a sandy color.  I'm trying it for a gravel road.

As for cinder ballast, our public works dept gets tons of cinders from the coal fired power plant a couple towns over.  I liberated a 5 gallon bucket of it and sifted the ballast out and glued it down.  Before its glued down, its dirty (after all it is cinders)  I like the looks of it.

You see the ballast and the grout in this photo.  I also see the front tender truck is on the ground.  Tsk tsk. 

Sanded grout....removal?

I do love the look of sanded grout, and may try it...but has anyone got any experience with REMOVING track that has been laid this way? Was it at all salvageable?  I know If I use regular ballast and white glue, I can wet it down, let it work a while, and then clean it all up and wash off the track, and I'm good to go again.  Is this the case if you're using sanded grout? 

Removal?

Hi Joe,

I would expect it won't be easy to remove track ballasted using grout. It is a cement product and once set it impervious to water, unlike the traditional white glue mix which softens with water. Though you may get some water under the track to loosen the bond if you used white glue or similar to lay it, the surrounding grout will fix the track in place.

You may well lift some track out if the grout is not to the top of the ties but feel it will leave the majority behind.

sanded grout

I used sanded and unsanded grout quite a bit on my last layout.  I had a reaction between the Portland cement in the grout and the nickle silver rail.  After setting a while (several months) and cleaning the rail many times, the corrosion was stopped.Things ran fine after that, but while corrosion was occurring trains didn't run  at all well without an aggressive cleaning each run session.  I liked the effect which was similar to what we see here, but was very concerned when the corrosion started.  Alls well that ends well.

Grout ballast - Links out of date

Does anyone have new links for this material.  Both links early on are out of date.  

This is an interesting technique i’d like to try. 

Thanks!

New links