I came upon this idea while making a length of display track. Expended coffee grounds can be recycled into pretty good looking ballast. Details to follow - if anyone is interested?
sigh, if only my mom bough coffee beans instead of the already ground up stu ff. O well, this looks like a job for, Woodlandscenics!
I went down to the city maintenance yard and got a bucket of cinders (from the Labadie power plant) and sifted them for cinder ballast. Works out pretty darned good. The city puts them on the streets when it's icy.
The coffee grounds are very light - Sand or Rock ballast mixed with them "sinks" to the bottom when you try and brush or smooth out. There are two colors there that I used. One color is "dyed" with a mixture of latex paint and water which is then allowed to dry. The other is "bleached" using colorx which is then washed and dried before being glued down. It looks sort of a brownish tone. Don, not too many cinders out here, fact is, there is not much round here except DG,sand, and big rocks. The best ballast I ever had was from a roofing shingle plant. The very fime stone was perfect size for HO. It came in a multitude of colors too!
Howdy, We experimented with a variety of organic materials at the Texas Western, and the long term effect was bug droppings. That means bugs like it...they'll eat anything. We had to soak the layout in Lysol to get rid of them. Something to consider for the long term. Speaking of ballast, I saw a great technique at ProTrak Weekend (operating sessions - four days). It is a very cheap and looks great. The technique uses colored grout - vinyl enhanced version mixed with construction sand. Both are available from Home Depot and Lowes. The vinyl enhanced version has a binder in it, so you don't need to add much in the way of diluted mat medium or glue...just water. Long term results really look good, too. I especially liked it in the yards - using black or charcoal color with construction sand. Mixing colors that are too different in tone will result in a salt and pepper look. Well, back to the Gulf Sand and Gravel pier office and sign (compliments to Blairline). Best, mike
At last someone has come up with a wonderful use for coffee. No offence to all those coffee drinkers out there but I never could get used to the taste of coffee and to make a hot drink out of it is a waste of good water to me. But ballast for a model railroad, my hats off what a great idea
hey mike can you give a little more info or (questions) on the grout and sand i.e. the mix ratio i have a big bag of sand from home depot i was going to use as ballast. what about grey grout? i want something that looks pretty realistic. how long does it take to dry? does it spead out pretty easy?
Howdy, There is quite a bit written about it on Railroad Lines Forum if you want other experiences with it, in the mean time, here is what I know: [FONT="]The cinder mix is 1/2 tile grout mixed with 1/2 construction sand screened to a fine size. Several colors are available to blend. One nice yard mix is 1/4 part black mixed with 1/4 part natural grey and 1/2 part fine screened construction sand. You could mix some browns in for a different look or even varying the percentage of black to grey. Anyway you can make a whole large bucket of the stuff for about $5. As for application, use the same technique as regular ballast. Pour it onto the track, use a brush to move it around, wet it with either wet water or alcohol and wet water. It works easier than regular ballast, IMHO. Hope this answers your question. Best regards, mike [/FONT]
Well - BOO HOO Mike, Everytime I come up with a million dollar barn burning idea, someone comes along and douses my fire out. Praytell, now what am I going to do with the 5 yards of coffee grounds that Starbucks dumped in my driveway this morning? I was smackdab in the middle of applying for some stimulas money too.
Sherell, I'd go ahead and bag it, but first, divide it into a two yard pile and a three yard pile. Soak the three yard pile in in Lysol . Sell it in two versions: ecofriendly biodegradable and better living through modern chemistry. Be sure to put warning labels on the eco friendly stuff, too. Just think, over the long run, you'll be able to sell lots of the eco stuff to the green folks (they'll have to keep replacing it as the bugs eat it), and the Lysol bug safe version to the rest of us large bio-footprint folks. Mostly, have fun, mike
Well here is my idea. Fine ground, no dust cat liter works well. I would buy the Sam's Club 40LB bucket because it has little green peices so it is all gray. Works real well on my layout. Fun way for me to spread it is an old athearn Frisco hopper which I cut open two of the bottom hatches. I roll it under the coal chute and load it there. It slowly drops all down the line. Then my track clean follows to clear the rails for trains. Hope this plan will work. Ship it on the Frisco!!! Murphy Millican
does the cat litter need any pryor work to it before useing it? oris it the right size out of the box?
*Chris smacks his forehead* And to think of all those cinders I've swept out of my garage over the last 10 winters! What an unnecessary waste... It seems so obvious. I think it's time to call my friend who works for Columbia Water & Light and (hopefully) has access to our municipal, coal-fired power plant!
Beware of buying Kitty Litter at a Model Train meet. I bought a nice size baggie full at a show one time. I thought it would make nice looking Rip rap for a river scene I was doing. Well Like Forrest Gumps mother said about the box of Choclates,(you never know what you are gonna get) I was quite surprised when I got the stuff home and started to use it. I never did figure out what I could use that round clump for. El BobO
well i guess i should get the old style that doesnt have the clumping stuff i was looking at some tonight at walmart and tidy cat has a good size for ballast and good grey white color. would work great if this was a "chessie" layout hahahahaha
LOL....Next time use Tidy Cat. Even though it clumps it keeps the house from smelling. Kitty litter is okay to use for scenery, first sift it then wash it, let it dry and then lay it down where yer gonna use it. Then spray it with alcohol, then glue it down. This should take care of the problem. We start filming the new Rob Zombie Film on July 20th and should wrap in 18 days tentatively. Looking forward to be back soon. REDNECK WILLIE!
Friscomike mentioned: "... [FONT="]The cinder mix is 1/2 tile grout mixed with 1/2 construction sand screened to a fine size. Several colors are available to blend. ..."[/FONT] Red or sandy pink is a viable color to consider, at least for some of the mix. The main lines around Kirkwood have some crushed red rhyolite that could be from quarries near Graniteville, MO mixed into the ballast. Of course mud and oil drippings tend to change the color to gray over time.
My litter was right size so i put it down. Didn't get it wet because that helps it clump. I just would spread it and brush at it in a few spots. Hope this helps. P.S. if you have a cat don't let him in the "train room" lol my cat knows the smell of that stuff. Ship it on the Frisco!!! Murphy Millican
I rented my layout with attached house to a friend several years ago. It was partially scenicked. He proceeded to scenic large hilly areas using sawdust and RIT Dye....much of which was not glued down. Then he made the mistake of letting the cat in the train room.....
