Buff Coarse Ballast Bag

Limestone stone and the landscapes it belongs to

The shade designated buff is light ocher, with a touch of sand. In nature it is given by crushed limestone and some sandstones, that is by stone quarried where neither granite nor basalt is at hand. The lines of the American Southwest, Spanish and Italian branch lines or industrial sidings in limestone regions have ballast exactly like it: warm, dusty and noticeably lighter than a gray main route. The same tone suits off the railroad as well, because limestone stone is spread on the driveways to homesteads, on park paths and as the base under farm buildings.

What the grain size does to the result

The package carries the largest of the grain sizes offered. On small layouts such stone looks massive under the ties, which is why builders more often work it into the surroundings of the track, into a cutting, into a firmed-up embankment by a crossing, into a heap made ready for a repair of the track. In the large scales, on the other hand, it suits the ballast itself, where the sharp edges of the individual stones finally tell.

Loose stone is spread dry, shaped with a flat brush and leveled to a profile with a cardboard template rake. Fixing comes only at the very end, so that anything can be raked over until the last moment. Anyone who wants to dirty the ballast leaves a few of the lightest spots standing out and draws a thinned brown or gray shade lightly over the rest.

Anyone building a southern landscape usually does not stop at the track itself. The same stone can be used to fill the edge of a platform, the area around a water tower and the approach to a warehouse, so that a scene holds together in color. A single shade carried through a whole board looks more believable than five different ones with no connection between them.