Follow the construction of the JLandT Railroad, a HO single deck, proto-freelanced layout set in the 70s to 80s, based on the Reading Lines and Conrail merger era...
First batch of Homemade Ballast...
This is the first mixed batch of the graded #40 sand with the base coloring of 200 drops of RIT dye (50/50 mixed dye to Isopropyl Alcohol), the second batch has 25 drops of RIT - Chocolate Brown added to the base batch, the third batch has 15 drop of RIT - Navy Blue added to the base batch (25/75 mixed dye to Isopropyl Alcohol).
Then all three batches are mixed together to get the final ballast mix.
First base batch of medium grey ballast, used 200 drops of RIT - Charcoal Grey dye, mixed 50 - 50 with isopropyl alcohol.
This is a 1/2 cup batch, next three batches will be the same 1/2 cup quantity, and base 200 drops of Charcoal Grey, but with 25 drop tints of chocolate brown RIT dye & 15 drop Navy Blue Rit dye mixed into each base batch.
Experimenting with creating my own ballast today...
First step, getting the sand grade right. The grey is a commercially available #40 ballast, the normal off white/tan sand has been sifted down to the same grade.
Managed to get this haul out of a 1/3 of buck of fill sand in about an hour.
Finished installing the compressor, regulator & airline for the spray booth today.
The compressor does all of the layout & workshop duties so needed to have all 1/4” quick connect fittings.
At a later date I’ll be adding a second regulator for running two airbrushes at once. Comes in very handy when weathering...
