Did BNSF add new ballast lately? I noticed as I was driving through the area near Barstow that it was almost red or rust colored, I don’t go out that way too often and never noticed it before. I can still see the old gray stuff that’s spread out around at the base. I wanted to take a photo of it but I was in too much of a hurry and couldn’t stop. Anyway as some of you know I hope to start laying track soon on my new layout. I had already bought some gray ballast to match the UP tracks near me, but I like the BNSF color so much better. I looked at a few colors available because, but I couldn’t find the reddish color ballast. I’d like to order some this weekend. So what color is that? I think the closest color is maybe Woodland Scenics iron ore, but I don’t see it in the 32 oz container and I don’t see how much is in the small packs to compare with.
BNSF uses pink ballast up here in the Valley.. It's a hold over from ATSF. The yards get a blend of different colors. Arizona Rock and Mineral had a color close to it. Might want to look them up.
Probably the famously pink ballast used for years by ATSF. Arizona Rock & Mineral has two shades of pink available: 1171 (bottom track in the picture) and 1171W. Here is their rock/ballast page: http://www.rrscenery.com/AZROCK5.html HTH, Gary
Well I don’t think it was pink unless it was the way the sun was shining on it. I don’t like the pink at all. The first photo with the track on the bottom was closer. If it wasn’t such a drive from UP country over to BNSF I’d run over there and take a photo. From what I saw it was more of reddish brown. Maybe if I mixed the brown with the iron ore. I don’t know if there are any techniques involved, but maybe if I put down the brown 1st then lightly sprinkle the red on top. I don’t know. I have never used ballast before. I have bought it for previous layouts but never got around to the ballasting. Actually that’s why I have so much gray already. So this time around I am going to use it.
Wow I was looking around at the Arizona Rock and Mineral site and they have a lot of high desert stuff that I want for my layout. Thanks
It's pink here in the Los Angeles area, and all around So Cal as far as I know: Hesperia: Fullerton: There are exceptions; in Metrolink-owned BNSF trackage, the ballast is grey (tracks refurbished for commuter service). The Alameda Corridor that runs to Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor (shared between BNSF and UP) has grey ballast. Also the SDNR (Coaster) and Sprinter DMU tracks in San Diego country that have been refurbished for commuter service are also grey.
Well. I stand corrected because that is definitely the color that I’m talking about. Maybe I’m just not ready to accept “Pink”. baffled: Thanks for the photo and just in time I might add because the wife and I were just about to take a drive to Barstow. Now I don’t need to go. I also have to hand it to you, that is one incredible photo of BNSF. :thumbs_up: You know I’ve been trying build a UP collection, but I maybe switching railways soon. Everytime I go over to the Barstow area I am just blown away by how incredibly beautiful everything is over there.
This is the color of the UP tracks near me. But I still like “pink” better if that’s what you want to call it. I prefer red lava or anything but pink.
Regardless of what the real colors of Ballast, what is the most popular color used on lay-outs ? I'd say Grey or shades of. I k now thats what I will use is Grey. fatalxsunrider43
Good examples Metro Red Line. SleeperN06, you should feel free to mix in some grey into the Arizona Rock & Mineral "pink" if you think it's too bright. And if you want more photos as a guide, try typing Barstow in the keyword box on the RailPictures.Net home page: http://www.railpictures.net/index.php You'll get hundreds of examples like this: http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=318505&nseq=11 -Gary
Yep, AR&M is great... I'll be over in Barstow on the 24th doing some railfanning.. You can only shoot on Tehachapi so many times... :tb-biggrin:
I live and work around many parts of the Inland Empire(San Bernardino/Riverside) and the ATSF used mauve (pink lady) for quite some time but recently in Colton the BNSF has done some repairs and mixed in some gray patches here and there. It seems they have switched to the gray that is very similar if not identical to the UP. They likely use what is readily available and convenient.
Oh really, have you been there before? I sure would be interested in seeing your photos. I used to live in Tehachapi not very far from the loop. I was south of it in Golden Hills and after 2 or 3 times of going to the loop I sort of lost interest. I never get tired of going to Barstow. cool: I’m not a photographer but I have taken some photos over the years of BNSF trains. I was looking through some of my photos and sure enough the ballast was pink. I can’t believe I never noticed it before. It must be the time of day I come through or maybe it’s just because I take bad photos. baffled: Today I went to Lowes and bought some reddish stone colored paint to paint my roadbed so that when I do the ballast it will all blend in. Unfortunately the spray paint doesn’t cover cork very well and I now have to wait 48 hrs for the paint to dry, then I’m going to paint the whole layout with a good latex primer sealer and start over. It’s going to be a delay in laying track and I hope I didn’t damage the cork roadbed with the spray paint. It just hasn’t been my weekend to work on my layout.frown:
Here is an N scale example of the Arizona Mauve. There is an old layer of gray that shows through as does the prototype in that area. I plan to add some weathering in betweenthe rails before next weekend Pomona show.
Thanks John, it looks great. :thumbs_up: It’s exactly like what I’m looking for. Oh I just noticed the dry river bed, that very cool. The 1172winslow photo from ARIZONA ROCK AND MINERAL CO. just doesn’t do it justice. Maybe it’s the combination of the other colors that throw the 1172winslow photo off. I’m still trying to figure out how to order from them and the flat rate shipping doesn’t set well with me because I don’t think I’ll need that much. Is this real ground up rock that they sell?
The flat rate is there to save you money. All of the ballast, and most of the rest of the products from Arizona Rock and Mineral is indeed ground up rock, and it gets heavy fast. Their ATSF Mauve is spot on for what ATSF used for many years, but I do think that BNSF is using whatever they can get their hands on now. I think the supply channel for the Pink Lady ballast went dry. As John showed, there is a sub-ballast that was used and it was gray. That is one way to strech the AR&M product is to do the ballast in two layers, and that would look like the proto very well. Just add in a few odd or off color spaots for repairsed track areas and all will be fine.
Thanks for all the info, wow I really learned a lot in this thread. I can’t believe that I never heard any of this before and now when I go to Barstow I’ll have a new appreciation. I decided that I’m going ahead with my original plans of painting my roadbed gray for the sub-base and then use the "Pink Lady” on top of some gray ballast.
The ATSF-BNSF pink, red, mauve color rock comes from Newberry Springs California just a few miles east of barstow. The supply hasn't run out, unit rock trains are loaded there. Further east on the system they use grey rock as thats whats available. Most all the mainline in southern, central and northern cal is pink although they will use whatever is handy at the time. In person the Arizona Rock and Mineral looks right on to me.
ATSF ballast color is still incredibly subjective, and its also subject to lighting and film rendition. The photos I have of the Winslow yard in the 70's show a very RED (iron ore) tone to the ballast, and if you look at aerial photos (Google Earth) you'll see even today that the overall 'dirt' color is really brownish-reddish. I took some dirt samples out there last trip. The Winona, AZ 'cinder pits' yielded up a lot of this stuff, and it really does look like iron ore, as loads, as ballast, but it is volcanic basalt and the color changes a lot from browns to reds to dark gray even in the same runs. The 1975 ballast samples I collected from Flag include all those colors. Some time before the early 80's the line got a heavy treatment of more typical looking medium gray limestown/granine/or basalt, or something. I think it had better holdup/abrasion than the original stuff, and it immediately looked different. I use a mix of iron ore, dark brown, medium brown, and dark gray to get what I'm looking for and overall I'm OK with it, but I've seen shots where it really, really, looks dark. I believe the 'pink lady' ballast, I just haven't seen it where I model. I used some of the AR&M material in the Winslow yard area, very happy with it, just contaminated the heck out of it with reddish dirt.
I have seen that place and I know exactly where they load it up. I’ve seen the huge piles of the stuff being piled up with conveyer belts. I forgot all about it until you just mentioned it and I remember wondering if it was ballast. I believe it’s right near the Bagdad Café.
