HOLT MODEL RAILWAYS


To Vary the Colouring of Natural Granite Grey Ballast to show various levels of usage and age since last re-ballasted.

Granite is susceptible to being coloured, despite it's hardness and can be ' aged ' - there is a simple way of representing various levels of this on model railway track and in other areas on a Model Railway where Granite Ballasting is used.

1.   Take one of the Large Round Plastic Ice Cream Cartons and fill this - half way - with new Granite Ballast.

2.   Make a pot of reasonably strong tea and let this brew for about ten minutes.

3.   After this time fill the plastic carton with tea so that the granite is covered to the depth of about 1/4 ins and leave this to stand for 12 hours.   (See item 7 below for longer ageing ).

4.   After this period of time fully drain of the tea,  pour the damp contents out onto a COMPLETE Daily Newspaper.

5.   Place the Paper and the contents onto the top of a flat warm surface, level out to a consistent thickness and leave to dry out.  Occasional stirring of the ballast will slightly speed up the process.

6. DO NOT PLACE THE CONTENTS OF 5 ABOVE ON ANY STOVE, ELECTRIC BAR HEATER OR SIMILAR DEVICES WHERE THE PAPER, WHEN DRYING OUT ,COULD IGNITE.  SHOULD YOU NOT HAVE A SUITABLE SURFACE - IT IS SUGGESTED THAT PLACING PAPER IN A WARM ROOM OR OUT IN THE SUN WILL COMPLETE THE PROCESS.

7.  To obtain differing density levels of colouring, age & usage vary the time suggested in 3 above.


                   

                          Shade 1    New        Shade 2 - Approx 1 yr    Shade 3 Approx 2 yrs   Shade 4 Aprrox 3/4 yrs
 
                                                                     
                                    Siding - Fair Useage - Buffer Stop recently re-ballasted (1yr) - Siding Track has 2 yr usage ballast
                                                                                           Buffer Stop is Mike's Models