# What Colors Do You See?



## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

I am partially color blind, I can see colors, I just cannot differentiate between colors/shades that are similar.

This is the rail that is near me and runs right behind where I work, what colors do you see in the ballast?
Dark Grey, Light Gray, Brown???
I drive by these rails everyday, all day long and see different colors every time and it looks different in the sun and shade.


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

I would consider the shade as being dark gray. That is different from what I have in my neck of the woods which is light gray.

edit: woodland scenics ballast calls it gray, here is a link to their offering
http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/TBBallast


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

The top 2 look gray, but the bottom one also has some pink, green and yellow.


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## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

The last picture you posted is really weird. It shows color blotches all over the ballast and the grass. There's chromatic aberration in the branches as well. Whatever was done to that picture makes me think you can't use it to judge any of the colors.

Mark


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Mark VerMurlen said:


> The last picture you posted is really weird. It shows color blotches all over the ballast and the grass. There's chromatic aberration in the branches as well. Whatever was done to that picture makes me think you can't use it to judge any of the colors.
> 
> Mark


Yes, I agree with this. The first id definately gray (my favorite color!). The second is, well, weird. Frankly it looks distorted oraltered, whether deliberately or by something in the camera or processing, is impossible to tell. I would not depend on it for color.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

The 3rd pic is the same as the second pic, was just zoomed in.
All were taken from my phone.
If I get a chance I will stop at different spots and take more pics.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Colours can be altered by all sorts of factors and you may get some caused by your camera lens, particularly if its a phone. I can see blue, green and purple in that last pic although its probably just shades of grey. Interestingly blue/ green color blindness is the most common.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Cycleops said:


> Interestingly blue/ green color blindness is the most common.


Navy Blue and Black, I have to put them side by side under good lighting to see the difference.
Shades of Pink and Purple look the same.
Back when I was about 15 we went to buy me a bowling bag and I kept saying I wanted the Brown one on the wall and they kept insisting there was no Brown one, turns out it was Green, or so they said.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Direct sunlight gives strong reflections at certain angles and intensifies color differences. Take the pictures on an overcast day. That will give us a better take on the colors.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I agree there is some color distortion in the pics, but
the track ballast appears to me to be varying shades
of gray, some near white, some darker gray. That's
about what I see on main line tracks in this area.

Don


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## Tony35 (Mar 18, 2016)

I see dark greys and light greys but the last pic shows some light reds and whites mixed into the greys
Of course we are all at the mercy of how are computer monitors are set


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Here are pics I took today and it was Gloomy/Cloudy and Overcast.
I took pics at 4 different spots about 1/4 mile apart.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

looks like:
(1) Mostly medium to dark gray rocks-- the most common color.
(2) Plus a mix of slightly reddish-brown rocks -- about the same darkness as the gray rocks. This is the hardest color to match -- probably a mix of gray and brown. Brown pigment has a little red in its mixture, so you may not need any red.
(3) And a few very light gray rocks -- those are very obvious.

P.S. Between the rails looks different -- much finer and darker. This could be due to dirt from soil and/or oil from trains.


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## rogruth (Mar 6, 2012)

Speaking only of the ballast, I see in all pictures shown a light and
Gray mixture. I see this in every pic. I do not see any other shade, tint, color etc. I do have some eye problems but they are not color related.

I do not think that what has been described in the above answers is uncommon at all. The small variations we are seeing are not the same as color blindness I have been told by my eye doctor.


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## teledoc (Oct 22, 2014)

I see various shades of grey from an almost white on some rocks, to very dark greys, and there are some rocks that look to have a reddish color to them, but I would attribute that to Rust from the rails. I also agree that what is between the rails, being darker, is probably from the running gear of the trains themselves.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

looks like crushed bluestone to me.

that would be shades of dark thru light grey, some near white, some blueish tint, some red/brown.

all from same vein of stone.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

What I see is pretty close to Woodland Scenics gray blend ballast. Maybe with a little white or light gray added.







This is the fine stuff, a medium would look closer.

Magic


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

I used the Woodland Scenics Gray Blend and it was to light for my taste.
I also tried the Woodland Scenics Medium Gray and it was just to plain.
I now have Scenics Express Dark Gray and still have some of the Medium Gray left so should I mix them or just try the dark gray first???

I was also thinking of taking some of the earth tone paint I used on the platform, thinning it out with water and using an eyedropper to lightly put some over the gray ballast to give it some of that dirty/rusty/brown look.

Just going to have to experiment.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

What I'm going to do is use the gray blend and add some light gray to it, I like my ballast on the light side. 

If you took the gray blend and added some dark gray it would darken it up some but still give you a varied look. Maybe add a little brown to the mix for more color variation. 
The paint might work but try it on a small section. 

I don't think an all dark gray would give you what you want. 

Magic


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Yes, I agree that all one color is not going to be to my liking.
I do not want the ballast to stick out or be the center of attention on the platform, in the real life pics the ballast just blends in with everything around it, it is just there.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Ballast is not for me.

Layed ballast on the track and did not like it, it does not look like real life rock in any way,shape or form unless you highly magnify it.

In real life I can see individual rock even from a distance, my Son has smaller stone about the same color in his driveway and pea gravel in the play area in the backyard and again even from a distance you can see individual rock, not with Model Railroad Ballast, when glued it just looks like a "solid clump".

Did not feel like starting over again so I covered it with dirt, cleaned off the ties and I am satisfied with the "dirt" look.

Pics will follow after I clean the track and any damage done to the ground cover while cleaning is corrected.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

I've seen the full sized where they haven't used ballast at all. Remember there's a prototype for everything.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Magic said:


> What I see is pretty close to Woodland Scenics gray blend ballast. Maybe with a little white or light gray added.
> 
> This is the fine stuff, a medium would look closer.
> 
> Magic


Have to disagree here, not on the color, but on the scale. WS medium ballast, in HO scale, has grains that are almost the width of a tie, way too big for typical ballast. Even the fine stuff is pushing it, with an average size of 3-4 scale inches.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Cycleops and NAJ, perhaps you don't like, or don't see, groomed crushed stone ballast, but there is ballast there.

Ballast is that which holds the ties in position, be it dirt, sand, crushed stone, or, sometimes, as Rob Bradway (VP of Operations on the Valley RR) sheepishly admits, tree roots.

The only thing you can really do wrong, ballast-wise, is to have your ties standing proud above the roadbed. As long as they're embedded in something, it's prototypical.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Here is the finished product with the dirt layered over the ballast.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

CTValleyRR said:


> Have to disagree here, not on the color, but on the scale. WS medium ballast, in HO scale, has grains that are almost the width of a tie, way too big for typical ballast. Even the fine stuff is pushing it, with an average size of 3-4 scale inches.


The reason I suggested medium ballast is for the very same reason the op didn't like what he put down. 
Sometimes going scale just doesn't cut it. In modeling and in motion pictures you sometimes have to create an illusion. 
Hence medium ballast. The mind will see what it's supposed to see not what is really there.

I just got fine stuff for the very reasons you state but I'm not too sure I'm going to like it. We'll see.

Magic


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