Brian,
In the Chicago territory, the ballast in the '50s, was slag from the steel mills. When new, it was gray, but as time pasted, it took on more of a brownish color due to dust, dirt, rust and general atmospheric conditions. Photos that I have as far west as Mendota, appear to have the same ballast with approximately the same color. The color certainly varies from place to place and even in the same area. I have a photo at the Mendota coal dock, east of town with one track light gray and the is darker gray. In another photo at Zearing, two tracks are more brownish color and the third secondary track is a light gray. Both photos were shot in 1959 on the 2-10-4 doubleheader fan trip.
In looking over a number of photo from the '50s, the color certainly varied. I think gray for newer fresh ballast and a brownish tint for ballast that had been in service for some time and hadn't recently been cleaned. I would not make it uniform in color, even in the same area, but it should be more uniform on any one track.
Bill Barber Gravois Mills, MO Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:09 pm (PDT) . Posted by:What color was the Q's ballast in the mid 50's? I am thinking of their track in Illinois. Was it uniform in color or hodge podge?
Brian Durham
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