Compacted ash ballast in goods yards

[johnco]

What is the best material to model the compacted ash ballast and surfaces in goods yards?
On my previous layout I used powdered dark grey tile grout but was not happy with the resulting looks and it made the boards considerably heavier.
i'm not looking for a "pretty" finish, as I want the realism of a yard in the run down condition of the late 50s early 60s.
Any useful suggestion would be welcome.
Thanks

[Richard08]

I use a skim of DAS clay up to sleeper top height. A little Woodland Scenics N gauge ash ballast (black) for texture near tracks (I'm O gauge). From experience, the surface in yards of long standing was generally very flat and as hard a concrete, away from the sleepers there was little ballast in evidence. The ash used was more dusty gravel than ballast, hence my using clay. Just my theory. A lot of sidings were laid directly on/with pulverised ash, so had no ballast (in the traditional sense) at all.

[Bigmet]

I can certainly suggest not using Plaster of Paris or Tetrion wall filler (and like materials) as it is messy because difficult to control. You really don't want the infill between the rails higher than the top of the rail chairs in 4mm, so that the flangeway is unobstructed. Like the sound of DAS or similar

Additional things I learned:
wired connections to every track piece, don't rely on the rail joiners for conduction. If a length loses supply it's going to be a pain to reconnect;
paint the railsides with your chosen 'track filth' colour before adding the infill, so much easier.

[johnco]

Thanks for your suggestions, will experiment in a corner of the layout which will be obscured by sheds etc.