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I've been using real dirt on my N Scale layout. Bought nothing at all special for the project. Sifted through an old screen several times, popped in the oven on a sheet of foil @ 200 degrees for about a half hour with the windows and door open. Applied a similar color paint on the flatter areas, grey rock-color paint on the steeper slopes and sprinkled the dirt on a bit heavily while the paint is wet. Steep slopes tend to shed a lot of dirt and the gray showing through resembles the rocky slopes common in these mountains. Try using ligher colored soil than you think you need. The top soil in these mountains is very thin . Even so, my first attempt gave me soil that looked much darker on the layout than on the ground. I ended up using mostly sand from the old D&H roadbed-turned-bike trail. On the path it looked very light but applied to the layout it looks right. If your concerned about the odor, I read a "recipe" for potting soil which recommended putting damp (not wet) soil in plastic cooking bags sealed as tightly as possible, with a meat thermometer in the soil and bake for 30 minutes after the temp reaches 140 to 160 in the soil. Open the bag outside. Finally, here's my "dirty little secret." Have a cleaned out dust-buster on hand to vaccuum up the excess. You'll want to reuse it and don't want to suck it up into a vaccuum filled with dust and junk. Wayne
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