Using real dirt on layout

[crhostler61]

I use local dirt often on my layout scenery projects. There is a 10 mile stretch of highway nearby that I can retrieve at least 9 different tones of natural earth, but that is the way northern Nevada is. I scoop a coffee can full and sift out the course crud. I don't worry about critters in the dirt, considering the scorpions, wind scorpions, potato bugs, black widows, ants...etc, that somehow wander into my house from the outside desert as it is. In my practices...if there is any tiny bugs in the dirt, they are either wiped out by the high concentration of alcohol in my gluing mixture or are encased in glue.  

Mark H

[delray1967]

I get my dirt from baseball diamonds in several places, some is more brownish and some is more greyish. Don't dig a hole in the middle of the diamond, scrape up the stuff by the backstop or where is has been pushed up so it doesn'doesn't create a stumbling hazard. I get (at most) a plastic coffee can full at one time. I bring it home and stick the can in the microwave (take the lid off) and nuke it for 2 mins (time will vary dep3nding on your microwave, mine is 1200 watts). Pull the can out (careful, it's hot!) and pour it back and forth into another, same sized, container. You will see steam coming from the moist dirt...I do this to dry it, I don't know if it will kill everything (but I haven't had problems with critters so it probably does). Nuke it until it stops steaming when you pour it and spread it out somewhere where it will cool off (and continue drying), like a piece of cardboard or something. While microwaving it, it smells like wet dirt, but that doesn't affect the flavor of any food cooked afterward...but if you're taste buds are more sensitive than mine, buy a used microwave, use a neighbor'neighbor's oven, or do whatever to dry it out. Critters will get separated when you sift it and any microbes will probably be sealed in when you glue it down (I'm allergic to mold, mildew, pollen, etc and haven't been affected when sifting, applying or running trains after it's been glued down.

When cool, sift it through a kitchen strainer (not the one you use for food, go buy a cheap one) and sift out the bigger stones. This can be used for rip rap or other 2' boulders (in HO scale). Once it's all sifted, sift it all again if you want (I do). Now, use a nylon stocking to sift the finer stuff (ignore the strange looks you may get as a grown man buying stockings at the drug store.lol). The stuff left over in the stocking will be about ballast sized...if it's the right color for you, use it as natural stone ballast. The super fine stuff that passes through the nylon is what I use for dirt roads, a base ground cover and even as a powder to weather freight cars.

Sprinkle the dust through the strainer so it lays flatter and glue it down the same way you glue ballast (spray gently with wet water then drip on diluted white glue).

Also, instead of baseball diamond dirt, I've used the leveling stone dust used under paver stones to get a light grey colored dust that looks more like a gravel parking lot (I guess because it's real gravel.lol). If my railroad used light grey ballast, I'd have a lot of it for relatively little money...and it's natural stone to boot! (I use Woodland Scenics med grey and find it just fine).

As with any public forum, Your Results May Vary, this is only how I do it, not necessarily the correct, or best way to do it. Baseball diamond dirt is a specially blended product (do a Google search tk se3 what exactly is in it...and why) it may be considered stealing so use your judgement (I've collected 2 'normal' coffee cans over 25 years and only about 2/3 can from any one diamond at a time (and and usually in a less frequently used diamond, don't go to a major stadium and start filling 5 gallon buckets!). I'm sure backyard dirt is similar, but it's got more organic stuff in it...seriously, look up what's in dirt, soil and baseball diamond dirt, there really is a difference!. Good luck...happy sifting! :)

[BobL609]

You might want to consider "baking" your dirt in a metal pan outside on your grill.  In this household the Chairman of the Board dislikes having anything in HER oven other than food.  Just a suggestion.

[gregc]

David Fray recommends shifting(?) dirt thru nylon stockings to get what amounts to a very powdery consistency.   Anything larger is more like pebbles, which he says to keep after shifting and use in areas where a rougher surface is desired.

[chutton01]

BroadwayLion

LION used to have train room in basement, basement had crumbling brick walls, him saved a few pails of thie brick powder. It made good groundcoverfill and could take gluewater without becoming mud, but would dry nice and hard like a brick.

I know you're modeling the NYC Subway Brother Elias, but I don't recall if you're modeling the Bronx, nor the exact era your modeling.
Why do I bring this up? I went to college in the Bronx in the mid-1980s, (Koch era), and if you drove thru the South Bronx there was a common landscape of empty lots covered in rubble (broken concrete and bricks) as they torn down the shells of buildings burnt in the 1970s for (as it turned out) eventual redevelopment. The color of this rubble was a surprisingly uniform light pink color, I suppose a mix of the red brick dust and grey concrete dust. and was kind of striking to my mind (I saw this phenonom later in S. Newark in the early 1990s, along the remains of the West Newark Branch (Peddie & Peshine Avenues), as they demolished the abandoned light industrial brick buildings in the area). 
If you're modeling the early Koch era Warriors/Heavy Metal/Escape 2000 ("YOU ARE ORDERED TO LEAVE THE BRONX") urban landscape (that our inept Kaiser Wilhelm seems determined to return to) then that brick dust would indeed look pretty prototypical.

[SouthPenn]

Keep in mind that if you are modeling a rail road that's not in your area. the dirt might be a completely different colour.

South Penn

[tgindy]

A little dirt-y factoid -- Real dirt dries a little darker than its original color.  You do need to somewhat saturate the dirt, with your glue mixture, so that the entire area applied does dry correctly.  It will probably end up rock-hard.  It also doesn't hurt to first sift the dirt before application.  Real dirt can be a pretty good way to go for roads.

[Perth Fireman]

Thanks for all the replies it has helped heaps. Will try some of the suggestions and see what works best for me. Thanks again all

[rgengineoiler]

Yes you can do what Lion does, or you can do as I do and gather dirt from a certain spot on my acerage during late July and all of August when we pray for one rain drop which never comes.  I store it in a two gallon bucket and in the winter when I can work on the layout, I sift it through many sized strainers down to powder size and use all sizes on the layout when doing scenery.  I have never had a problem with this methoud and just a note that yesterday was 100 degrees. 

If your area is like Lions then for sure bake it well done and sift it into sizes.  You can't beat using natural dirt.   Doug

[BroadwayLion]

Perth Fireman

hi all there was a topic on here sometime ago about using real dirt etc on a layout but I can't seam to locate it. Does anybody have any information on this is it easy to do, possible problems etc. Thanks in advance for any help with this. 

 

Perhaps I am missing something? You  need an article to put dirt on your layout?

1) go to the back yard and dig up some dirt.

2) bake the dirt in the oven say at 350 degrees (everybody cooks everything at 350 degrees) for about 45 minutes (everybody cooks everything for 45 minutes) depending on how deep your pan is. This is to kill off any livestock that would come in with the dirt.

3) put it on your layout. Make it a thin layer, it is just another ground covering you know, and not a replacement for a hard shell mountain.

LION used to have train room in basement, basement had crumbling brick walls, him saved a few pails of thie brick powder. It made good groundcoverfill and could take gluewater without becoming mud, but would dry nice and hard like a brick.

ROAR

[riogrande5761]

It tends to find it's way onto layouts even when you don't put it their on purpose. There is a track cleaning car thread in the main section to address it!  =D

["JaBear"]

Gidday, here's some links to previous discussions......

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/201370.aspx

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/232345.aspx

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/46839.aspx

Cheers, the Bear.

 

[Perth Fireman]

hi all there was a topic on here sometime ago about using real dirt etc on a layout but I can't seam to locate it. Does anybody have any information on this is it easy to do, possible problems etc. Thanks in advance for any help with this.