I don't have a good "out in the wild" source of desert sand in northern Virginia and I am a l-o-n-g way from any desert - 3 days drive probably.
Some modelers turned me on to Polyblend Sanded Grout, used in tile grout application. It can be found in bags at Home Depot and comes in a a variety of scenery friendly earth tones.
I used a light sand colored textured grout as a desert ground base - the sand is pretty fine which IMO works pretty well in HO.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
You can try it, but you will probably have to sift it, bake it, and pass a magnet ovrt it. For me, I sift paver sand, and never had a problem..
Bear "It's all about having fun."
joe323Why would I need to get sandbox sand when I could drive to the beach 3 blocks away and grab a bucks filtered sand?
Colors and textures of sand vary greatly. Most of the sand I use for ground cover and ballast is from a location a couple hundred miles from where I live, but it's worth the drive. I can get several different related colors and textures from roughly the same spot. They work better for what I'm modeling that what I can find locally.
In some cases, what's sold for sandboxes, paver base, or whatever is also useful. Depending on the source, it may work better than what you can dig up locally as well.
Rob Spangler
Yes, in most cases saguaro cacti really don't belong on HO layouts if we are being totally correct. There are actually very limited portions of desert that were traversed by Southern Pacific and Santa Fe that actually had saguaro cacti in noticeable numbers. On Santa Fe, the lines northwest of Phoenix did have a few saguaros--but that is not anywhere on the Transcon. On SP--sure, near Tucson there were/are saguaros in numbers. I've purchased a dvd of the UP/SP near Tucson and don't remember the dvd showing any saguaros at all. Guess I'll have to scour it again.
Also Joshua Trees have limited applications in HO, but some people love them and just have to have them.
It's my railroad, and so if I wanted saguaros, I'd have them...I did for awhile have a few, but then removed them (they were off scale for HO and that bothered me). Now more nearly HO scale saguaros are available...
John
I don't know Joe, not many of us live near a beach. And even if we did, is the grain size right for a model RR? I find often grain size of sand can be too coarse in some cases. Some use sand to create dirt/gravel roads in HO and more often than not, it looks very coarse - if you were to shrink down to that size it would be a rough ride I would guess.
DRGWGJCO, I can't take credit for the sage brush technique - I learned it from Rob Spangler who used it on his wp8thsub layout which is eastern Utah if I remember correctly.
One of the things I found to replicate some of the sage brush was the color ground foam which was from a company I had to order it from - the bluish gray was Eucalyptus I believe. The name of the company escapes me right now.
Why would I need to get sandbox sand when I could drive to the beach 3 blocks away and grab a bucks filtered sand?
Joe Staten Island West
RioGrande5761, I really like the sage brush from your old layout. Will definenetly be using that technique. Thanks
Seems like some desert features are often mentioned, such as saguaro cactus or Joshua tree's - I did used to see those when visiting my uncle in Bagdad AZ, but along the D&RGW route in western CO and eastern Utah, I don't recall seeing those, so again, it really depends on what desert environment you are trying to model.
I have twice flown into Vegas, rented a car, and done road trips through the deserts...Drove Las Vegas to Cajon Pass, and Tehachapi, and across much of northern Arizona to Monument Valley, Glen Canyon, Bryce Canyon (Utah), and Zion Canyon (Utah). Saw the Joshua trees and the Saguaro Desert. Loved it all, especially Bryce Canyon and the saguaros around Tucson. They were not railroad only vacations, but at least I got there and got a taste of the region. Saw lots of Santa Fe blue/yellow survivors and also SP tunnel motors, back in 2000 and 2002. We had no sooner pulled into our Tucson hotel than a hot UP/former SP train with tunnel motors leading roared through at high speed. It was awesome to see!
Wish I had taken even more pictures along the way, but at least I've had a taste of the desert.
For modeling, I started with sand colored paint on my pink insulation foam scenery, and while the paint was still wet, I sprinkled in real sandbox sand and a little bit of Woodland Scenics grass and dirt here and there to vary the color. Then I've bought those packages of the tufts of grass/weeds (105 to a pack) and glued them on, by the thousands...to suit.
There are articles about how to use pipe cleaners to model Joshua Trees (haven't tried that). There are different palm trees available, but not always the correct type of palm for the southwest, and there are some HO saguaros available in both plastic and diecast lead.
John Olson's 1983 Kalmbach book "Building an HO Model Railroad With Personality" was about building an HO layout set in Arizona. It was largely based on articles that ran in MR.
AtcheeThere is some incredible scenery west of GRAND Junction where the track dives into Ruby Canyon. It runs along the river almost to an abandoned place called Cisco, just east of where Utah 128 takes off I-25 and follows the river to Moab. Then it leaves the river and crosses barren country. Depending on the era you model, Cisco used to have a place with some darned good burgers and soft serve. Think they had a "get burgers and gas" sign out front. The Moab branch (branches at Crescent Junction) has some interesting features as well. Most of the rest of the route is pretty "ugly" until you get a little past Green River, unless you like gray decomposed shale and clay. The Bookcliffs add interest to a pretty much otherwise dull area. If you use Google earth you see the sage (or whatever) clusters along the right of way and is kinda' sparce otherwise once away from the river. Otherwise, the vegetation is heaviest in disturbed areas like dry creeks, trails, buried pipelines, etc.
The Moab branch (branches at Crescent Junction) has some interesting features as well. Most of the rest of the route is pretty "ugly" until you get a little past Green River, unless you like gray decomposed shale and clay. The Bookcliffs add interest to a pretty much otherwise dull area.
If you use Google earth you see the sage (or whatever) clusters along the right of way and is kinda' sparce otherwise once away from the river. Otherwise, the vegetation is heaviest in disturbed areas like dry creeks, trails, buried pipelines, etc.
I've got quite a few D&RGW color books which have some good photo's of those areas, including Zephyr's thru the Rockies, Rio Grande in Color: Vol 2 - Utah, and a few others. Of course there are a lot of good photo's on the web as well, many of them more recent and show a different ballast than used in the late 1970's.
[quote user="riogrande5761"]
I too am interested in desert scenery as I am planning to model the D&RGW from Grande Junction CO into western Utah.
But as you can observe, desert scenery in real life can vary quite a bit from one reason to another, so IMO, it helps to zero in on what you are after, unless it doesn't matter
[/quote.
There is some incredible scenery west of GRAND Junction where the track dives into Ruby Canyon. It runs along the river almost to an abandoned place called Cisco, just east of where Utah 128 takes off I-25 and follows the river to Moab. Then it leaves the river and crosses barren country. Depending on the era you model, Cisco used to have a place with some darned good burgers and soft serve. Think they had a "get burgers and gas" sign out front.
If you use Google earth you see the sage (or whatever) clusters along the right of way and is kinda' sparce otherwise once away from the river. Otherwise, the vegetation is heaviest in disturbed areas like dry creeks, trails, buried pipelines, etc
Yeah, I remember some very thick valley fog in Davis and Sacramento in the winter. Could barely see the tail lights of the car in front of you.
I lived in the Bay area before I moved to Phoenix. Had the opportunity to move to Sacramento for a job but I thought it was too hot. Instead I moved to Phoenix, go figure. I remember those low lying fogs along I-80. Man, I hated driving in those.
bearman I left the cold, rain and snow back in Massachusetts after I moved out west after college. I miss none of it.
I left the cold, rain and snow back in Massachusetts after I moved out west after college. I miss none of it.
I hear you. Been to MA and it's not for me either. I grew up in the Sacramento area and it was much less severe - cool damp overcast common in winters but otherwise mild warm (or in summer) hot dry weather. I lived in central NY for 15 years and the lake effect snow was like chinese water torture. Virginia is much milder than central NY for sure but not the hot dry of out west. But there are jobs here which is why I moved here vs. NY where it was a very depressed job market.
I've never been to any of them, Bearman. Yes, I live a sheltered life up here in the WI greenery, well actually it's white right now! with more coming!
I think the most desolate area I've driven through, is on our way from WI to MT to meet my future in-laws, in 1975, going through the Bad Lands in SD.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewi Sounds like good advice, Bearman. Look at lots of pictures. I checked out the download that Dave links to, it is in N scale, but does give some good info and techniques. Mike.
Sounds like good advice, Bearman. Look at lots of pictures.
I checked out the download that Dave links to, it is in N scale, but does give some good info and techniques.
My desert was basically scenicked before that layout was featured in MRR. The OP is located in Las Vegas which is the Mojave Desert. The Salt Lake route looks like it is in the Great Basin. IMO, the only desert blander than the Mojave Desert is the Great Basin.
There are four great north American deserts, Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan, and each has a different climate, vegetation, geomorphology, land forms, etc. My layout is located in Arizona, where I am located, and because this is the Sonoran Desert, I have saguaro cactii which are native to the Sonoran Desert alone. Since deserts can be rather bland at certain times of the year, I have located my layout in the spring, when there are colorful wildflowers after heavy rains the previous fall. Spring rains will also cause normally dry washes to run, so I can have a river and a creek with water in them.
Depending on how detail oriented you want to be, I suggest checking out pictures of each of the deserts and select the one that you want to model.
Whatever you do, however, I recommend using real sand as the base. Invest in a bag of paver or sandbox sand and you probably have enough sand to last a lifetime. Sift it through a sieve to separate the finer material from the coarser material. The coarser material could be scale rocks, boulders etc.
There is also deadfall in the desert. For example, when a saguaro reaches the end of its time, it will rot and/or turn brown and fall over eventually. Finally, again depending on which desert strikes your fancy, don't be afraid to load up on the desert plants. Google the Saguaro National Monument and you will see pictures of a saguaro forest. Likewise, if you can find a picture of the Joshua Tree Parkway, here in Arizona, you will see a forest of Joshua Trees.
PS: If you have any washes with water in them, don't be afraid to stick some trees, deadfall, rocks etc. in the water.
Deserts come in many forms.
.
Rolling sand dunes, sage brush and tumbleweeds, sandstone rock formations, cactus and palm trees, etc.
Personally, I loved the desert model railroads built by John Olsen and Malcolm Furlow in the 1980's, these had character.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thanks for your reply. Your sage brush looks very good! Gonna try it.
But as you can observe, desert scenery in real life can vary quite a bit from one reason to another, so IMO, it helps to zero in on what you are after, unless it doesn't matter.
I was just getting started on some scenery when it was time to tear down the layout and move. I modeled some sage brush following methods used by Rob Spangler using paint stripper pads.
Pelle Soeberg now models the midwest (but who knows what Wednesday will bring ), but his prior layouts were desert and looked great. The magazine index on this website would give more info on articles which might already be on your shelves, but there is also a book "Mountain to Desert, Building the HO Scale Daneville and Donner River" from Kalmbach. I think his book on Rebuilding a Layout A to Z covers some of the same territory.
Retired MR staffer Dick Christenson did nice desert scenery on an N scale project layout some years ago and it appears MR offers a free download of a booklet about it.
http://mrr.trains.com/rapid/2019/01/the-salt-lake-route
Dave Nelson
I'm looking for a good book or article which details the application of desert scenery.
Thanks.