Most of my buddies in the hobby and myself have used real dirt and rocks for years without baking and magnets. No problems with bugs, microbes, iron in motors etc...The trick is to glue it down.
The biggest problem for me is that the color darkens considerably when glue is added. I use dry grey pigments and fine grey sifted dirt to color adjust the dirt to get the proper look when I glue it down.
One more trick is to sand the dirt after the glue has dried. Brings up a nice dusty look.
Here is a pic. of natural dirt in use:
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
Rob
I agree with you as I used many pounds (at times I would have thought it was Tons) of sand/dirt from the side of the roads around here for years -
both on my home layout and my local club layout - with never a problem!
And both of these layouts are located in basements with humidity levels much higher that what I would like!
This is another one of those Model Railroad Urban Myths - that ONE person MIGHT have had a problem and NOW - EVERYONE IS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM ! ( I love this ME-TOO attitude ).
If you are so worried about this so called problem - use PLAY SAND - it is sanitized for you and already sifted and bagged.
I am using it now on my current layout as I moved and the local roads around here do not have the same levels of sand/dirt I used in the past.
It is just easier to go to the Big Box Stores and buy a bag for $5.00 or so and use it straight out of the bag - no Cooking - no Magnets - no Sifting.
And it can be tinted with any latex type of paint - if you really have to - I just cover everything with ground foam and it looks great!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
wp8thsub I use a LOT of natural scenery materials. I have never baked dirt, nor checked with a magnet, and haven't had an issue despite the many sources of dirt I've used. I do tend to store it in airtight containers (5 gallon buckets, plastic kitty litter containers, etc.) for some time before use however.
I use a LOT of natural scenery materials. I have never baked dirt, nor checked with a magnet, and haven't had an issue despite the many sources of dirt I've used. I do tend to store it in airtight containers (5 gallon buckets, plastic kitty litter containers, etc.) for some time before use however.
Hi,
Personally, while I would use "real" sand and rocks, I would hesitate to use soil on the layout. But, it is done by others and with varying degrees of success. I actually tried it years ago, but it just didn't look right.
Anyway, a good practice to get it layout ready is to:
- Screen the soil first to remove debris. Remember, a shovel full or so will likely be all you need.
- Run a fairly strong magnet through the screened soil. You would be surprised at the ferrous material in the ground, which can attach itself to your locos and cars and has a definite damage potential.
- Spread it thinly on a baking (cookie) sheet and bake for about an hour at 250 degrees F. This will kill anything in the soil, and take out all the moisture as well.
- Let it cool, and then screen it again - and "apply as needed".
Oh, as a side note........ in my travels around the US I have seen soil colors ranging from jet black to yellows to reds to grays and countless combinations. It would be a good idea to get the soil (w/o getting arrested) from the area you are modeling.....................
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I baked mine at 400 F. for an hour or so. I used my wife's best cookie sheets and heaped up the dirt on the two of them to about 10cm deep. I am not sure how baking dirt would ruin an oven but I think next time I'll put the cookie sheets on the natural gas barbecue outside at 400F. as the smell in the house wasn't exactly Prime Rib. Even with the fan on.
After it cooled I sifted it all through about four or five different sized kitchen strainers and have it all sorted into different coffee cans waiting to be used. The cookie sheets just washed off and the oven stayed clean as dirt doesn't seem to splatter. My wife just rolled her eyes at me as I returned the strainers and cookie sheets to their appropriate spots.
I was looking for that mucky Alberta foot hills, cattle range, spring thaw look. I am happy with how it has gone so far. Below is real dirt and static grass.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Steven S I wonder if freezing it would accomplish the same thing. Steve S
I wonder if freezing it would accomplish the same thing.
Steve S
No. Freezing doesn't kill microorganisms, just makes them less active for a while. Nor does keeping it in an airtight container. Even an inch of air space on the top would provide months or years of respiration for many creatures (some of them don't breath oxygen, and can set up a cycle of life inside a sealed container).
And while I've never actually heard of anyone who had "bad things happen" from using dirt which has not been baked (or microwaved) and had a magnet run over it, I wouldn't want to be the first person, either. It's just good common sense, and it's not hard, so why skip it?
It's not hazardous if you take minimal precautions (no more so than roasting your Thanksgiving turkey). 350 degrees (which is too cool to ignite dead leaves or sticks) for 30 minutes will do it, or 10 minutes on high in the microwave.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
The sun bakes dirt here in Arizona. I've used lots and lots of dirt on both a large HO scale club layout and an HO scale home layout and have never baked it or run a magnet over it.
I mix the finely sifted dirt with plaster, water, white glue, and acrylic paint. Once it dries nothing is going to grow in it, and if there are any particles that may be attracted to a magnet, I don't think they're going to be a problem with it firmly glued down.
The only thing I've ever ran a magnet over is some very finely powdered copper smelter slag, which does have quite a bit of residual copper and other metals in it.
Hazard? Yes, you're wife's gonna smack you hard over the head with a frying pan when you wreck her oven!
I've seen this discussion several times and NO ONE I can remember has ever actually claimed or described an actual bad effect in reality from NOT baking dirt.
The St. Francis Consolidated Railroad of the Colorado Rockies
Denver, Colorado
Personally, I'd sift it and then microwave it for 60 seconds just to be safe.
Enjoy
Paul
Rob Spangler
trainmasterg Hi Folks, I'm sure somewhere in here this topic has been discussed before. I've got some really nice soil from my yard that I'd like to use with other scenery materials. I'm pretty sure I read that it would be advised to "bake" it first - to remove any potential organisms, etc. Is this truly necessary? Yes, the problem can be from the living things in there that may cause a staff infection or a respiratory infection during the handling and sifting process. Once you in case in glue after soaking with rubbing alcohol the hazard to you is gone. Best methods? About 1 hour at 350 is the general rule Hazards in baking process? other things that may be in there such a lead from fishing weights if you got your gravel from a creek bed Drawbacks? (long term discoloration, cracking, etc) None I know of Anyone have photos of their results? Nope still looks the same Also, be sure to run a magnet to get all of the iron based particles out of it that may play havoc with the electronics ratled
Hi Folks,
I'm sure somewhere in here this topic has been discussed before. I've got some really nice soil from my yard that I'd like to use with other scenery materials. I'm pretty sure I read that it would be advised to "bake" it first - to remove any potential organisms, etc.
Also, be sure to run a magnet to get all of the iron based particles out of it that may play havoc with the electronics
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction.
-Greg