This is not a world shaking discovery. Just something I tried and have been satisfied it works - at least for me.

When I started building my shelf layout in November 2018, and it was into 2019 before I actually got going. I was not steady, had shakes, at that time, bad eyesight, etc. The base was 3 12" by 8' pink foam glued on end to form 24' shelf. The pink foam was painted with the cheapest house paint I could find. The color a relatively benign that was an estimate of West TX. The coat was enough to seal any porousness of the foam. I then spread a very thin layer of DAP Alex white caulk - again the cheapest. Thin enough that when dry would be clear. And just enough for roadbed. And did the same on top of the roadbed for track. That was the easy part. When I needed to re-locate some, I simply pried it up with a putty knife and re-did the caulk routine. Now for the "minor discovery".

I now use the same caulk and spread it 'again' lightly over the ground area. Let it dry clear. Then, go ahead with ground cover. I used grout mixed with coffee grounds. But you can use whatever you wish. The good thing is: I found that after I did a 3" by 3' area, it dried looking funky. I didn't like it. So, what is different is that I didn't use water or liquids. I just pried the ground cover up with the putty knives. I used a 3" and a 1" as appropriate. This made a dry mess. Simply vacuumed it up and was ready to re-do the entire area. Easy and not as much a mess as it would have been with water and soaking and such.

So this is my story. And thought it worth mentioning here for those who might want to try it.

Happy Railroad Modeling!