Dirt Roads

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Thu, 2010-09-23 05:49 — don_csx

Scenery and structures

Hello guys. I have been redoing some scenery on my layout and I was looking for suggestion on dirt roads. What do you guys use. I have been think about using sifted sand. Start with a very fine sand the step up to a medium coarse sand for the center and the edges of the road and then to a coarse for the very edges.

Anyone have any other suggestion?

Donald

This is my technique for old

Thu, 2010-09-23 06:22 — hminky

This is my technique for old time horse roads:

www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/scenery/clods/

I don't know if it could be applied to more modern vehicle roads.

Thank you if you visit

Harold

article

Thu, 2010-09-23 09:14 — SPSHASTAROUTE

Harold. Didn't you do an article in RMC a few years back about roads and grass? The picture you posted looks like one I remember from that article. I'll have to look through my "stack". Nice road with ruts BTW.

Mike Lozensky

~~Moder Railroader~~ Railroad Modeler

Hello Don check the following

Thu, 2010-09-23 09:54 — Rio Grande Dan

Hello Don check the following site for 12 close up photos of Dirt roads of all types.

http://www.dirtandgravel.psu.edu/road_work/Pictures/project_pictures.html

After you look at the pictures look at your Track ballast as a rock size compairison and find some fine sand at different sizes smaller. Also look at Joe Fugates plaster coloring formulas with dry pastel powders and use them to make the fine dust. You'll find a fantastic 8 page article called "Zip Texturing Resurrected" on pages 69-77 issue 9 Sept-Oct issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist the free forever magazine you can down load here at MRH forums. Watch the video on pg77 for first hand use of Joe's zip texturing. find it on the following link

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2010-SepOct

Dan

Rio Grande Dan

That picture is from the dirt

Thu, 2010-09-23 10:03 — hminky

That link is to the same article that was in RMC. Those aren't ruts they are wagon wheel tracks.

Thanks for remembering

Harold

Vol. 4 of Joe Fugate's Siskiyou Line has a great clinic on this

Thu, 2010-09-23 13:32 — kleaverjr

Joe shows how he made his dirt road in Volume 4 of his video. Might be worth getting if you dont' already have it. The several "clinics" he gives are very useful!

Ken L.

Video Vol. 4

Thu, 2010-09-23 14:14 — BlueHillsCPR (not verified)

Joe shows how he made his dirt road in Volume 4 of his video. Might be worth getting if you dont' already have it. The several "clinics" he gives are very useful!

Ken L.

I was just watching that segment again today and planned on mentioning it too. The two part scenery DVD's are a must have, IMO but the other three DVD's that make up the 5 disk set are well worth having too!

If you really only want to get the video describing the gravel road techniques, you can download the segment for a pittance. Check out the Model -Trains-Video web site.

The one thing I would do

Fri, 2010-09-24 10:29 — Rio Grande Dan

The one thing I would do differently than Joe is take a 3 inch wide Dowel and roll it on the road before you put the wheel ruts in. It will give the Dirt road a more realistic look because as far back as the year 1500 the English and French road builders would take two or three logs pulled by horses to tamp the surface down and compact the road so it would help keep their wagons from becoming stuck when it rained. In fact the Egyptians used flat stones 4 to 8 foot wide pulled by horses to do the same thing and help compress the surface more than 2000 years ago.

Dan