Desert soil? (revisited)

Your best bet would probably be real dirt, if you can find it in the right color (or lighter). If it is too light, it can easily be tinted using an ink/alcohol mixture. Lightening dark soil is obviously harder (I'm not sure it can be done). 

Otherwise, you will have to find some kind of fine material of the right texture and tint it. Cheap kitty litter is a possibility. Sift out the big stuff and use the remaining fines. Don't get expensive litter--it won't have any small stuff. Another possibility is a product called "tube sand", which is intended to use for traction on ice/snow. It contains sand and stones of many sizes and interesting colors. You sift out what you need using a colander.

You can also check here.

http://store.rrscenery.com

definitely go to joe's link above. THey have exactly what you need in right particle size

Thanks for the responses. Joe, thanks for the link.

Depending on your area Michael, we just dig up dirt with rocks and sift it for the club layout as well as individual layouts, you can use the fine dirt for other areas.  Many of the waterfall and valley dioramas use both.

You might find an open area or empty lot where you can get a small bucket full.

Ron, I live in southeast AL. The soil on my land is sandy and I have used it, but I am not getting the exact look and texture I want. When I lived in SoCal I remember the soil being a mix of fine to course sand with small rocks scattered about. It looks like Arizona Rock and Mineral are going to have what I need. Their product is real dirt and rocks, so the colors and textures. Should be right. I will post some pics when I get done. That probably won't be until later this year when I get back to the layout. Thanks again for your responses.

Arizona rock didn't pan out. I ordered sand and gravel mix and I received two bags of powder. Seller didn't respond to my query. Can't recommend their product. I bought some rock mix from JTT. I will update when I receive it.

Mike,

I bought some of the scenic express soil, both grades.  The color as delivered is tan-ish, but I found when I wet it the color changes drastically to a dark brown, almost black.

Sorry to hear about your experience with Arizona Rock,  I have bought direct from them in the past without any problems, but I wasn't searching for a specific color, just a finer grade of rock (HO and N scale yard ballast for my O scale yard) which has worked out well for me.

Dave

Cheapest solution I saw was a bag of sand box sand from Home Depot... looks like the real thing....

If you want real southwest dirt, just let me know how much and I'll go scoop some up. I sent boxes of it to Don (scalerail) in Hawaii a couple years ago. Flat rate medium box is about $15..... no charge for the dirt  A small flat rate box is $7 if you just want to try a sample. 3-5 pounds fits in the small box if I remember correctly.

We've used about two 5 gallon buckets full on our layout, sifted into 2 or 3 different grades. I think Don used as is, the way I shipped it. Just let me know

Mike D posted:

Arizona rock didn't pan out. I ordered sand and gravel mix and I received two bags of powder. Seller didn't respond to my query. Can't recommend their product. I bought some rock mix from JTT. I will update when I receive it.

YOu did not order soil or sand/gravel. you order rock. If you did not get rock that you need to email/call us to get what you want. The only email we have from you is your order.

Philip, I am assuming you are representing AR&G Co. based on your response.  It has been almost a year since I ordered the product. I guess a response a year later is better than no response at all.

I guess I will revisit this topic since it has been brought back up.

I purchased both, sand/gravel and rock products. Az Rock did eventually send out some more sand/gravel product because I wasn't satisfied with the texture. And if memory serves, it was the same power I received the first time. I will get it out of my scenic materials box and post what I actually bought and received. It isn't a bad product, actually rather good, but I didn't get the right size sand/gravel product for my O-gauge layout. It is too fine. I need something a little coarser. It will probably work great on my N-scale layout, which is where I plan on using it now. I bought some larger rocks as well that matched the sand/gravel mix.

Outdoor projects have taken precedence over my layouts, so I have made no progress on the O-gauge layout since I posted here and I only got as far as laying the track on my N-scale layout. When I get a chance to dig out the layout and get back to work I will update on the Az Rock products and the progress on the layout. That will probably be a few months from now when I get the project I have been working on for the last 13 months completed.

Mike D posted:

I need a dirt/soil product with some small rocks in it to simulate areas of bare sandy, rocky, arid soil. The kind of soil that is found out west. The only product have found is the Scenic Express soil and dirt. My LHS doesn't have it in stock, so I can't see it in person. In the pictures I see on-line it looks like dark fine soil.  Is it dark, or will it work for desert soil? If the S.E. product isn't going to work in my application, any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Go to your local pet store.  The materials they have for hamster, snake, etc....to use makes great ground cover and ballast.