using real dirt possible?

of course you can...ask scale rail

Sift it to various grades from coarse to fine -then bake it in the oven at around 250-300 degrees for a few hours to kill any organic undesirables. Store in containers labeled for the various sizes and you are all set.

by the way-scale rail can get you "red dirt" if you need it.

Real TN dirt, prepared just like Moonman advised.

I would add to do it outside because you will stink up the house while you are cooking it.

I hear dirt can be had at York for under $30 with twigs and stone already in it.

Real dirt works quite well and it's.......dirt cheap.

What is the down side of using real dirt?  Besides the organic material that you have to bake out?

Using real dirt THREAD

thanks. 

Don't bake it, just nuke it. Works great.

Yes you can. Over at Daves train shop for his basic scenery class he used real dirt for ground cover on a modular layout with glue and looked real good too !!! 

I have used real dirt on my last three layouts, and think it looks great.  It's real, after all.

I would be very careful.  I tried this once with an HO layout.  There were fine bits of what I expect was iron in the dirt.  Played havoc with the engines until I got it all firmly glued down.  It would be worse with magna-traction engines.

The only problem with it is it's dirt...y.   LOL

Rick

Well at least it is dirt cheap.

I've been using real dirt for over 20 years. I've never baked it, never nuked it, never had a problem with it.

So, yes, I'd say it's possible.

Absolutely, as others have said, nothing looks like real materials than real materials.  Maybe because the Arizona sun does a good job of baking our dirt, I've never heated it.  Just graded it into: fine dirt, dirt, sand, small stones and medium stones.  In this scene, all the dirt and stones came from my yard.

Real Tn. dirt is everywhere on my layout.

Like the quote below states....

Totally agree. 

I plan to use real dirt on my layout.  I plan to start the scenery this summer, and as soon as the ground thaws I will be collecting dirt from the yard.  

I dig up the dirt and leave it in the sun in a old milk jug. I try to collect it a few months before I use it.

i've used real dirt on my layout; purchased it from the local sand and gravel company. It's called washed sand and comes in varying degrees of fineness and varying colors, and in this market costs $5 for an 80 Lb. sack (which goes a very long way). For a more oily effect in some areas i simply sprayed (rattle can) with some black paint i had lying around.

jackson

We use real dirt. Just sift it and go. It tends to darken when saturated with glue/water mix, so the trick I use is to paint the surface with the glue/water mixture (1/3 glue) then sprinkle the dirt on. As the first sprinkling absorbs the water and darkens, I sprinkle a second coat which sticks to the first without darkening. So far, nothing has grown or crawled out of the dirt, but you can bake/nuke it first if you want.

Watch this... It will inspire you to use real dirt.

That's great Ron.  Thanks for it.

I've used dried out coffee grounds.

Don't use kitty litter if you have a cat! 

go to joey_ricard and see his post on using real dirt he has some super helpful videos on scenery posted on youtube.