12-06-2010, 01:53 PM
Tetter's, what little I've used, I haven't worried about baking the sand and dirt All of the dirt I use is inorganic for the most part. Our actual soil here in Houston is typically black gumbo clay which isn't good for using on the layout. It becomes a gooey-gummy mess when wet. So I don't bother with that.
The soils I use are more like finely crushed rock or shell from "gravel" roads and road shoulders. Southeast Texas dirt roads aren't really dirt if they are to withstand traffic after a rain. They are typically built up with crushed concrete, shell, or crushed caliche, and that is the stuff I use.
Here's a photo of a test strip I did with various stuff I collected over the past couple of years.
1 - Sifted from a pile of broken up asphalt road surface. This stuff has quite a bit of magnetic material in it.
2, 3, 4 - sifted from various "caliche" type road surfaces. These can get really powdery and dusty after a dry spell.
5 - A lighter colored version of the above. I can't remember where I got this one, wish I could because I need more.
6 - Similar to 2, 3, 4.
7 - Sifted from crushed concrete off of an abandoned road. It is more gray than in the picture.
8 - Sifted crushed concrete from a new access road at a residential construction site.
The soils I use are more like finely crushed rock or shell from "gravel" roads and road shoulders. Southeast Texas dirt roads aren't really dirt if they are to withstand traffic after a rain. They are typically built up with crushed concrete, shell, or crushed caliche, and that is the stuff I use.
Here's a photo of a test strip I did with various stuff I collected over the past couple of years.
1 - Sifted from a pile of broken up asphalt road surface. This stuff has quite a bit of magnetic material in it.
2, 3, 4 - sifted from various "caliche" type road surfaces. These can get really powdery and dusty after a dry spell.
5 - A lighter colored version of the above. I can't remember where I got this one, wish I could because I need more.
6 - Similar to 2, 3, 4.
7 - Sifted from crushed concrete off of an abandoned road. It is more gray than in the picture.
8 - Sifted crushed concrete from a new access road at a residential construction site.
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