“Alastair,
Once a year my wife and I clean out our pantry, which includes the herb & spice shelves.
This year instead of throwing away the oregano and other Italian spices, I used them as ground cover in my layout.
Now every time the trains pass through the outskirts of town, it stirs up the fragrance of the herbs and spices and I smell PIZZA, and it makes me crave that Italian delight.
I’ve gained 20 pounds since I made this blunder.
The good side of this is, if you allow people to come see your layout, you might be able so sell the a slice of pizza on the way out. Thus making you money to pay for your railroading addiction.
All jokes aside. Top chefs suggest that you discard your herbs and spices if they have been opened for 6 to 12 months. Don’t throw them away. You have already paid for them. Why not recycle?
Use them the same way you would use the manufactured ground cover. Different shades of greens and browns can be used just by using a different herb or spice.
If need be, you could use a coffee grinder to get a finer texture.
I’m just glad I haven’t used the pumpkin pie spices yet. I would be 30 pounds on the plus side by now.
Happy munching, and don’t drip that tomato sauce on the track.
Richard”
“To make a pile of ash, mould a pile shape out of Plasticine and put it on a piece of shiny plastic.
Cover it and some of the plastic around it with a thin coat of PVA.
Sprinkle with fine ash (burnt paper is good). When dry peel whole thing off the plastic and place where required.
Well I think it’s good.
Brian”
“Dear Alastair,
I send few pictures of my layout in progress.
All of this item will be lately installed in layout dimension 2×1,3 m.
Best regards
Davorin”
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And if today is the day you get going on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.
Best
Al
PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.
