Thanks for the additional info, Bob! Looking good. Glad you're still enjoying your trains after all these years.
Yup, I know those ankle twisters well. I detest large ballast. I am going to try to remember to pack along something in which I can bring home a sample of the "stuff" that I mentioned. I have a sneaking suspicion it will be too coarse, but... we'll see. There's a couple places that loads coal here regionally. In the drier months, the trucks coming into/out of those places pound the spillage into powder. I may have to try to "harvest" some of that, too. In the past I was pleased by the results of grinding and sifting real dirt from my target region (at the time) to obtain a look I was happy with on the dirt roads/etc. Sifted the pulverised dirt through pieces of the wife's discarded pantyhose. The process worked good and the results were effective... but quite dusty during the sifting process! Speaking of railroading: Edit: Never mind. What was to follow was dealing with a recent prototype experience and was getting lengthy. Andre Ming
