I bought a shaker of Woodland Scenic Earth today but stood there for 30 minutes trying to decide to buy the soil which is darker vs the earth which is lighter.
So whats the difference? Where would you use soil vs earth on the layout.
I thought earth being lighter would be more practical. So thats what I bought.
Thanks,
Mark
You would have darker soil in some areas then others(New Mexico’s soil is mostly light whereas Iowa’s soil is mostly quite dark). Some other examples that jump to mind might be around a logging camp. In camp the soil gets pretty hard use and so it would be dryer, and therefore lighter. In the woods it would hod more moisture and therefore be darker. The same would be true around water. The soil near the water might be darker then the soil that is further away. And what if you model a rain storm? the soil would be mostly dark and anything that protects the soil from rain, like say an awning or porch roof, would leave the soil dry, and therefore light. Matter of fact, that might be cool to model, Run a squiggle or two fo the dark soil through the light under the porch and highlight it with some gloss medium to simulate runoff rivulets. Hmmmmmm,…I gotta go now…[8D]
In MO the farmers fields are really good dark soil especially near the rivers. They call it bottom soil for the river bottoms that used to overflow and enrich the soil. Also near any engine sevicing area (before EPA) there would be large areas stained by both steam and diesel.You can find 100’s of places. Just look around where you live. I have a garden in the back yard that’s dark while ths soil in the front yard is light. ENJOY[:)]
Soil is the uppermost “earth” that is formed by detritus, decay, fungi, bacteria, and organic matter in various stages of decomposition. It is the earth that has “tilth”, or what gives garden plants their best chances at growth.
Plain old earth could have anything in it from the surface and on down as deep as you wi***o dig. That would include clays, rocks, minerals and ores, crystals, and so on.
So, the soil is darker due to the material that is mainly organic and oxides. The earth is generally the substrate found if you dig further than the soil.
Darkest and best would be what we call “top-soil”, and you can imagine what 5 cubic yards of that stuff would cost if you wanted some. But, if you go into a place where they ship gravel and sand, and other stuff, you would get plain old earth, in all its components.
That is my understanding of the reason for their colour variances in WS’s products. I may be incorrect from a geologist’s point of view, but …?
I’ve always thought it easier to start with light color material whether it be soil, grass of ballast. It’s easier to darken up a lighter color than it is lighten up a darker color if you don’t like it.[2c]
I’m not following this discussion very well; I thought earth and soil is the same thing? What is the point of this debate? When you excavate for your real model railroad roadbed you should get something like this:
With the addition of ballast and track it should look like this:
Who are these “woodland senic” people anyway? It’s called dirt, man, it ain’t a color, it just is![;)]
Soil is the stuff of life that all gardeners and farmers try to develop in there fields and plots. It has lots of decaying organic material mixed in with the dirt. The organic material holds moisture and releases nutrients, both needed for plant growth. It is darker in color than dirt.
Earth is dirt.
Typically the greener an area is the darker the dirt will be.