What you see is what I would call "scenery rock" over painted Sculptamold or Celluclay (again, depending on what I can find at Michaels or a train store). I take old coffee cans when I go railfanning, and when I run into some likely dirt, I pack it into the coffee cans. I go for different colors and sizes. It helps that I live in California and can easily find various kinds of dirt and fine rocks in semi-desert areas, but I believe George Sellios does the same thing in his climate and area, so just about anyone can do something with this idea. When I get the coffee cans home, I put them in the oven at 250 degrees or so to dry the dirt out and kill any creatures that came in with it. Then when I'm ready, I spread the dirt and various size rocks in a geologically likely-looking way. Then wet it with a spray bottle and liberally drizzle white glue onto it. Sprinkling some Woodland Scenics fine turf on top also helps blend things in. It helps to get out in the real world railfanning, or even better, riding Amtrak (or your own flavor of passenger train).
A good source of inspiration for this kind of scenery work is rail DVDs, such as those by Charles Smiley.
A good source of inspiration for this kind of scenery work is rail DVDs, such as those by Charles Smiley.
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