Muddy trackbed/yard

[dud spud]

Hello there,

I was wondering what the best way to model a muddy goods yard would be. I have a small model railway that has been continually evolving but I have finally settled on a design. I have my track layout and I was going to have some of the rails embedded in concrete. This didn't work as the modelling clay I used is nowhere near level. It now looks like the rails are submerged in orange and grey mud, right up to the railtops. I don't want all that effort and clay to go to waste so I was going to make it look like the rails are deep into some mud. I have asked some people about this before and they weren't sure. Should I just paint over it in a muddy colour?

[ianLMS]

I used DAS clay to create the below effect, covered using different paints., topping off with ash and weathering powders. If you want it muddy, i suppose a darker brown with some texture would work.

 

[doilum]

A goods yard (unlike an old colliery) should not really be too muddy as it would have made operations difficult. Best bet might be to sand back the high spots and apply a level layer of fine sand or chinchilla dust. This can be painted in line with local stone surface dressing. Gordon Gravett is the go to author on roads and similar surfaces.

[dud spud]

Perhaps I didn't phrase it quite right. It's supposed to be a railway line that is 1-track, poor maintenance and small amounts of funding, so keeping the standards at a point that makes operations easy isn't happening. I also don't want it to have a particularly rough texture, so I might just paint it in a muddy colour, add some tufts of grass and call it ok. Thanks for the advice nonetheless, it's much appreciated.

[The Johnster]

Clear varnish for puddles and wheel tracks for horse drawn carts or lorries depending on period; allow for triple track if there’s a Scammell Mechanical Horse about!