# Coffee grounds



## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Has anybody used coffee grounds on your layout? I have started drying
them and putting them in a large jar. Right now I am thinking of using
them as kinda ballast in the rail yard. I am not using cork under the track 
in the yard. The grounds are actually finer than most ballast. The grounds 
are too dark to use as dirt for dirt roads. I have heard of using thick coffee
as a weathering item. Such as rust stains running down the side of cars.
Any experience or ideas.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

But then your layout will smell like a coffee shop!!?? Is that prototypical??


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## cid (Jul 3, 2014)

Prolly NOT a bad idea, if they're good and dry. But, they're gonna look like coffee grounds. I'm really wondering, WHAT would they look like if they were bleached? Worth a try...


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I have read many times about people using coffee grounds for various scenery uses -- forest floors, garden soils, even cinders. I've never thought it was a good idea. Here's why.

I have three 16 cubic foot compost bins in my back yard, into which I dump all my organic kitchen scraps and yard waste. After a couple of months, I can pull out lovely, rich, dark brown humus (not hummus). It makes great fertilizer and is terrific for amending soil to improve its quality. One of the largest components (by volume) of my kitchen waste is coffee grounds (the grounds and the unbleached filter go right into the bucket to be taken out). All well and good.

But why would you want to introduce something to your layout that is going to decompose, and potentially attract unwanted plant or animal growth to your layout? Granted, the temperature and moisture conditions of my compost pile are greatly different from those on my layout, but it still doesn't seem like a good idea to me. The lichen and sedum stems which form some of the vegetation on my layout last a good long time (because they are heavily preserved), but they do degenerate with age much more than the man-made products do.

Just my thoughts on the subject. As I said at the beginning, I know of lots of people who don't feel this way.


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Hydrolcal is an excellant tool/technique for many scenery representations.*

Colored plaster, with oil paint(hydrolcal accepts oil paint washes. It can be made to look like sand, gravel, stones and such. Hence it basically becomes an inert substance on the 
layout free from degradation and any unwanted pests microbes and things of that nature.
Good day! Fellow model rail roaders. Regard's,tr1


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## SBRacing (Mar 11, 2015)

The only use I can see coffee grounds useful for would be weathering, and morning fuel for me.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

CTValley, I can not disagree with with your reasons to not use.
Although most ballast is made from pecan shells. Which should
decompose also. The grounds might work if they were covered
with a thin layer of glue or paint or maybe satin polyurethane.
Might try a small test sample on a piece of wood. Just seems 
they should work for something. Maybe use them for mulch
around trees in a park or yard.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Since this seems to be turning into a gardening/railroading thread I thought this might interest some of you on Carl Arendts micro site: http://www.carendt.com/small-layout-scrapbook/page-97a-may-2010/


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

mopac said:


> CTValley, I can not disagree with with your reasons to not use.
> Although most ballast is made from pecan shells. Which should
> decompose also. The grounds might work if they were covered
> with a thin layer of glue or paint or maybe satin polyurethane.
> ...


I hear you about the pecan shells. My experience with composting tells me that they hang around a long time. Even in a hot, well managed pile, hard nut shells like walnuts, pecans, and almonds (and avocado rinds, if anyone is interested) usually don't compost on the first run, and get dumped back in a few times. Peanut and pistachio shells, on the other hand, decompose fairly quickly.

For tr1, hydrocal is great for hard objects -- ground, rocks, etc., but doesn't replicate earth or loam very well, no matter how it's painted / stained.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Coffee grounds as scenery*

Long while back I did use coffee grounds on an HO layout. They did smell heavily for a long time, though the smell wasn't unpleasant to me,and I don't drink coffee.
In the early history of our hobby there wasn't the great variety of scenery products we have today. As a result, there was a lot of re-use of odd things as scenery material. Dyed sawdust, tea leaves, and coffee grounds were all used then. Some are still used today. However considering all the great materials on the market, I don't see any particular advantage in using
these items. Still, it's your railroad and you can use whatever you want. 

Traction Fan


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Someone who used to log on here used coffee grounds on his.

He nuked them in the microwave for a while to sanitize them.
Word of caution, put them on a microwave safe plate and cover them. As they get nuked the steam might make them explode a little and you will have a mess to clean up.

He glued them with the white glue method, 50/50. Then he added a layer of grass on top, then he tilled it somehow so it looked like a tractor just came by turning it over to plant his crops.

The end result looked nice with the rich coffee ground color. Looked like nice topsoil freshly turned.

He tried to bleach/dye them somehow to tone the color down a little lighter, but it did not work.

So...if you want you can use it if you want to try.
After you nuke it it will be dry, and you will grow no mold.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Then again, don't try it. :smokin:


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