# Recipe for Concrete/ peatmoss



## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

Old age !! HA HA HA








I did know it , I know I did!!
Can some one come up with the recipe for the Concrete that has the peatmoss in it.
I think _Jack Verducci _ has mentioned it.
Has any one tried to us it to build/ pour building with it?
Thanks 
Sean


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

I'm not sure if this is what you need, but I found it online: 

_"Mossing Structures_

_Peter Chandler suggests that to encourage moss to grow on structures, that the walling blocks be made from a mix of cement and peat. This creates a course mix which affects the detail of the finished block. During a conversation with Jack Verducci at the 1998 National Garden Railroad Convention at Santa Clara, he described another method that is quite simple: Put buttermilk and fresh moss in a kitchen blender – blend until you have a smooth mixture. Using a 1" paintbrush, brush the mixture wherever you want to sprout moss. It works!"_


As for moss, this stuff came up naturally. Funny how it only grows under the track


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

Since I posted that Question I came up with this 
http://doit101.com/Gardening/Hypertufa.html
We got a small cottage built from this stuff.
It was lighter than I thought it would be.
Sean


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Yep, you found it. It's called hypertufa.. concrete, pete moss & vermiculite.


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

I use it a lot for my trackbed, as I model a rarely used shortline in 7/8n18 scale. It's called Rowlins Mix, named for a Brit named Dave Rowlins, who was a 16mm scale pioneer. 

A number of people have tried it and everyone I know who has used it has had success. 

I experimented with it a lot and can report success as well. My experiments have included using: 

1. Sand or sand mixed with crusher fines 

2. Portland cement (even used quickrete after filtering the pebbles) 

3. Peat (you should sift out the twigs and bark 

Generally, I mix it 2 parts sand, 2 peat and 1 part Portland. 

But I have altered the ratio in many ways and all seem to have worked well. The less Portland, the less strong it is, but even a little less than 1 part Portland will hold up to walking. 

Too much peat and it tends to darken the right of way. 

Sand and cement only, about 3to1 will yield a lot of strength, light color, and simulatea sort of sandy or light earth right of way. 

If you use Rowlins, you won't need to add battons when handlaying track, as the mixture will anchor the track and ties. The stuff is especially useful for fills, where you don't want crusher fine in the track fouling a turnout 

Here's my worker mixing some, surrounding track has new mixture of Rowlins. We generally don't get much moss where I live, so over time the Rowlins will turn a nice weathered greenish from tiny moss.


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

sorry, having trouble uploading photo


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave

Are you using the HTML element/tag to include images?


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

yes, I've posted many photos on this forum and tried about 6 times. I know the html codes [i-m-g]xxx[/-i-m-g] I added the dashes so you can look


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

ok, reading what you just said...


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave

That's what I was afraid of, the tags that you posted in your above reply are not HTML they are UBB/Forum Code tags. They used to work, but as of the last software update (i.e. last weekend) these tags are no longer supported.

Look at the image in my above reply and follow that HTML format, there are space characters between 'img' & 'alt=""', and again between the 'alt=""' & 'src=', also once again between the end of the image url 'draftsill.gif" & the '/>' Also note that you use the angle brackets (i.e. < > ) and not the square brackets (i.e. [ ] ).


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)




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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

cool


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