Sand everywhere. Some of it on the ground . The sanding facility in Regina Saskatchewan is typical. During the late 70’s CN maintained a small six-stall roundhouse here as well as all of the necessary diesel support facilities. This photo shows just the top of the roundhouse in the background as well as the heavy crane over the outside repair tracks. The words, “Courtesy and Service” were also painted on CN bridges at that time and they can still be seen today.

This simple feature doesn’t take up a lot of room on the layout but even if your not planning for it to be part of your operation it sure is an eye catcher. This is the model I used but there are plenty on the store shelves that would work just as well. Be sure to install lights, if you can, because they really focus all attention on the scene. There’s lots of fine sand around. Clean and almost white at the foot of the tower and mixing with black as you get farther away. There may also be some weeds growing nearby if it was a less used short line facility.