"The Color of Dirt Roads at Gettysburg?" Topic

I'm making road section terrain pieces for my Pickett's Charge game and I'm wondering how to model the Emmitsburg Road ground color. I don't recall whether it was a dirt road or was it macadamized.

Assuming that the road is dirt I'm looking at several options: brown with some tan color dry brushed over the surface; or use a tan color as the base color and then dry brush white or some other light color over the surface. Would there be any grass or weeds in the center of the road or would any greenery have been crushed out of existence by wagon traffic.

I'd appreciate any ideas and thoughts.

The current dirt roads are tan base color, but not a lot of lighter highlights. Scattered rocks, too … I would imagine it's always been like that.

While it was a logistic hub, I would guess that prior to armies marching all over it for a couple of days, it probably had the spotty strip of grass down the center where wagon wheels and side-by-side horse teams didn't beat it down.

If you don't get this right you will never be forgiven you know. =D

I think etotheipi nailed it.

I'm not so sure that a dirt road would have a centre strip of grass and weeds. This is more a 20th Century post-horse feature as the use of single-horse wagons and buggies would keep this area trampled down. While heavier wagons would have multiple-horse teams, local personal transportation was done with a single horse configuration.

Here is an interesting picture of a road in Pennsylvania, Gettysburg area.

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Look at the center rut.

At least around here (we live on a farm with lots of dirt roads) a tan colour with some darker highlights for rocks, etc – agree with etotheipi – but the strip of grass takes some time and is at least around here only seen on very rarely used roads – as Gettysburg was a hub I imagine the roads got a fair bit of use and as noted horse traffic and single horse wagons/cars would not leave much of a central strip

Little used roads up here in Manitoba also have the grass and weeds centre strip. But this is arguably due to modern (20th Century+) automobile traffic.

I had always assumed this feature to be older until years back there was a review of the "errors" in Ridley Scott's movie Gladiator. It was pointed out that the road seen in the final Elysian Fields scene should not have a grass strip in it – as the Romans did not have automobiles.

Digging a little deeper, Wikipedia offers the following:

"A horse and buggy (in American English) or horse and carriage (in British English and American English) refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses."

"Until mass production of the automobile brought its price within the reach of the working class, horse-drawn conveyances were the most common means of local transport in towns and nearby countryside."

I found this colorized photo of the Mummasburg Road running towards Oak Hill.

Also, I read that the Emmitsburg Road was not an "improved" road so it would have been a dirt road.

There must be exceptions (but maybe not), but the term pike or turnpike was used for macadamized roads. Thus, as stated above, the Emmitsburg Road was not.

However, the state of maintenance and repair could affect the macadamizing. They were not like a modern blacktop road. They were closer to a gravel road.

Tom

Yes agree with GO.

Plus for wargaming, I doubt anyone really cares if they are all dirt. Make them dirt and call the type what you please.

If you're doing a diorama, then I understand. But even there, do we know if areas of grass were brown due to lack of rain, or green? Did a farmer maintain his fences? See my point?

I'd go with tan and (probably) accept that grass strips are more recent.

You realize, of course, that if you do Sherman's March to the Sea, you'll have to do a completely different set of roads to reflect the red Georgia clay?

The first part of this article are period photos:

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No grass, just bare earth.

What they call Red Georgia Clay in the Peach State we call Virginia Brick in the Old Dominion.

I'm thinking to be authentic you should take a bucket and go on a road trip. Your Gettysburg dirt will be totally the right color.

Model Railroaders do this, don't judge.

Have you attempted a look on Google Maps? Certainly there must be some dirt roads in the rural areas to use as a starter.

If not "Louis XIV's" advice would be my play.

It's definitely not the red earth you find farther south .

The first part of this article are period photos:

Yeah, but from the period after the battle. With military journalism photos, you have to be sure you're not building a model of Dresden from a picture taken the day after the bombing…

I agree with the one-horse/two-horse rational (after all, I brought it up). The question is whether roads like Emmitsburg had more large wagons (as a logistic hub) and whether or not there was enough local, on-horse traffic to beat down the center strip. It's an economic history question.

Thought about it and remembered Don Troiani did a painting

THE EMMITSBURG ROAD PRINT BY DON TROIANI.

He is a stickler for authenticity. Unfortunately, you can't see the road just the fences the grass, maybe a wee bit of brown soil.

But you might search for his paintings of pickets charge or any other road at GBurg, at least for color.

I marched dirt roads from Emmetsburg Maryland, toward Gettysburg over 40 years ago, those dirt roads looked pretty much like dirt roads in Ohio or Indiana. Only in the south have I noticed different color. Obviously the reds down there.

McPherson Ridge, but nice of the road there.

Subject: Don Troiani McPherson's Ridge Limited Edition Art Prints Posters and Framing by Prints.com


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Thanks everyone for lots of helpful and informative comments and links. I particularly liked the idea of carting the actual dirt from Gettysburg. LOL!

I'm sending some people to The Gettysburg Experience training seminar in a couple months. Want them to pick you up some?

:)

We've done living history at Gettysburg many times. They camp us just below the Pennsylvania Monument. Digging fire pits there, the Troiani print with road, matches well with what I've dug and also seen.

A few comments on the Troiani print 35thOVI referenced.

Of course that is the Cashtown Pike,also called the Chambersburg Pike. It it is a "Pike" why is it dirt?

The macadamized turnpikes were only "paved" outside of the towns. I suspect they were paved only at and after the toll houses as you left town. The toll house on that pike was west of McPherson Ridge, thus the dirt road. Dale Gallon did a painting that had a long view to the west and you could see the end of the dirt and the beginning of the "pavement".

I recently did a set of new roads for my Regimental Fire & Fury ACW games. I bought them from Monday Knight Productions. They are dirt roads made of latex. I painted them for dirt roads.

However, I also did a number of pieces for macadamized turnpikes. After painting I added a Woodland Scenics light gray ballast to those pieces. So now I can do both types of roads.

Tom

Turnpike just means you have to pay a toll to use the road, it doesn't necessarily mean it was macadamized. It fact, I would say most turnpikes were just dirt roads.