I’ve used coffee on “cliff” walls, with India ink to show texture.
India ink has to be one of the oldest modeling tools around.
Coffee grounds also into the latex I used to paint some of the layout. Worked better than the stuff the paint manufacturer sold to texture.
What I used in construction, but not scenic, were 6 inch skewers for shish kabobs. Pointed one end , you guys could do lots with those. I used for layout of the track.
For roads I plan on using a roll of roofing shingle material, but like Mark said that may be a couple of years away. But maybe not cause I’m tripping over it every time I go to the shop.
Ive used plaster cast off for shale, after dying. And landscape rocks to finish around the tunnel. Hides the gaps.
I used low expanding foam inside my tunnel. Probably should be painted tan or gray but the white makes it easy to see around the track
I’ve used kitty litter for ballast after screening and liked it but not sure I’m going to ballast or not on this layout.
I plan on using coffee stirrers for portals which has been covered. But what I like are the stirrers that have a paddle shape one end for mixing epoxy.
I used a broken measuring stick for a height gauge near a bridge.
Love the PVC pipe grain elevators. Seems like those can be made to fit a lot of different areas depending on size modeled.
