I am thinking of using 4" of foam board (2- 2" thick sheets ) on my entire layout. This will give me more ability to make changes in the contour of the land, creeks, gullies, rivers, depressions etc. Is there any problems I could encounter in using 4 inches of foam board on my layout that could cause trouble with anything as the layout progresses…
The first thing that comes to my mind is the length of the linkage required for turnout machines. Not an impossible situation, just a little more complicated to get it right.
If you think that you want that much scenery that far below track level I would concider the following. Instead of a complete second sheet on top of the base use peices. You would not put any where you were going to have low scenes. Where your tracks will run, cut pieces either wide to accomodate a yard, town or industries. If you wanted a track running on a high fill, cut the piece only a little wider than the track. You could save conciderable amount of foam, thus have it to build above grade scenery. It would also save a lot of cutting and gouging to get back down to the first level.
Should you decide to use two full sheets, I’d suggest usingonly a few narrow stripes of adhesive, so you can take out the pieces you want to, without too much work.
Good luck,
Richard
I’m with Cowman. Two inches is plenty. Where you want to go lower, cut a hole and gluescrap underneath and carve. My canyon is that. Also here is a pic of my quarry which is glued beneath a hole.
Check out this video on how I installed turnouts on 2" think foam for an example on how you could do it. I would also agree that 4" seams excessive for a layout.
I have 4" of foam plus a 1/4" of plywood underneath it. Turnout controls using a Tortoise-type mechanism, in my case RC Servos on a plastic mount that has a hole like th fulcrum hole on a Tortoise, work just fine with no special adjustments. Same mounting as for a thinner surface - big hole under the throwbar, feed wire up into hole in throwbar, done. The best size wire to fit the holes in the servo horns is .032, and it is plenty stiff to move the turnotus and give them a solid spring on the closed side - pull the throwbar to the opposite side and let it go and it snaps back quite solidly.
This is another one of those thigns that gets passed down as absolute gospel, that if you have more than 1/2" plywood you need some .047 music wire, and have to drill out the fulcrum hole ont eh Tortoise, etc. etc. Maybe if you are using Peco turnouts and forget to take out the over-center springs - in which case using a slow motion switch motor is completely pointless. I do not dount that .032 would be too flexible to handle say an O scale handlaid solid rail (no point hinges) turnout made with code 125 rail. But for HO code 83 and smaller scales, it’s more than sufficient, and no special techniques are needed. I have one turnout that needed an different linkage, and that was because I didn’t pay attention when laying track and the hole for the throwbar came out too close to a cross brace to mount the servo.
–Randy
I have 4" of foam on 1/2" ply like Randy and all is fine. I use Caboose ground throws so TO control isn’t a factor. I would say that unless you need 4" I would go with 2". If for no other reason - cost. I’m not sure what you are paying for it or how big your layout is, but you could save a bundle with 2".
ratled