Have you guys heard about the cork roadbed outage?
I went to my LHS Caboose Hobbies, they always have plenty of cork available. They were all out, I asked them when they would get more in stock, and they have no idea, but that Midwest Cork Roadbed has stopped production.
Midwest’s web page says the cork roadbed is “out of stock”. It’s not just HO roadbed, but N and O as well as some sheets. Wonder if their supplier is not shipping or a container is lost in the supply chain?
No, apparently they have STOPPED production for whatever reason.
I just now had to buy some on ebay, thank god there is plenty of sellers with it there.
My question is: Why is there not another cork roadbed manufacturer, is Midwest the only one who produces it?
If so, why? that doesn’t make any sense!
Saw this rumor on another forum. There, indications were that it was a temporary stop and that production is supposed to resume on May1. Not sure about how much stock to put in any of this. I just picked up 5 pcs of Midwest HO cork roadbed at the LHS today.
Motley,
I just talked to ‘Tracy’ at Midwest Products. There is a supply chain issue and cork is in short supply. They figure they will have enough raw material to start production in 3-4 weeks . I think the guy at Caboose Hobbies was “Blow’in smoke up your A*s”…
I would try some of the ‘on line dealers’ and see what they have available - Even Hobby Lobby sells cork roadbed, and with a 40% off coupon - the price is right,
Jim
Thanks Jim, for calling them and finding the details. At least we know more is coming.
But this still begs the question, why isn’t there another company who manufactures cork roadbed?
Michael,
You might try a search under Model Power. IIRC, they also sell cork products. Midwest is the main US manufacturer. I suspect they’re the biggest player here, so when they’re down it affects the availability of anyone else’s stock, too.
Most likely, because of the low weight, but high cube of shipping something like cork, which is light, it may be that this is one product that can still be made here profitably. That’s a good thing.
In any case, looks like things will be back to normal soon. Support someone else’s LHS and call around. I’ll bet there are lots of people with cases on the shelf, ready to go, if you’re in a pinch and need it now.
The cork oak is native to Spain. I don’t know if anyone grows it in the US - but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Just because it’s a low density product there might be shipping issues - if the shipper wants to be paid enough to meet expenses in this high fuel cost environment, charging by weight just won’t hack it. That applies equally to ground and ocean transportation.
Personally, I don’t use cork. I carve my roadbed from thin extruded foam, sold as fan-fold underlayment. Here in the dessicated desert cork has a limited half-life less than the expected life of my layout.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
A couple weeks ago I went over to my LHS to look for more cork roadbed (I still prefer it to the alternatives). They were still out of it, but the person who runs the store for his dad showed me a note he had from Midwest products apologizing for the shortage. It said they were waiting on suitable cork to arrive and would be back in production ASAP after they got it. I saw it with my own eyes and read it myself!
I love the rumors that abound…[:-^]
73
Seems like only HO is out. Klein has no Midwest HO or Model Power HO cork, but they have 70 cases of 25 Midwest N scale cork in stock.
I have half a case left, should be enough to finish uup my cement plant section if I ever get the benchwork built.
–Randy
This product is much better than cork - but it costs more:
http://www.homabed.com/site/890800/
Sheldon
Home Depot and other big box stores, including Wal-mart and Staples, sell sheets of cork that is the right thickness from which you can cut your own roadbed with a straightedge and razor blade, so Midwest is not the only game in town.
Michael,
I used to live in Denver (Aurora, actually). Have you tried Mizell’s (another of my favorite hobby stores in Denver) or Colpar, which is in Aurora?. If you’ve never been to Mizell’s, it is worth the trip. I often have found that their prices are at least competitive, if not better, than Caboose’s. The selection is great too! Also, you may want to call some of the Colorado Springs stores; Discount Trains on Academy Blvd. comes to mind as one of them. Just a thought.
Tom, oh yes I go to Mizell all the time, in fact it’s closer to me than Caboose. I live in Broomfield. I have not checked their to see if they have cork though, but will drop by there this weekend.
Actually I gave up cork years ago when Homabed became available. Wouldn’t ever go back to cork after building my current layout with Homabed.
Bob
As I posted earlier, I’m with Bob, save the cork trees, use homasote and homabed, made from recycled paper.
More expensive or not, your planet needs you to! you bought that over priced Prius?, you seperate the aluminum cans and plastic jugs?
I say we put Midwest out of the cork business. Order some Homabed today!
Sheldon
Last time I checked trees were a renewable resource. I do not advocate putting any American company out of business we need them.
It was of course a joke - but homabed is way better than cork.
How and why… What about homabed makes it a better material than cork for roadbed? I have read the website and most of the reasons they give there have never been a problem for me at least (cork dries out and crumbles… Some has been in use close to 30 years on my layout and is not doing anything like that). How easy is it to get get homabed to match unusual curves, etc. and how easy it is to work with?
Why should I go to Homabed? Give me some reasons! I am very familiar with Homasote as we used it for various purposes on the farm where I grew up.
73
If you are very familiar with Homasote, then you know it’s ability to hold nails and spikes, combined with a reasonable (non-spike curling) insertion force. And it has better sound reduction qualities than cork.
Homabed is accurately milled Homasote with slits cut to allow curving.
As for cork drying out and crumbling, I have seen it and experienced it personally while living in a variety of coastal climates. Every bit of cork I have ever used was brittle and crumbled within 5 years. Installed, I couldn’t necessarily tell this had happened. But when I went to move/lift the track, I discovered the crumbling. I had one case turn to crumbs in the box. Again, I didn’t know until I tried to pull pieces out of the box.
I understand that there are many who claim that their cork has never dried out on them. I suppose it’s possible that bonded ballast might prevent the cork from drying out. But color me as skeptical. Like I said, when I used cork I couldn’t tell that it had dried out ju