Hi All,
I went in to my local hobby shop yesterday and found empty shelves where cork roadbed ought to be - specifically Midwest brand N scale roadbed and sheets. I’ve also looked online and have found it out of stock or backordered across at the major sellers. More expensive brands appear to be hit or miss. Is there a cork shortage? Would the pricier brands (Kato, Faller) be compatible with Midwest, specifically on thickness?
I checked a few stores up here in Canada and there seems to be plenty on hand. I would say the short supply in the U.S. is due to tariffs. If I was an importer, cork would be one thing I would not be bringing in if I had to pay tariffs on it.
Midwest Cork Products are based in Indiana, however, it appears they import their raw materials from Portugal and China.
I would not order it from outside the U.S. if the U.S. is where you are, as you are likely to get hit with all sorts of charges to bring it in.
We’ll save you some. 
I thought the same thing, but I read this morning that Portugal has a rare Trump-issued exemption from tariffs.
Rich
Well, this is better anyway, and likely 100% USA produced. And yes it costs a little more.
Sheldon
Hobby Lobby sells rolls of cork in various forms. I have used the 3/32" thick, 24" or 48" length rolls for spurs and yard tracks on my HO layout. Similar to traditional cork roadbed, I cut it into strips and glue two strips down side by side with Dynaflex 230 gray caulk.
Thanks all for the replies. I don’t need much…just reworking two small yards. The rest of the layout is cork, so homasote may be for a future layout. I will try the Hobby Lobby cork roll route, as there is one a couple blocks from me.
I was more so curious where the kink could be in the supply chain…I was guessing tariffs.
Dis gon’ b gud.
Cork has been in short supply for at least a year. I gave up and used the foam road bed.
Turns out I like the foam better, mostly. I used to do super elevation by shaving the cork with a little plane, but you can’t do that with the foam, so you have to insert shims under the outside edge of the track. Frankly, I’d rather shave the cork, but it’s not really a huge deal to me.
I ran into this guy at the Greenberg Edison, NJ train show. He was showing his line of cork. Stuff looked pretty good!
https://rrcraftsman.com/
I don’t think this has anything to do with tariffs.
A quick search shows there have been continuing shortages over the years.
Here’s one from 2012 on the old Model Railroader Forum:
Jul 2012
"I had 8 cases of it on back order since about January of this year. I called Midwest almost every month and was told it was a result of cork shortages. They expected a shipment by summer and I finally received my shipment a few weeks ago. "
There are hundreds of posts over the past years about why there is a shortage of cork roadbed, especially centering on Midwest shortages.
Ah, so this is not a one off thing. Thanks for the correction, @York1.
I think it certainly will be. According to Wiki cork comes primarily from the cork oak which grows in Southwest Europe and Northwest Africa.
Of course there is always the possibility that those in charge will exempt cork from tariff.
But that isn’t the issue. The issue is that Midwest has been running out of cork roadbed for years, and it is not being caused by tariffs.
Running out of cork roadbed and running out of cork are two different things.
Are they unable to meet demand because they don’t have the capacity or because of some other unknown production issue?
Or are they unable to meet demand because they are unable to get product from their suppliers?
In any event I doubt very much that they have multiple hectares planted with cork oaks, which would mean that they have to import it from somewhere, and will be hit with illegal taxes that will be passed on to us.
So even though Midwest has had supply issues for over a dozen years (though the hobby stores don’t seem to have the problem with their cork products), from now on we can blame tariffs. Even though the price of Midwest roadbed, when they have it, has gone up in price over the years, from now on we can blame tariffs for the price increases.
How about we skip the politics…
Sure, go right ahead…
I am not trying to blame anything on anything. I am entitled to having an opinion just like anyone else.
I do not understand your statement about “hobby stores don’t seem to have the problem with their cork products”. Hobby stores usually don’t manufacture cork products, so they must be getting it from somewhere. That being the case, cork roadbed must be plentiful.
I wanted a cork roadbed O scale impossible task, and did not want to wait. So, with great hesitation, I opted for the foam.
My gut feeling is that the cork is more expensive to produce, resulting in a smaller profit margin.
Stop blaming tariffs for every stupid thing. I love the tariffs; 
It seems to be working for us very well.
Pay up or get off the porch with the big dogs. 
Pep
During the ‘great Atlas track shortage’ of 2012 there was also a cork shortage. If memory serves, Midwest was mixing some sort of rubber into their cork roadbed and sheet material. Made for a denser product, but not as pliable nor sandable. Was glad when Midwest took the rubber out. With so much wine now screw-top one would think there’d be a cork surplus.
The Atlas shortage did me a favor by setting me on the path to discovering Micro Engineering track and Fast Tracks turnouts. Regards, Peter
