I’m planning a new N-Scale layout. Any advice on using or not using cork roadbed? On my past layouts I have fastened the track directly to the homasote which was attached to the plywood. Then the track was ballasted. Any help or expertise would be appreciated.
John
If you are using homasote as roadbed, i.e., it is shaped to be the approximate width of the track, then cork is a waste of money. The homasote does the same job cork does: it rasies the track so it sits higher than the surrounding terrain, just like the prototype.
Cork will help deaden the sound. I layed one layout directly on plywood once and was really LOUD!
(DON’T use Woodland Scenics foam roadbed.)
So what’s the deal with Woodland Scenics foam roadbed? I’m trying to make a decision regaring Homasote, cork and the WS foam. Your opinion would be helpful to me.
Thanks,
Greg
I used cork roadbed on the mainlines on my N-scale layout. My yard is on a sheet of foam.
I think cork roadbed is easy to work with because once you have drawn out where the track goes, you can easily center it on the lines. It’s also easy to cut, very flexible to shape around curves, and lasts a long time.
If you want a good, class-1 mainline, use homasote. It makes a great, tall base and the ballast profile it creates is very realistic.
Cork is fine, but not very tall, and WS is even shorter.
I get the sense that there is a bit of confusion here.
First, if you are not using EZ-Track or similar pre-fake-ballasted track, then your main line ought to have a profile if it is going to be ballasted. That profile, on the real railroads, provided functions of keeping the ties in place and keeping them dry by providing drainage through the clean large ballast grains. Water drains by gravity or by capillary action. Gravity is what is meant to do the trick in ballast, so the ballast is groomed to a profile that keeps the ties suspended in it, well above the local terrain.
Whatever roadbed you use, foam, cork, or anything else, including homasote, it should do two things well if you are going to go to the bother of buying and placing it: providing a platform for groomed ballast and, hopefully, reducing noise. It serves as an intermediary, of sorts, between the hard plastic ties, the hardened ballast glued in, around, and under the ties, and what is on the other side of the roadbed material. It will almost certainly have a different density that what sandwhiches is above and below, and this is what helps to deaden the sound.
I say all this because it seemed that some folks want to use two forms of roadbed at a time, and that should not be necessary. Choose one of them, make sure what you place under your tracks is of the correct width and height to allow you to groom the ballast you use, and then enjoy its sound-deadening characteristics at the same time. Personally, I have only ever used such a roadbed in a long tunnel running immediately behind my yard and station…under Code 100 track. I knew that if I let it rest on the plywood directly it would be very noisy. The cork was very easy to manipulate, to fix in place, and it also does a great job of deadening the noise in that tunnel.
WS foam is soft and spongy. Doesn’t give you a firm base. Won’t hold spikes worth a darn. Can’t be sanded if you get a sharp, jagged shoulder. Half my main is cork, half WS foam. The foam is substantially louder than the cork. Especially after ballasting and while running metal wheels.
I REALLY wish I hadn’t used it, but I don’t want to spend the $$$ to rip it up and replace it.
If you decide to use cork, Wal Mart sells 12"x12" cork tile squares in their office supply isle. They are the same height as the Mid West cork roadbed and are great for making turnout pads instead of buying them. MUCH cheaper!
Exact opposite experience, with an extruded foam base. I first made a test section where I put half the track on cork and half on WS foam. The cork was louder, before AND after applying ballast. So I used the WS on the entire layout. The only noise was the ssssssssssssssss’ing of the metal wheels on the track. I didn’t handlay track, so the spike thing is a non-issue - will be on my next layout as well since I will be using PC board ties and sodlering. Never had a sharp edge that needed sanding like cork, and the long rolls eliminated most of the joints. I used the N scale under sidings, and the large sheets to fill in the yard area.
–Randy
I used WS HO foam roadbed on my home layout and on a couple of modules at the club and really like it. I didn’t use nails anywhere, though. The roadbed is fastened with latex caulk and the track is fastened to the roadbed with latex caulk. Nails carry the noise through to the base material and can certainly be a problem with foam roadbed because it is much more spongy than cork and you might have a tendency to push them down too far and warp the crossties. Using caulk instead of nails avoids this problem.