Hey
I am building my layout and well i’ve noticed that most people use a layer of foam on there layouts for scenic details like rivers, i don’t, but is this a bad thing? Is it worth starting over?
Tjsingle
Before I started using foam over plywood I would cut out the sections of plywood where the lake or river would be.
Not necessarily
Now that one is impossible to answer without knowing more about your situation - how far you are along, what your plans are, etc, etc etc.
Perhaps with some additional information …
well i have a 90% finished tunnel, the rest isn’t really finished or permanant, thats about it.
That depends. Did you want scenic features, such as a creek bed, that will be below track level? If so, using foam is one way to achieve that. You use foam to establish the sub roadbed and cut out the foam where the creek will run. Before foam gained in popularity, another way was the cookie cutter method. It worked much the same way. You cut the plywood out where you needed to drop the scenery and then lowered the cut out section below the main level. Both of these methods use either a sheet of plywood or foam to form the base layer for the track. Another method is any of a number of open grid types of construction. With these, you use a series of risers to support the track above the grid and since there is no flat sheet that the track is running on, you have the flexibility to build scenery both below and above the track level. For larger layouts, this is usually the best choice. Flat sheets of foam and plywood remain popular for the typical 4x8 beginner’s layout.
Well i guess i saying is it worth ripping up the grass mat and sliding foam underneath? and attaching it with glue?
I can’t think of any reason I would use foam as I see no advantage to do so in my circumstances. I’ve never seen a layout first-hand using foam. I (and everyone else I’ve directly seen) use open, wood-frame benchwork and use risers to distance the plywood or spline sub-roadbed from the benchwork. I always construct the lowest track level above the benchwork in visible areas to permit scenic effects below track level.
You should weigh the advantages you’ll gain against the effort of reconstructing the layout. If you don’t know what advantages there are, as well as the disadvantages, you need to do more studying.
Mark
Well My layout is a mountain branch in Pennsylvannia and i was hoping for a river…
Not knowing the size, construction method, etc. of your layout, my “shot-in-the-dark” would be that you cut out the section where you want the river and lower the base to accommodate the river, then rebuild that section.
Mark
How ‘permanent’ is your track attached to the plywood? IOW, is it being temporarily held on by wood screws, or is it cemented to a cork roadbed which is cemented to the plywood? If it’s already cemented and ballasted, it would probably be quicker to take a jigsaw to the area where you want to place the riverbed.
none of them its ez track,
I never used EZ Trak myself so I know nothing about it, but if you can remove the sections from your existing platform without damaging them, I’d say go for the foam.
I think i can be done without damaging anything
If you can, I’d try to keep the tunnel undamaged, take the EZ track down, and put foam under it. I’d go a step further and use the latex paint and Woodland scenics turf method. I think it would save you some hassle if you added the foam and made the river, instead of cutting the wood.
Its still a idea but, it still maybe used
300th post!
Tjsingle
bump
I like foam, it works for MY situation:
you can do as much OR MORE with foam as with the riser system.
Granted, I model No. Wisconsin.The concepts are the same.
Im might use the foam but i need to clean up and redo things, and nice pictures 
You’ve done some nice work there.
I have to disagree with the ‘or more’ part of your statement however. Unless you are referring specifically to scenery, I’ve yet to see anyone drive a nail into a piece of roadbed, or piece of track. That, Or, a screw into a piece of foam to hold a switch machine under the layout.
As for scenery, there isn’t much that can be done with foam that cannot be done otherwise. Aluminum Screen, is very cheap compared to foam and can be shaped without making a mess or spewing toxic fumes. Cardboard can be had for free to cut up and make webbing for scenery support. I’ll give that it’s easier to plant a tree in the foam however… I’ll also give that the Foam terrain may be a little easier to change (dig out a river bed for instance) after installation.
Nice work, Saronaterry!
But I don’t see how foam board has provided any advantage over wood, cardboard, screen, etc. My impression is that hidden, under layout space is otherwise filled with foam. I see this as a negative, making things less accessible underneath the layout. Please explain. I’m curious.
Mark