Has anyone used felt carpet padding under the tracks or on the whole table top surface?
This material is about 3/4 inch thick [correction: it is about 1/2" thick] of densely woven fibers. It is so dense that it is difficult to puncture with an awl. However, once a hole is started, the material easily holds telephone poles straight upright. Its’ qualities appear to make it a tremendous sound absorber. It comes in 6’ wide roles. It must be fairly inexpensive because a local carpet company gave me 16 lineal feet of it for free.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I suspect that it would provide a realistic ground cover effect when painted with a roller using flat latex paint.
I’ve never seen the product before. 3/4" is very thick. Is it spongy? As long as it doesn’t compress any while the train is setting on it, then it sounds like a winner.
In the Lionel Fastrack Book one of the very few good suggestions they have is to use green felt from pool tables to simulate grass. I find this much better than using regular ballast sheets. Especially if you use it for a temporary Christmas layout.