If I use foam board (pink stuff from Home Depot)for my HO layout platform, how can I get the track nails to hold into the foam board? I am trying to avoid glueing the track down to accomodate future expansion/changes to my layout.
There is a comercial product - AMI roadbed _ that will stick down and then you pu***he track down into it. I’m using glazing tape to do the same thing on an N scale layout. The glazing tape is high enough for HO also. Home Depo has it. Be careful because once the track is down it is not going to move. The ballast is sprinkled over it and pressed down (no gluing needed). I am finishing the basic scienery before I put down track to keep ground foam out of the glazing tape. I also cut styrofoam covers for under my switches to keep any of the product out of the moveing switch parts.
I have also glued track to foam - it works ok and remember the foam does not expand or contract. I laid down normal cork road bed using a latex contact cement and glued the track on with white glue. A few pins helped to hold it in place - after the balast was in (dilute matte medium to glue it) the track stayed in place well. I store those peices in my garrage ( 90+ in summer and - 40 in winter) the track is still in place.
Vic, What glues work well on foam? I read somewhere that you can dip the track nails in glue and nail through the tie and into the foam and the track will hold. But I don’t know which glues will work for that.
Keep in mind that anything that will eat the foam isn’t very good.
The glues I’ve used are 1. 3M latex contact cement
2. Lepages Pres-tite Evergreen contact cement
3. Liquid nails For Projects (that’s the full name - it is ok for foam)
4. Mastercraft paintable latex Caulking
5. silicon sealant.
But as I said before I’d glue the track to the foam or use a product like ami instant roadbed
check www.AMI-Roadbed.com (or glazing tape) and another think I’ve done is use regular cork roadbed which I glued to the foam with contact cement and then glued down the track with white glue followed by ballasting.
Good luck with the foam - I’m convinced we’ll see more all foam layouts in the future.