As of this afternoon I will be ready to lay down the track for my ho scale trains. I am wondering if cork or foam road bed is better or no road bed because the base for my layout is 1" thick foam? I am also wondering what the demensions(sp?) of ho scale track nails are because it might be cheaper to buy nails that are similar in size.
I tried some of that WS foam roadbed and HATE IT! It’s quiet until you ballast it and then it acts like an amplifier. It’s really loud with the ballast down. You can’t sand it so it’s next to impossible to get the shoulders smooth which makes it a pain in the butt to ballast. You get a little ridge sticking through the ballast. It’s spongy, so if you have to do any track work and push on it, chunks of ballast break off. It melts real EZ if your doing any soldering. I only did one stretch of track with it and switched back to cork.[2c]
Track nails won’t hold in foam. You’ll have to use glue or caulk to hold your track in place. I don’t recommend gluing your turnouts. Just let the connecting track hold them in place.
Ok, does anyone else have any opinions? And what kind of glue should I use?
Glue - Liquid Nails, Latex Caulk (or similar) product for projects/foam. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that it is safe to use with the extruded foam (it’ll eat through it otherwise).
Roadbed is always a good idea. I’ve only used cork, but it works well, is easy to lay, and as loathar said, you can sand it to smooth out any ridges or other imperfections along the edges. The biggest advantage (in my opinion) of using roadbed is the fact that it raises the track above the surrounding “countryside” and makes things look better. Sidings/yards can be placed right on the foam to represent more lightly used trackage.
I have used latex caulk, but use N scale cork for you main line. It does not push the track up to high, and it is easy to transition down to no cork roadbed for the yard area, and for sidings. If you want to use HO cork roadbed, then use N scale for the sidings and yard area. The N scale roadbed is easier to ballast and get the banks on the side of the roadbed looking more natural.
John2wilm, I am interested in your observations as I intend to do exactly as you have descibed. I am unsure as to the need to use homasote as a subroadbed, at least under yard areas. Does foam deaden the sound as well? Have you had to tear up any track? Would you be able to remove the cork from the foam? Or would you need to do what the prototype does, save the rails and the heck with the ground and rotted ties? Questions, questions. Thanks, Bob T
I believe John2wilm is right on for using N scale roadbed for the main. It is a much easier transition to sidings and you don’t see a huge dip in the drop down to siding level. I have decided to go with N scale cork for my main line and use nothing for the sidings. I am using N scalecork sheets and Peco flex track. The best thing about this combo is that Peco 36" flex track holds it shape when you curve it. Since my track is presently “T” pinned to the foam I simply lay a loose piece of flex track over the top of my pinned down track and copy the curve in the loose piece of track and transfer that shape to the N scale cork sheet, cut it out and lay it down under the “T” pinned track.
Larry
One suggestion I have is to look into cork flooring material. The low-end stuff can be cut into strips or left in sheets for larger areas. It may be cheaper than the pre-cut cork sold at hobby shops.
Bob, sorry for the delay in replying to this post and your questions. I have been busy buying a new house and moving, and working on the hobby. I have used 1" blue foam board, and I have had to tare up some track. The chaulk with a little pressure does tend to release the the track. Then all I have had to do is slice off foam from the cork. I hope this helps, John
Cheese, I am using cork bedding on top of 1"1/4 foam and used cheap latex caulk to hold it down to the foam. By mistake I picked up a bag of O gauge spikes. I dont have the part number because I threw it away before I found they where a little bigger. I will never buy HO sipkes again!
They have a bigger head and a little longer. They bite pretty well into the cork bedding. My new sections outer loop is held to the cork with only the spikes. I have around 5 hours on it and none have came up. Running a SD 7 and have pulled up to 21 cars.
Heads are a little big, but after ballast I am 95% sure I wont see them. You dont have to glue down the track from what I have read. Glue from the ballast will hold down the track.
Cuda Ken
Foam doesn’t hold track nails, track spikes, or any other kind of fastener. They just pull out. You have to use adhesive to get anything down on foam. Cork or foam roadbed are little better than foam as regards to holding nails. I use Phenoseal, a latex caulk that comes in tubes. You spread it with a caulking gun. It will stick to the rather slippery plastic tie strip of flex track. I hear that most latex caulks work about as well, but I have only used Phenoseal brand.
Cork and foam roadbed simulate the raised gravel ballast bed of the prototype. Real ties are laid in a deep bed (ballast) of crushed rock. The ballast keeps the ties from shifting under the thrust of the train, and allow rain water to drain away and prevent it rotting the ties. The model road beds (cork or foam) as just for looks, they don’t do much to keep the track down, or to deaden sound.
To accept track nails or spikes for handlaying, you need a road bed to nail into. Plywood doesn’t work, the glue layers are so hard that the track nails or spike just bend over. You need roadbed made from clear soft wood (pine or basswood) or made of Homasote.
On foam, you glue the road bed down, and unless you have a nailable roadbed, you glue the track down on top of the roadbed. If you omit the roadbed you glue the track down on foam.
The blackned track nails are probably worth it. Ordinary brads from the hardware store have bright shiny heads that look odd stuck in the ties. To me it’s worth a buck o
I have my tracked all glued down now(holy necropost) And it’s spiked to a wooden roadbed of sorts, then the roadbed is glued to the foam.