My Dad gave me all of his HO train set stuff New in boxes for me to make for my kids and in it there is cork from a craft shop and PECO Moulded Ballast Inlay. The Track I am using is all PECO and I am doing a 8 x 6 Layout. What is best to use??? Dad said to use the cork because the foam is too bouncy. Any opinions would be greatly Appreciated.
Scotty
Your Dad is right!!
I have had good luck with cork. I usually glue it to homosote and paint it black (any color will do)
This way you are sealing the material. If you have a damp basement this will keep it from buckeling or warping.
Mine present layout has been operated on for about 20 years now and never had any problems.
Have fun and enjoy…
If you have any more questions, please ask… this is the way I learned…
“Rich”
I fully agree with Rich…Go with the cork and homosote…You will be glad you did.
Cork’s an excellent choice, there’s a reason it’s been the standard for half a century. I personally went with the Woodland Scenics Roadbed, which is lower profile than cork (1/8" high vs 1/4"), and dampens sound better, but it is about twice the price.
I use Woodlands foam roll trackbed, and I’m VERY happy with it! Very easy to use and install. 25 foot roll cost about $8 Canadian. So it’s cheap too:) A lot less theb cork.
I use the woodland scenic foam. I love it. It really does deaden the sound, IMO, better than cork.
I’ve had excellent results with cork. It’s easy to work with and does a good job.
I have used cork roadbed over Homosote with all my layouts and never had a problem with the track.
Bee Line
Two thoughts.
On prototype railroads, sidings are lower than the main line. Using cork for the main and foam for the sidings would allow you to simulate this height difference pretty effectively.
Second, some years ago Atlas experimented with replacing cork roadbed with one-piece rubber compound (it looked recycled). It was easy to lay and curve but because it was one piece, it didn;t have the nice feature two-piece cork does of following a center line exactly. I did a whole layout with rubber but then went off to school and that was the end of that. I assume that Atlas must have concluded that people preferred two piece cork. The rubber was also a little more expensive as I recall.
Dave Nelson
How well is the humidity controlled where the layout will be? If it is like a garage or basement in the mid-west, avoid cork and Homasote®. If it is in the dessert, or outside in Florida, where the humidity is fairly constant, it will be fine.
If you are not handlaying track, avoid Homasota® and spikes. Use foam and glue.
If you insist on Homasote®; make sure that you seal it - all sides.
Sure the Woodland’s Scenics underlay is fine stuff - but Scotty here is talking about the Peco stuff which isn’t any good at all - it really is foam and is truly dreadful. Oh and the Woodland Scenics stuff may be cheaper than cork in Canada but it sure isn’t in the UK - so cork it is!
I’d also second that thought about sealing Homasote if there’s even a hint of humidity anywhere near the layout, otherwise you could be in for some very interesting bumps. Personally I just lay 1/8in cork onto 1/2in ply road bed it works a treat, unless you really want to hand lay track with spikes - which is where the Homasote comes in.
Cork here. I’m in the process of building a layout. First in 20 years. Using foam to build scenery.
Cork worked out fine in relatively dry Alberta. In coastal Nova Scotia I’m laying AMI roadbed on Foam Insulation Board. We’ve just come through 3 weeks continuous fog, and have a week of rain forecast. I’m not expecting any problems.
But, to answer your situation, dowling_s, sounds like father knows best [:0], even if you have the Peco foam, go withvthe cork but seal it.
“If it is like a garage or basement in the mid-west, avoid cork and Homasote®.”
Although this old saw is often repeated, tests of the materials tend not to support it. Virtually all of the movement you can expect in the roadbed is attributable to expansion and contraction of the benchwork and subroadbed. Cork or Homasote aren’t structural (unless you’re building Homasote spline roadbed), and the change form expansion and contraction of typical 1/4" or even 1/2" thicknesses are negligible compared to the benchwork movement. The 1/2" or 3/4" plywood subroadbed moves, the 1"X4" (or whatever) benchwork moves, and the thin roadbed material goes along for the ride. When the track buckles or gaps open, the roadbed then catches the blame.
I may live in a dry climate, but my Homasote roadbed gets soaked when I build scenery and ballast track. It doesn’t budge. I would endorse either it or cork over foam. Over time they are far more durable.
i would use foam olny where the track is not visable (tunnels, hidden fiddle yards, etc.) otherwise use cork, you’ll have an easier with ballasting over cork than foam. its a more solid base. and takes abuse much better.
as you can see, there’s almost as many opinions about this as there are model railroaders, but for me, the WS (Woodland Scenics) foam or the cork works best.
Since the begining of time; 249 pages ago! [:O][wow]
Reserected from the grave,
saved from the archive,
this tread was around for about 1 year!
now that is something.
Now to answer the question; I would go with cork even though I only use road bed were it cant be seen, mainly in tunnels to help prevent a derailment.
Now back to you.
I would use foam because with cork when you glue your ballast on the cork it would side off. But with foam you can shape it on the sides on the top anywhere and the ballast won’t fall off because you can press them into the sides of the foam.
I have used both, but the best has been AMI instant roadbed.
The stuff is like a gelatinous tar substance. Put it down, stick the track, put in a couple spikes for good luck, pour ballast on top, and that’s it. Much easier and faster than foam or cork.
It is more expensive, but well worth it.
I have tried and seen many different materials for roadbed. I prefer Homabed which is Homasote that has been cut to look like the cork strips. It gives a great ballast profile when done and is dead quite. Check out this picture of the Homabed on Homasote:
http://www.fcsme.org/bcarl/scenery/049%20Fixing%20track.jpg
And here is picture after the ballast is down:
http://www.fcsme.org/bcarl/scenery/182%20Ballast.jpg
Judging from the age of this thread, he has already built three layouts!