I just read hustle_muscle thread on glueing roadbed and track to foam. I added his link below, it talks about foam board layout, and cork roadbed, and track. Several people have suggested DAp caulk and other say Contact Cement.
I have a similar question but didn’t want to highjack his thread.
I am thinking about glueing my A/F rubber roadbed to my plywood sub roadbed, anyone tried that? I don’t know if I should try the contact cement or the DAP or similar latex caulk.
Sounds like you are dealing with American Flyer S gauge. If so, you would likely find a more appropriate audience under the “Classic Toy Trains” section of this forum. The folks here are mainly into HO and N scale stuff…
That being said, I would hesitate to glue rubber roadbed to anything. By doing so, you will likely ruin the bed from being used again in a different place. And, the adhesive used might tend to harm the rubber. There certainly could be an acceptable method to do this, but I don’t know of any.
Ha, but I’ll be the folks on the other part of the Forum would know!
As a lifelong American Flyer guy who uses the AF rubber roadbed extensively, I beg you not to do that.
You won’t be able to get the roadbed up later without damaging it. If you feel the need to secure it to the plywood, use small brad nails through the depressed portions of the roadbed where the metal ties fit in over the nails.
Rich
P.S. This is the rubber roadbed that Aflyer is referring to:
Wow, some for and some against glueing down the roadbed.
Dave,
That is the answer I was looking for. Is that roadbed rubber, and have you ever tried to remove any of it from the plywood?
Rich,
That is exactly the roadbed I have and I have some of the Johnson reproduction roadbed for my wide radius curves. I am afraid trying to fit the track into the roadbed after it is nailed down would be a real nightmare, but I am headed upstairs to give it a try.
I have indeed removed track that was put down with caulk. I slide a metal putty knife under it and it comes right up. The little bit of residue left on the ties can be rubbed off with your fingers. That is Woodland Scenic foam roadbed.
It is important to not put it on too thick. If it oozes up between the ties it is too thick. I put a small bead down the middle and spread it with a plastic putty knife, so thin that you can see through it. Sometimes I use those credit card like things that AARP keeps sending me.
I also use DAP’s Alex series 35-year Clear caulk, and have never had a problem removing wood or cork roadbed or a plastic or wooden structure. On my board, it worked far better that Liquid Nails for Projects, and it’s paintable. I don’t use contact cement for anything these days except tor gluing down laminate or sheet Formica. Goop (in the blue tube) is a stronger silicone adhesive, but it takes more work to break the bond in removing something. A glazing tool that’s designed to install new glass panes in wooden windows works very well to break the adhesive bond, and then I use the putty knife. I glued tall structures down with the Goop, and recently removed them to move a layout without any damage. It can be purchased at most building supply centers.
Thank you for the experienced answer, I think the Dap sounds like a good way to go. I will get a couple tubes and hope to get the first section glued down this weekend.
By the way I checked out your HO photos the other night, that is looking very nice, keep up the good work.
