I’m finishing up my landscaping on my layout, and wondering if I should glue down the Kato Unitrack I’ve been using?
Like the idea in the future to move it around?
If I do glue it down, what should I use? I have it ontop of a grass mat from Woodland Scenics? White Glue, or Silicone?
Sure, you can glue it down with a clear latex caulk, or one that purports to dry clear…it’ll be white to start with.
Just, if you can, use a couple of very thin beads under the edges of the ballast…no sense in a wider bead, spreading it thin, and then having it dry as a waste where it makes no contact with the plastic. Anyway, with the lightest bead you can press the edges of the ballast into it, it will dry clear, you can ballast it with a thin layer as in last month’s tip in Model Railroader, or just pour some ground foam over it.
The thinner the glue bead, the easier to pry it up using a steel shim or spatula later.
Another way to “glue” down Kato Unitrak is to use carpet tape (the very thin type). It’s tacky enough to hold the track permanently, yet not so tacky that you can’t lift the track and realign it if necessary; and it’s the perfect width. It’s kind of hard to make it go around curves, but it can be cut into short sections to solve that problem.