I hand lay all my track - HO Code 83 Nickel-silver weathered. I’ve been thinking reading allot about using foam as a sub-road bed but spikes won’t hold in foam.
What about the idea of using 1/8’ luan/door skins as the main road bed on top of the foam? it would give the spikes something to hang onto and once the ballast/glue is applied this should help even more.
Your comments are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jim
That should work very nicely, only 1/4" would be better. Luan is fairly soft and easy to work with. You could probably just use a utility knife to bevel the edges.
You may want to apply a sealer to it first, both sides, so it doesn’t warp when you apply the ballast glue. Do a small test section first…
Jim;
Another alternative is Homabed®.
One issue with the wood is that there will be a lot of waste for curves, unless you have a use for the scrap.
A completely different alternative is spline road bed. Possible materials include Homasote®, clear pine, Masonite®, etc.
The last material I tried for hand laid track roadbed was balsa about 6mm or 1/4" thick. It held the spikes well and is easy to shape to a profile. I can’t say I did a cost analysis but it was way better than the previous material I used (Canite) and I was only using it on a small layout.
But I must say I will use it again on my next layout.
Tim