Hello All:
Does anyone have experience with this product? Is it easy to use? Does is it provide good sound absorption? If you have not used this product, what would be your suggestion? Homabed? Cork? Foam? Any feedback is appreciated.
Regards,
John O
Terry Thompson had an article in CTT a while back about a layout he built using Vinylbed. He gave it high marks. I believe that is easier to bend into tighter curves than cork and does give good sound absorption. It does cost more than cork, not sure how it compares price-wise to Homabed.
You can request a sample from their website. www.vinylbed.com
I used the vinylbed on my layout and I would use it again. It conforms to curves very well and made a big difference with sound absorpsion. Easy to install. I found that when attaching it keep the joints under a tie, and as you work into a curve, pull the material and secure it with brads till the adhesive dries. It looks pretty good as is, resembling LARGE ballast. I saw where someone painted it with the faux stone finish paint and that would looks neat. I came back later and used white glue and put in ties between the track rail ties and it holds well.
Jim
Thanks for the feedback. I am leaning toward giving it a try on my layout.
Regards,
John O
I installed Vinylbed on my layout’s O31 main line three years ago and posted a review of my installation and operational experiences on my website. In summary, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with Vinylbed. Here’s what I wrote in May 2003: “Completed installation of the Vinylbed roadbed under my lower level O gauge outer main line loop. Took me four afternoons to complete the job. Installation consisted of 1) unscrewing the existing track; 2) placing the Vinylbed underneath to check fit; 3) cutting to fit/stretching the Vinylbed into curves where needed; 4) attaching the Vinylbed to the layout board with small screws; 5) attaching the track to the Vinylbed using small screws, and; 6) shimming up trackside accessories with Vinylbed sheets where needed. About halfway through the installation, I ran a train around the loop to check the sound difference between the track laying on top of the Vinylbed and the track directly laid on the wood surface. There was a huge reduction in train noise on the Vinylbed! At first, I thought there was something wrong with my train because it sounded strange on the Vinylbed section. I eventually realized that I was only hearing the train and not the reverberation of the train sound through the wood layout board. Based on my experience, I would highly recommend Vinylbed roadbed for use on a tinplate toy train layout. Not only does it deaden the train noise, but it makes the track look more realistic because it sits on a roadbed just like real railroad track.”
Thanks for the quick summary, Robert!
My only remaining concern is that the vinylbed would be sitting on top of 2" of foam. As a result, using screws, tacks, or nails, will not be an option. I am hoping to use an adhesive to bond the two materials. Does anyone think that this may be a problem?
Regards,
John O
Why wouldn’t that work? I don’t use the product you speak of but I use carpet padding for fastrak. I also have an amount of styro under the padding and track. I can’t find #4 screws longer than 1 inch to reach the wood surface so I used the 1 inch screws and just pushed them into the styro (or a small pilot hole could be drilled) after a hole is there I dip the screw in adhesive, in my case I chose rubber cement which is easy to remove (for future re-usage of the track). So far I have not noticed any problems at all. In fact, I just recently built another display layout using screws and because of time I used power equip to drive the screws. (WRONG, you’ll have peaks and valleys forever, thus taking more time to get rid of them) The new way I described earlier totally eliminates the peaks and valleys which usually occurs when driving track screws with power tools. If you prefer screws, use pilot holes and hand screw the track so as to not overtighten it. That is if you can find the right size screws.
I believe you are circumventing the problem by using rubber cement. I do not believe a screw, tack or nail will stay tight in the foam board. However, I do like your idea of using an adhesive. I don’t know if I like rubber cement, but there may be another adhesive that would make sense for my needs.
Regards,
John O
The only reason I tried the rubber cement is so I don’t have a mess on my hands (later) and the track is reusable with no mess so to say as you can just roll it off. If anyone has a better suggestion I’d love to hear it. So far it has held for my purpose, but perhaps, not for everyone’s application. I still wish there was a source for 1 and a quarter inch #4 screws. None to be had on the local level here!
Refering to the question itself, I have never even heard of vinyl bed.
Marty,
I’ve heard of mail order houses that carry many specialty fasteners, and I suspect some can be found, but I don’t have a URL at hand. I’ll do some checking over the weekend to see if I can scare up the info.
Steve
Eric:
It is a sound absorbing material that can be put under track as a road bed base. I am toying with the idea of using it instead of cork or homosote.
Regards,
John O
I think I will stick with homosote.
By the way. It’s good to put under operating accesories that vibrate like whistles, Gilford Station and Stockyard to reduce noise transfer.
Jim
I would imagine.
How thick is the vinyl, and does it come in a varity of colors, also what stores carry it?
Those are good questions. I am not sure of the answers. I believe they only sell through mail order because I could not find any dealer listing on their site. That is why I was looking for some feedback on the product. They offer various thicknesses, plus even a sub-road bed product. From their website, the product looks grayish.
Regards,
John O
Comes in 3/16" and 1/4". I’m pretty sure you order it directly; that is how I got mine.
Jim
Vinylbed only comes through mail order; the last time I got a box it was still a light tan/yellow in color. I’ve used hot glue to hold it in place, with the advantage that when I have moved I could undercut the Vinylbed strips and take them to reuse. Of course, you can’t do hot glue on the Styrofoam sub-bed, but glue made for application on foam works fine. Vinylbed is great for sound reduction and sturdy enough for reuse (as above) which you can’t say for cork or several other materials.