Homasote Roadbed

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Before I start to rip sheets of homasote for my roadbed, should the edges be cut at an angle such as cork roadbed, or should the edges be vertical?

For attaching the homasote roadbed to plywood subroadbed, which is the preferred option, drywall screws or carpenter’s glue.

Thank You,

Ray Barry

2

I gave up cutting my homasote roadbed out of sheet material.It was hard to cut more than a few pieces with a utility knife before my hands got tired.A jig saw made lots of “dust”,Try to cut outdoors if possible.Some suggest using a knife blade in the jig . that didn’t work too well for me either.By hand it’s hard to cut a neat 60 degree slope in the roadbed because I had to use repeated cuts.
I ended up buying pre-cut Homasote from California Rail Supply (sic)…Homabed ?
It came in either pre-kerfed of straight,much like cork roadbed.I used the flexible,kerfed roadbed everywhere.I drew my track center lines,then glued down the homabed…holding it in place with brads.(not too deep)After the glue dried,I removed the brads,sanded any high spots a filling any low spots with “spackel” I then sealed everything with bulls eye shallac.Most off my track has been down for about 10 years with no problems.I’m in the northeast with a wide range of weather conditions.

3

I also used California precut homasote, but surely cutting your own can work in spite of the mess to cut. Articles I read about it, tended to suggest vertical cuts and then shape the slope with ballast fill when ballasting.

I too glued it down with carpenters glue to the roadbed, tacking with brads. Then pulled the brads, sanded, and gave it a coat of latex paint. It has been excellent for me.

Have fun building your layout. Hal

4

Here is a link to detailed instructions to cutting homasote and a great site in general:

http://www.housatonicrr.com/DIY_Roadbed.htm

I have cut homasote and therre is no easy way to do it without a mess. I use blocks of wood with drywall screws in them as clamps to hold the homasote down while the the glue is setting. I literally screw the blocks down to the surface of the homasote, back em out when the glue is dry. Try to find non-bumpy pieces of homasote (I check each piece with straight edge). Some pieces have big variations in thickness which means lots of sanding and filling (too much work).

Guy

5

If you want to make the homasote the full width of the ballast section cut it with bevels. If you want it just larger than the width of the ties and build up the ballast sections, cut it straight.

Stack a bunch of strips on edge and cut slots about 3/4 way thru the strips with the thinnest saw blade you’ve got to make the strips bendable. When you bend them put the kerfs inside the curve so they tend to close up.

Everybody makes a big deal about the dust. Do the cutting outside. If you are cutting spline or roadbed, cut a bunch at one time. You make a mess once and then can build railroad for months afterwards. Its not permanent, its just dust.

Dave H.

6

I used a bandsaw to cut mine. I have a sears saw where the table stays level and the cutting head angles. I also used a half inch wide resaw blade to help make staighter cuts. I tilted the blade to 45o to make my cuts. I also alternated cuts into each side about an inch apart where I needed to curve it. I cut mine outside to save cleaning up as it is dusty. I’m not so sure its necessary to use homasote unless you’re handlaying track,as it is nice for holding spikes.