This junk never looked right to me and now I know why. I finally pulled out the ruler and…it’s almost three feet high in HO scale. I don’t know if they’re all the same but this stinks. I work for a rail road and can promise you around here we don’t use step ladders to cross. There is roughly a foot of ballast bellow the ties. Now I realize miniature presision isn’t easy. But 3 feet?
Interesting. Well, you can minimize the effect by building up scenery against the edges so it might look more like a small fill or raised roadbed, similar to the small suburban town I grew up in on the SP Dallas to Ennis sub. Just as an idea, put down a couple of scale feet of whatever you use for scenery construction: plaster, sculptamold, spackling compound, etc. The when you add the ballast, you’re back to your 1 foot depth you want. Another idea, maybe you could use larger scale rock to simulate the sides of a small fill being held in by rip-rap. Then put the smaller, scale ballast on top.
Also, you could use that 3’ as a ditch for drainage dug alongside the right of way, filling part of it up with ballast, if you like.
Happy modeling.
Wow alot of great ideas thanks.
“…it’s almost three feet high in HO scale.”
Yikes! That’s some serious cork! Typical HO cork roadbed is around 3/16" - 1/4" high, or around 20 scale inches or less. That’s not a bad height for heavy duty mainlines, particularly in the American West like the prototype UP that’s just up my street. If you want a reduced ballast profile, try using 1/8" or so N scale cork or use the 1/8" thick Homabed from http://www.homabed.com .
The worst was my N scale layout before it was the same hight. The rail was about six feet above the ground! This seems to be a universal thickness in my local hobby shops N,HO,O, all the same atleast O looked right.
Tried Woodland Scenics Roadbed? It’s only about 1/8" high, deadens sound better than cork, and is reasonably cheap.
I would agree about the Woodland Scenics Roadbed, its an excellent product
I’m in N scale, and using the AMI instant roadbed ( on foam board) for the first time. I must say that I prefer it to cork, especially since you can make it do things that cork just hasn’t the “give” for. Tried it? One drawback is its stickiness, which while great for setting track, can be a challenge when replacing in the ties cut off for rail joints, etc. (Hint, don’t throw out the silicone paper wrap too quickly!) I haven’t put on ballast yet, and am hoping that any dried out sections can be returned to a suitable stickiness with paint thinner. Any thoughts?
I build up my scenery around my roadbed in areas to reduce the track height, but in some areas I leave it. I have seen quite a variation in how high the track is here in Georgia. Sometimes I want the track sitting high on my ballast. All the ideas mentioned above about building up the scenery work – I have used them all on my layout with great effect. You can also use foam insulation to reduce the weight of your scenery and how much filler (ballast, plaster, etc.) you’ll need.
Hello csxrailfanmike: I have a couple of yards laid on foam insulation. I haven’t got around to senic treatment for them yet. I was thinking of using wood stove ash sifted over, brushing the surplus from the track itself, misting with “wet” water, and flooding with matte medium to set the whole thing up. I’ll cover over the turnouts before applying the ash. What do you think? Am I making trouble for myself?
I just read an article on using insulation foam tape that sounded pretty good too. Yes in my area there is a major variation in overall hight. But you need to start somewhere. I kind of wish I could build senery first.
I wouldn’t use ash for ballast as it is caustic and may have long term effects on the plastic ties and rail. Here in Missouri roadbeds are anywhere betwee 100 feet deep in a ditch to 20 feet in the air. The track stays level but the ground doesn’t. The best trick I found with cork is to sand it with 100 grit paper to round the edges before the track goes down… makes ballasting easier and prettier.
Sand it? That is agood idea!
der,
Go to the AMI web site. I seem to recall they address re-vitalizing the roadbed - heat I think (hair blower) but not 100% sure.
Yep. glue it down and block sand the edges with 100 grit to round off the sharp angle. If you are like me you break it in two. Sanding also removes that rough overhang. I then paint the track with flat brown spray paint before I nail it down. Spray it lightly and wipe tops of rails off with rag or scrape it off after it’s dry. I then ballast with play sand from the lumberyard. It’s cheap and is same color as the cork. For variety i last sprinkle on some white or gray ballast or sand from hobby lobby used for sand bottle art. One can also use an airbru***o spray a grease line down the center. Remove ramdom ties, color every third tie black or silver gray…
Thanks Rick: I’ll take a look @ the AMI site. It’s very easy to round the edges of that stuff BTW, you 100 grit sandpaper folks. Just press it with a thumb! Also, the thickness is somewhat adjustable as you put it down, streaching it thins it. From Canada’s other coast, Nova Scotia. (Courage, mon brave!)
I have “N” scale and that figures to be a 20 inch bed, not too far off and folliage works to hide it. I have tried using my band saw, setting up a block of wood each side of the blade (as a rip fence) pulling the cork between the fences and I end up with two pieces just under 1/16 thick that work out great when used as as sidewalk on street scenes (1/16 thick equals a 9 inch curb) just paint it gray and you have a stony walkway.
I hate loose ballasting , its very messy and if you change your mind about track position you destroy the track trying to get it up again. Ive also tried foam rubber underlay ( from Peco ) which looks pretty horrid and disintegrates after a few years. So I have decided to use Fleischmann Profi Track, which is ready ballasted on my latest layout. This high quality track has a very realistic appearance and if the areas between the tracks are laid with thin cork sheet and then ballasted the difference in height is minimised.
You can go to Target, stationary stores, office supply, art stores, etc. for large thin sheets of cork (designed for bullitin boards) to make yard areas with.
and if you have large thin sheets of cork, you can quickly make long narrow thin strips of cork for single track roadbed.