Old question, request update.

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Yes, an “old” question. Based on your recent experience, what brand or type of grass mat would you recommend for the layout? Examples: Woodlands Readygrass - Bachmann - Other

PLEASE: I know that these mats are not a “favorite” of many (Like “I wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole” and “I’d rather just paint the board green”) so I respectfully ask for your recent experience with grass mats.

As always, many thanks.

2

Traindaddy goto Home depot and go to there carpet area, there is a very inexpensive carpet that works great as grass, they also make a tan color, as in ground color, which I happened to get. I figure I can spay paint it green where I need/want it green

here is the tan on my layout as I’m just starting to build

3

I recently bought a large Woodland Scenics grass mat for photos.works fine for me.

4

Being the cheapskate, er, I mean the frugal hobbiest, I find grassmats on clearance, like LeMax and Department 56 after Christmas or even Halloween sales. I do have enough to do the grassy areas on my layout and they do look pretty good, so far.

5

I did not want to ruin the whole layout by skimping on the grass but like many I had second thoughts on mats. In the end I went with two shades of Woodland Scenics RG5124 Summer Grass and RG5132 Spring Grass put on top of 1/4" fanfold styrofome insulation. I covered the table with the fanfold insulation then applied the grass on top. This killed the noise issues and provided a nice soft surface for the grass mat. Then I used trim around the edges to hold it in place and trim it out. here is something like what I used.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kingspan-Insulation-Common-0-25-in-x-4-ft-x-50-ft-Actual-0-25-in-x-4-ft-x-50-ft-GreenGuard-R-1-Faced-Polystyrene-Foam-Board-Insulation/999972970

Here are some pictures of it and it on the table.

Early in the build.

Later.

6

I started with the board painted dark green…

Then I used a spray construction adhesive to apply a Woodland Scenics Ready Grass mat…

Then I ballasted and added popsicle stick ties…

And finally I started returfing the entire board as rips and other damage happened to the mat.

Compare the surface near the tracks with the small plot Santa is mounted to which was made from a scrap of the original mat.

That’s about an 8 year transition from “painted board” to “a bit more realistic”.

7

Thank you, so much, for your replies AND those great pictures.