This month’s model Railroader mentions using DAP DynaFlex 230 adhesive caulk to fix track onto the roadbed. HD and Lowes sells DynaFlex 230 Sealant but not anything that says adhesive. I picked up a tube of Polyseamseal All-Purpose Adhesive Caulk. I strongly suspect this will work fine but I thought I better get the opinions of others who have used this technique in the past. Thanks, Nevin
Nevin, the very cheapest acrylic latex caulk will do the job. You don’t need to waste $ on Liquid Nails and other more expensive adhesives/caulks.
Remember to spread it flat and very thin. You don’t want it beading and welling up between your ties. Use weights, such as pop and soup tins on their sides atop the rails to weight the rails until the caulking sets.
The secret is latex, not silicon. Cheap is good. I use clear. but the colors work, the issue is the effect of colors on ballasting.
Nevin,
As already noted, any cheap latex caulk will work. I too use PolySeamSeal Adhesive Caulk. I have found that this brand has more of an immediate “grab” but still allows for repositioning as needed. It also seems to set up faster (hours versus overnight) so that I can remove any clamps/weights sooner.
I have progressed to using this same adhesive caulk for almost everything. I use it to glue foam together, roadbed (Homabed) to foam or wood, and even to glue wood and hardboard. I am amazed that I can make some very tight radius corners in my masonite facia and once glued with this caulk it has held a very high tension joint. This caulk is easily paintable and some white/wood glues do not take paint well so this has been another advantage of using caulk as a general purpose adhesive.
Good Luck,
-John
I use clear latex adhesive caulk. I get from Walmart, KMart, Lowes or Home Depot for around $2 a tube.
JIM
Chuck Hitchcock wrote about using adhesive caulk to lay track in the August 2003 issue of MR. He used DAP All Purpose Adhesive Caulk, but the precise variety he used and recommended is no longer made by DAP (they sent me some of their final tubes on hand). The DAP folks suggested using DAP Kwik Seal, DAP Phenoseal and DAP Alex Painter’s Caulk. I have not tried those yet.
I have used OSI All Purpose Adhesive Caulk with good results. I get the kind that comes out white but dries clear. You definitely want water clean up and one that adheres to any surface and yes, avoid the siliconized caulks popular for bathroom work.
The OSI comes out a bit “wetter” from the tube than does the DAP.
By the way to spread the caulk on the cork roadbed I use the “Your Name Here” plastic mock credit cards that come in the junk mail.
A refinement I have tried and liked is to spread ballast on the caulk before it sets. It might not provide complete ballasting but it does provide a good head start. I note in the latest Model Railroader on their Wisconsin & Southern project railroad that they are using gray caulk. I prefer the kind that dries clear myself.
Dave Nelson.
What ever happened to good old cork road bed and track nails???
I ask that as a legitimate question. In all the situations where they use calk adhiesive I would have used cork road bed and track nails. And here people are using exotic construction adhiesives on me. What gives???
James
Dap is recommending some quality products in place the all pupose. The Dap Kwik seal and Phenoseal is a fantastic “adhesive” caulk that I use on a regular basis for it’s more intended purpose, but it is quick setting and skims over rather fast. This isn’t ideal for track laying. The Dap Alex Plus is a very good latex caulk that will allow thinner spreading and greater open time for adjustments. The Alex Plus does come in a grey as well. As other mention, some of the cheaper caulks actually do a better job for our needs. Some of the more specialized quality (expensive) caulks should be left for thier real intended jobs.
OSI is a brand that I us
James,
Acrylic Latex caulk has been around for years and is hardly what you’d call “exotic”. I picked some DAP Alex Fast Dry caulk from Home Depot for ~$2/tube and used it to tack down my roadbed to my foam layout base with great results.
The real advantage of the caulk is that it holds the roadbed very well but you can also use a putty knife to pry it back up, if you should ever need to repair a section of track or reconfiguration it. Also, the particular DAP caulk that I used doesn’t have the nasty chemicals and need for ventilation that some of the other adhesives do.
James, nails still work just fine when adhering your cork and/or track to a plywood base. However, with track tacks, prying up track takes a bit more effort and patience so that you don’t inadvertently destroy your track in the process. You also don’t need to drill holes into your ties.
For $2 a pop, James, you should try experimenting with some and see whether you like the results or not. I’ve been very happy with it so far. [:)][tup]
Tom
I can answer that question about nails. I am using Micro Engineering code 70 and code 55 track. I don’t want nails or nail holes visible. So far using the latex caulk has worked beautifully today. - Nevin
Hi,
Just gotta ask this question… How difficult is it to remove track from the roadbed after the caulk sets up for a period of time?
A good portion of the track we lay will be “relaid” or salvaged at some point in time. Using the small black track nails on code 100 Atlas allows fairly simple removal (got a little prybar - works like a charm) and that’s all I have ever used. But, I am willing to try the caulk IF removal from the roadbed is possible.
Thanks,
Mobilman44
James:
While primarily I do use adhesive caulk, I use track nails on curves where I need to hold the radius. In some instances however I remove the nails after the caulk has set. For some makes of track I drive spikes near the rails in the pre drilled spike holes.
And as a rule I do nail down my cork roadbed.
There is nothing wrong with the time-honored track nails and bonded ballast approach. It will work. But with clever people like Chuck Hitchcock writing about different ways to do things, I am more than happy to try out what they suggest and keep at it if it works for me.
And while Atlas track still comes with nail holes there are other good brands where I would have to drill the nail holes.
One unremarked advantage – I can lay track late at night using caulk without disturbing my wife’s rest as I would if I was hammering track nails – the bedroom is right above the layout.
I might add that once I brought the adhesive caulk into the house for track laying purposes, I found plenty of nonrail uses for it so it has ceased to be an exotic adhesive for me.
I have not tried to remove any of the track I have installed using adhesive caulk but my impression is that it would not be easy, perhaps because, again, I also ballast at the same time.
Dave Nelson
Dap clear acrylic latex caulk should work fine.
I have removed track from positions to which it was bonded using latex caulk months after laying it. The more caulk you use, the tougher it is. Hence the advice to use only a thin veneer of the stuff, as little as will do to keep the track positioned as desired. That is why it is sometimes advisable to use track nails as insurance on curves. When the caulk dries, you can be very confident that the nails can be removed. Works all the time for me.
Removing the track from the roadbed is straightforward. All it takes is a thin metal spatula gently shoved between the roadbed and the ties. Some prying and sawing and it all comes up. What latex sticks to the ties can be rubbed off with some time and patience.
Good Morning!
I’ve often heard years ago that using nails to affix cork roadbed to the base tended to transmit the train “noise” to the base and magnify it. Can anyone confirm or repute this?
Thanks,
Mobilman44
I still use nails. I like the fact that there’s no mess and no drying time required.
I pull 'em out after ballasting.
That sounds like (sorry) it could be true, although I would think something else about the installation and supporting materials is probably much more at work in what you describe. A nail into cork isn’t going to transmit much rail noise. Or a nail into homasote that is itself supported by plywood. The dual density interface between the roadbed and subroadbed usually quells the noise effectively.
However, that is one aspect of the modeller’s experience we haven’t raised yet with respect to the caulk adhesive…it is yet another sound-absorbant layer between the ties and the resonating foam or plywood main surface of the layout.
James, we are of the old fashioned type I guess. However, nails won’t work for people using foam underlament for subroadbed either, and that is becoming more popular.
Personally, I agree with you and prefer nails (still) for the following very good reason. Nails are MUCH easier to pull and renail if you need to test and adjust any track before it is made perminent with glue and/or ballast. Any sizable layout will require you lay track, then eyeball it for geometry and flow, and test it out first. Often during this process there are areas where track needs to be adjusted or pulled up and redone. After you are satisfied, then you can make things more perminant. It is a simple process with plywood or homosote to take needle nose pliers and pull out those small track nails to make any changes, then hammer them back in place. This is why I will NEVER (knock on real wood!) use glue or adhesives to lay my track initially.
I saw a guy use the self adhesive road bed when I lived in Indiana. He laid his track right down on to it and once it was pressed in place, you virtually had to ruin the track to pull it back up. Even with glue or caulk, once it is hardened, it is less user friendly to pull track up and adjust than good old Atlas track nails or spikes.
I also use nails to hold down the cork road bed. If you use glue, how do you keep it in place while its drying? Nails? Staples? Then why used glue? Again, those nails can be pulled out with needle nose pliers if you have to redo anyting, and you usually do in the process of layout building. Murphy’s law and
Hello from Croatia!
If I uderstood right, some of you do not put cork when using latex caulk for laying track? Only caulk?
But, if this is the case, does the roadbed and height od rails comes a little to low?
Greetings to Croatia! I cannot speak for others but I use normal cork roadbed and attach my track to it with the adhesive caulk. In some selected spots I am using Woodland Scenics black foam roadbed instead of cork, such as industrial sidings which are or should be lower than the main line. There may be some spot where I would want the track even lower and be tempted to lay the track directly on the plywood but I suspect I would still want a thin sheet of something between plywood and track.
Dave Nelson