cork or ami instant road bed that is the question .i will be using a 2 inch foamboard base on 1/4 plywood .which is easier and or less expensive .i will be expecting a flood of info from you all out there .
I’m partial to Woodland Scenics foam. The long roles really come in handy. It’t super easy to put down and definitly quieter than cork, especially on a foam base. Pick up a cheap caulk gun and a couple of tubes of cheap latex caulk and you’ll have enough adhesive to do at least a 15x20 layout - I have everything done but my yard on an 8x12 and JUST opened my second tube - that’s using it to glue down the roadbed to the base AND the track to the roadbed. And glue in the Tortoises, and a spot here and there to fasten light bars in locos, and a bunch to secore the small circuit board to my control panel, etc.
–Randy
I also vote for the WS foam. It’s GREAT![:D]
I have used WS foam, cork and AMI. They all have their goods and bads. The WS foam
tends to buckle on tight turns(if you have larger than 24" radius curves this shouldn’t
be a problem). But, it IS more quiet that cork.
Cork can be a little stiff, but it is pretty easy to work with.
AMI is good stuff. It is self sticking… roadbed to sub-roadbed, track to roadbed and
ballest to roadbed… so no additional adhesive is needed. If it gets stiff, just put it
in the oven on low for a couple of minutes and it’s good as new. Also, a blow dryer
helps keep it soft and sticky while you work with it.
Basicly, it’s a matter of personal preference. Good luck, Dave
I used both and preferred the AMI as it was easier to work with. It looks better to my thinking on sidings since it is half the thickness of the foam, but the foam is probably better on a main line. I did have some issues with getting the foam to stay where i wanted it on curves, but that was with spray adhesive not silicone (I found this site after I laid a lot of track unfortunately). Pinning the foam in place allowed it to bunch up on the inside of the radius so I had to tack it in place then weight it to flatten the foam out.
regards, J.R.
Since this is my first layout, I’ve only ever used one roadbed medium, and that’s cork. As a rookie, I did find it extremely easy to work with. It cuts easy, bends easy and looks great. It does deaden sound, but I have no caparison as to how much more or less that the other types of roadbed.
TrevorG[:)]
I like the WS over cork. Works a lot better. Have never tried the instant roadbed… Around here many people look at you weird when you want something other than cork.
RMax1
Randy, do you have problems with removing track (nothing is forever) using silicone caulk to hold it down? And what about turnouts? You can’t really put caulk under them, can you?
I used cork-on-homasote 40 years ago, and this time around I’m using WS foam on 2-inch pink foam. I’m happy with the WS stuff and latex caulk. I’m using Liquid Nails for Projects. Some caulks are not foam-friendly, but that’s one that is, and it’s cheap. It also works for attaching the foam to the benchwork.
Although it dries hard and sets to firm pretty quickly, the caulk stays a little mushy for a while. This is good, because I frequently find I’ve made a miscalculation somewhere, and I have to pull up a couple of feet of either track or roadbed, and I can do it easily. Even after it’s hard, a putty knife will take it up without a lot of effort. Experiment to find the right amount. I was putting it on too heavy at first, but now I find it works just as well with only a thin layer.
The WS roadbed is scored down the middle, so when you’re doing curves you can slice it easily and it will lay down better. WS also makes this in sheet form, so you can use that for larger areas like yards.
Not silicon, LATEX. I know a bunch of people here have said they have has no problems with the outgassing of the silicon caulk, but a) it’s more expensive and b) it stinks when you use it, so I don’t bother.
As for removing - a putty knife will peel up the track and/or roadbed quite nicely. I pulled up two turnouts and an entire siding after I changed my mind on the track plan. Naturally I saved all the blocks that get cut out when installing the Tortoises (no, really, I did, have a little bag full of them) so I just glued a block back in the big hole to close it up.
I DO glue down the turnouts - why not? Not a full bead of caulk like under the rest of the track, just a little dab from the frog out - DEFINITELY nothing around the moving parts, of course. Once ballasted, it’s never going to move.
On my test section I tried using Elmer’s glue instead of the caulk. Takes WAY too long to dry. All my previous layouts used cork and nails. NEVER again. Caulk is way too fast, easy, and inexpensive to bother with any other way. I suspect when I get on to phase 2 of the layout, where there will be some longer ‘straight’ stretches with no turnouts, tracklaying will go VERY quickly.
–Randy