Hi, to bring you up to speed… I have finished the benchwork for my layout, which is simply a whole lot of 1x4 and 1x2’s with a plywood table. I have cut some holes in the plywood to simulate landscape effects below the track line, i.e. cookie-cutter style. I have also cut and glued into place pink insulation board typically used in the contruction of houses as a roadbed for the track. I laid out the track on the pink insulation board and tacked the track down with track nails. The track stays in place neatly, however as soon as I run trains I notice the track is shifting in places, whether moving side to side or up and down as the train passes by. I followed the advice of MR magazine from one of their 4x8 layouts to make my layout as light-weight as possible and I am disappointed with how the track is fastened to the layout. Pink insulation board isn’t really a dense enough material to hold a track nail snuggly in position, so I’m kinda in a dilemma: do I rip out the pink insulation board to which I have cut and glued in place and buy a sheet of homasote board and start over? Or, do you think I should use some white glue on the underside of the tracks for those problem areas?? Any advice is appreciated.
I used spray mount glue on my last layout. It is a rubber cement that comes in a spray can. This worked good because I could pick the track up and press it back down to do fine adjustments in track alignment. Once all the track was laid I secured it just by glueing ballast down. I used ceiling tile over plywood as a subroad bed. I am not sure if the spray mount would chemically eat the foam. You might want to test spray a scrap section.
Kevin
Glue the track down. Using Woodland Scenics track pins to hold in place while the glue sets up, then remove the pins.
Nigel
You need to glue the track down, not just in the problem areas but everywhere. Nails will not hold in the pink foam. Use white glue or the equivalent that is water-soluble, to make it easier to pull the track up if you should make a mistake (never!) or change your mind (well, maybe).
What good are the track nails then? Are they for homasote board and cork? I’m kinda weary about gluing it all down, just because of the switches and switch machines. However, the track nails aren’t doing a whole heck of a lot by themselves, so white glue it is. (applied sparingly) Thanks for your advice.
Nails are used with plywood and homosote, at one time the primary (or only) layout surfaces. You might experiment with getting them to hold a little better in cork, and maybe even foam, by coating them with glue before pushing them in. I think gluing is a lot less tedious then nailing, myself. You have to make sure not to mess up the switches, but then again you don’t have to worry about nailing to deep in pulling the rails out of gauge.
If you decide glue - just do all of the sections you can except for the switches - or just do the “legs” of the switches.
Another idea is to use AMI instant roadbed - it is a black sticky type of substance that will both grip the styrofoam and the track. you can just press the track down into the road bed and it will hold - and for little extra security you can use nails - the ami holds them a little better.
Anybody ever tried using double-faced tape, for either roadbed to layout surface or track to roadbed?
I tried that technique temporarily and worked for a short period of time. On my current layout I am using Homosote and I am very happy so far.
I’ve used “track-foam bed” available in rolls at your hobbyshop. You do have to cut it out in sections then glue the track bed to the foam insulation and nail down the track to the track bed but it has worked for me. Good luck
On my layout, I used foam insulation board as the ‘subroadbed’ and cork as the roadbed. Track nails hold in the cork pretty well. The only problem area I’ve found is on grades, where a length of track might want to rise up from the cork because of the way it connects with a flatter section nearby. The track nails in cork won’t hold the track down in this situation. However, I’ve found it’s pretty easy to correct by using white glue under just a few ties here and there (say every foot or so). Put something on the track to weigh it down until the glue dries, and then you’ll find it doesn’t want to move anymore.
By the way, I attached the cork to the foamboard with a cheap, simple adhesive: tan latex paint. It’s worked great and where the foam extends beyond the cork it looks like earth (although now I’m going to plaster over all that foam anyway!)
Stan