What is the purpose for roadbed underneath the track?? I have some O guage track, that i think i might need some roadbed. When the train runs on the track it is so loud. Will roadbed quiet the running of the trains, like a sound deadner or something?? How do you lay roadbed on the curves, because roadbed comes on long straight sections. How do you curve the roadbed? Thanks.
It provides a more realitic profile for the track system. It usually does cut down on noise but this has more to do with the type of roadbed and how it is installed.
Cork and foam come in strips that you seperate down the middle to make curved sections. You still need to make small cuts in the material to allow it to curve. Outside curves just make perpendicular cuts to alow it to stretch. Inside curved require small triangular cuts to allow it to “bunch”.
There is also rubber roadbed, vinyl roadbed, milled basswood roadbed, and machined homasote roadbed. All have plusses and minuses.
The roadbed helps make the trains quieter and makes the track look more realistic. If your using cork as a roadbed, you have to split the cork in half length wise.[swg]
Based on your posting I am assuming that you are running on a plywood surface. Roadbed, either foam/rubber/cork, can help to reduce the noise especially if you do not put screws thru the metal ties into the plywood. If you do they, the screws, will conduct the noise into the plywood defeating the insulating properties of the roadbed.
The simplest way to reduce the noise is to cover your plywood with a product called “Sound Board” made by Celotex. Based on comments by other forum members it works quite well, is relatively in-expensive, and will hold the track screws. However it will require a good primer coat to seal it before laying down your track and any scenery.
As far as the foam/rubber/cork it is a little more labor intensive. If you are working with very large radius curves the roadbed curves can be formed relatively easily. For the smaller radius it is much more labor intensive as I found out. I glued it down but it didn’t want to hold the curve I made and kind of humped up in a few places. I ended up pulling up the corners and cut the roadbed into segments that matched from the center line of the middle tie to the edge of where the track meets the next track section.
Almost forgot to add that my foam roadbed, Woodland Scenics, is glued down and the track is hot-glued to the foam. No screws. Quiet as a mouse, with the engine sounds turned off pretty much all you hear is the wheels clicking on the rail joints.