Has anyone ever tried using the foam floor mats, similar to Harbor Freight, Anti-Fatigue Foam Mat Set Item # 94635, to deaden track noise?
Never heard of that solution, doesn’t seen to be very thick but ya never know. I use 3/4 inch pink foam board that works very well to deaden the sound.
A big consideration in sound deadening is the type of track. From my observations by visiting many layouts, Gargraves track with wood ties hardly needs anything to deaden the sound, while fast track needs much more. Of course the speed of the model train and the type of wheels and axles make a difference.
FriscoKid3342,
I have heard of the pik foam to be used on layouts before; but never faom mats. Me i used Homasote for mine, and i am using Fastrack and it seems to do o.k; but i agree it also depends on the speed as well. Good luck!
I am a firm believer in Sound Board, made by the same people that make Homasote. Holds screws quite well and is a whole lot cheaper than Homasote.
Doug is right. Sound Stop is better and cheaper. Building a new layout. May salvage some Sound Stop from the old one and also use blue foam insulation board for the rest. Sound Stop is dusty but is sealed with plain laytex paint. One coat rolled on and no more dust.
I recently used sound deadening board as opposed to homasote, which I bought at a lumber yard. It is lighter than homasote and I installed it in a fashion similar to the “retro railroad” series that appeared in late 2010 CTT. I still haven’t painted it but the layout is running, and running quietly, except for the noise coming from the post-war locomotives.
Yes the Sound Stop by Celotex is always my first choice.
The 1/8" rubber mat used under self-installed wood floors is cheap and effective.
John, That’s what we used on the club’s layout. It does work good but can be a bit pricey for a smaller layout unless you can get a smaller quantity, kinda like remnants, from a flooring contractor.
Home depot has it pretty cheap, I’ll have to check the price next time I’m down there.
Well, cheap carpet padding, glued to your plywood base and given a coat of bargain latex paint (yep, it soaks in pretty quick), and wire ties to secure the track through the wooden base (instead of screws) will give you about the quietest running layout you’ll ever hear. Pretty much the wheels on the rails and that’s it. That’s all I’ve ever used… yes a little extra effort and not everyone likes the look but it totally works. Probably harder to do on a larger layout, mine have been all just portable layouts of various sizes.
Later I saw them run an article on it in CTT I believe and they did a nice job illustrating this technique…just about the way I did it.
Here is yet another cheap product you might be interested in trying.The key word here being cheap.When you are shopping at your local building supply outlet ,ask for a product called sill seal.It’s intended purpose is to seal out drafts between the floor and sill plate of a wall in new construction.It generally comes in fifty foot rolls.That sounds like a huge roll but it is only 3/16 by 5 1/2 inches wide.The last roll I purchased was only about six dollars.It is a translucent white in color and looks exactly like cellular foam packing material.I have cut this material in half giving me two lengths 2 3/4 inches wide.That is perfect for tubular track.Using it full width is perfect for use under switches.I have not added ballast or attempted to blend any scenery with it yet.I have done testing with paint application and found that a good flat finish acrylic paint adheres very well.Also it does have a pebble like texture that with a wash over a good base coat gives a ballast like appearance.Right now I am in the track laying and wiring stage of my layout.I have it loosely installed directly over a plywood deck.It does a good job of taking that high pitch metal sound out of the rails.
sound stop is the best solution. pink foam board actually amplifies sound. good for scenery, not sound deadening
I sold all my Fastrak and bought some 202 Gargraves all stainless flex track. I will be building a new layout in another room and will take down my bedroom layout. I’m glad to read that the Gargraves I bought is quiet to begin with. I will look into other ideas mentioned here to make it even quieter.
Just put up a fastrack table top layout. Felt on top of the 1/2"/12mm board, not great at sound deadening, but some. I also put insulation inside the Fastrack. I used the standard O gage road bead foam that you can buy in the roll or straight sections. It fits in the fastrack sections once you cut and notch it to fit. 48 feet of track only took 3 hours of cutting and fitting. IE a 10" straight section needs 4 pieces cut to fit. By pressing it in the sections is self marks cut lines. Switches and operating track don’t have any room for it. Overall the echo chamber sound is very low compared to my test layout before.