I reside in a condominium with strict rules about noise and such.
Foam makes it easy for me to build without violating any rules. I have found so many other advantages with this material that I am amazed everyone has not switched over.
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I rarely defend what I do or tell people they shouldn’t do something, unless I see them creating future headaches for themselves and I will point that out.
I use any and all methods to achieve my goals remembering I only want to do things once. Some things I enjoy doing more than others, but will always yield for what is best on a particular spot on the layout.
Here I have cardboard strips that I covered with Plaster-of-Paris dipped tea towels. Just one little spot, but the perfect way to get the look I wanted in that spot.
Many have to worry about the $ factor when it comes to a hobby so it is a good thing to have choices.
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You could always put a layer of screen material over the cardboard strips, inner the plater cloth.
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1/2” foam over 1/2” CDX plywood on a L-girder frame. You can build down or up as needed. A 12” long drill bit is all that’s needed to make holes for wiring.
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Thanks for all the useful advice. I suspect I’ll end up with a hybrid solution as I go. I have to finish a few more tasks in the room that the layout will be built before really starting. I’m trying to build in phases so my son who is almost 8 can have at least have a long loop to play with. Currently we have a 4x8 single oval for testing purposes. I’ll most likely scrap that as I used cheap 1x3s topped with 1/4" or so plywood I picked up from a widow who’s husband was working on an O gauge layout. Sadly a lot of what I acquired isn’t sitting flat no matter how many screws I put into it.
I’m working with this space in a den attached to my main bedroom but I just realized my image size isn’t correct, the room is actually 4’ deeper so roughly 15’x13’8" and my wife requires the new red divider since it is a part of the bedroom. I probably won’t do the new wall until it’s a bit cooler as I’ll need to be in and out of my attic space. I currently have a 4x8 almost fitting on the top right corner wall right now. The corner of that benchwork will just become angled and since it’s a 180 degree turn I won’t miss that surface. I’m planning to go double mainline and one of them will not go below a min 24" radius. As I lay out the benchwork I may shoot for 26" but I want the room to be comfortable to walk in. I’ve been using anyrail to help, but it’s one of those things I may change up as I go. I could easily do a double decker, but I need to be reasonable with what I think I can accomplish. I may utilize the space below the main level for staging though and I plan to keep my benchwork legs back from the edge so I can do some scenic work there as well. As I’m typing this I realized, I may go with a higher base level so that lower level isn’t so low.
This is a for fun project, I don’t know if we’ll have any real to life scenes, but who knows. I want to do automation, not because I need to, but because I want myself and my son to learn. Sadly, I have a lot to learn about DCC first. I wish my son was a little bit older so he could be more help, but this isn’t going to be done overnight and I’m sure he’ll get there. I’m a software developer, so hopefully I can pickup on the electronics side.
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For those of you that have stacked “layouts” what height do you like between them? I could certainly hide a helix to drop down. I was thinking 30 or 34 inches as my low height, but because my levels will be stacked right on top of each other I’m wondering if that is too low?
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Pardon me if this was mentioned previously, but another option (which I did 25 years ago) is 1/2” plywood (or maybe even 3/8”) topped with 1/2” homesote. I realize homesote is no longer readily available in many area but it has some advantages. I glued entire 4’x8’ sheets of plywood and homesote together and then a fixed it to 1x4 framing. The two main advantages are sound deadening and you can lay track directly with track nails. I used Midwest cork roadbed over the homesote with glue and laid track directly to the homesote in yards and certain sidings. If I had used under mount Tortoise switch machines it would have also offered easy attachment to the plywood from underneath. Just my $.02
Regards, Chris
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I would suggest plywood with 2" foam on top. The foam, while expensive, is very forgiving offers a lot of variety for elevation. Regardless of how you carve into the foam, ensure you keep a vacuum nearby to get all the foam pieces. They will go everywhere!
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Not nearly as bad as the white bead foam. If you’re going to do more than even a little foam carving, I suggest investing in a couple hot wire cutting tools.
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White bead Styrofoam is just a mess, like its cousin EPS peanuts. The flinders from the hard pink foam have sharp edges and are irritating. I can’t work that stuff without a pickup to a well-filtered shop vacuum right there at the point of working…
I definitely second the point about the hot-wire tools to work foam.
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Hello All,
I used 1/4 inch plywood between the 1-inch foam and the open grid frame.
Under layout accessories can be attached to this layer. It is easy to drill through when adding track feeders from above without adding much weight.
First, I attached the plywood to the open grid frame with flat-head wood screws.
To attach the foam to the plywood, I used finishing washers and flat-head wood screws. The cupped finishing washers keep the heads of the screws from pulling through the foam.
I did not have to use any adhesive to attach the foam to the plywood.
The Woodland Scenics foam roadbase was attached to the foam with GE Silicone Caulk. The caulk allows the foam roadbed to be peeled up cleanly without damaging either the foam base or roadbed. (For some, the smell of curing caulk is a deal breaker.)
Hope this helps.
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Also second. I used 2" foam, no plywood. It’s very strong, no warpage.
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An alternative available now would be to use plywood as a solid base, but then raise all the track using Woodland Scenics risers. That way, you don’t have to cut into the plywood to do a river or a road ducking under the track, and can easily have scenery both above and below track level.
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I am building current railroad with plywood top for yards; L girder / open grid with plywood “cookie cutter” subroadbed for everything else. Not a fan of foam for roadbed or adhesives for attaching track to roadbed. I am using a mixture of cork and homosote for roadbed.
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I built a layout for a client using WS risers. Easy to use and worked as intended. Only downside is that they are expensive.
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It sounds like good progress. Any photos?
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Technically Woodland Scenic risers are ‘sub-roadbed’, they’re put under the track to raise it. You can still use cork or whatever as your roadbed.
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Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures. I know one of the layouts was dismantled when the owner moved from TX to FL; where he passed away shortly thereafter. No idea what happened to the other layout.
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CTC/interlocking signalling and switch control would be one good reason.
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As others ave suggested, I use a hybrid setup. Plywood with homasote for the track, cardboard strips with plaster cloth and then thinned hydrocal over that (and hydrocal plaster casts for rock) for most of my layout. I did have to have a few pop ups so I used foam for those to get some lighter weight.
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