Hey all,
I used some sort of clear caulk to glue down my track and cork roadbed. Now I want to remove some of it to change the line of the layout. How can this be done without scrapping everything. I would like to save the track. I kind of figure the cork is a goner. The cork is attached to 2" Dowboard. Will that be useable afterward?
Thanks in advance. Rob S.
Assuming you used it sparingly, and what you used was an acrylic latex caulk, just us a sharp paring knife or a steak knife that does not have coarse jagged teeth. You work the tip,keeping it strictly flat, by wiggling it into the caulk under the ties and making it come out the other side. Then, keeping the tip forced somewhat against the roadbed so that it tends not to rise up and snag the ties, you gently saw back and forth and work the knife teeth/bladeward down the rails. It is a bit of work. You can also see-saw the blade instead of sawing it back and forth. Bring the tip toward the caulk you want to free up, and then the heel of the blade. Repeat. Just be sure to control the leading edge always and keep it forced down against the roadbed. Go easy. Don’t plan to do it all in five minutes.
Crandell
I took a bunch of track and foam roadbed up with a 6 inch drywall scraper. I was able to reuse most of it.
I just this week lossened some track from the foam roadbed and the roadbed from the layout top to eliminate a kink in the track and to add a turnout.
Juat as Selector said only I used a metal ruler and it worked perfectly.
Bob
A simple putty knife will work just fine.
I’ve used a putty knife to remove track from cork. Works well, as long as you spread the caulk very thin as someone else pointed out. The cork was pretty much a dead loss as it was caulked to foam and the foam came off in chunks sticking to the cork.
Another vote for a putty knkfe, but as others have said, several different tools will work. Just take your time.
Your cork is probably not salvagable. However, work carefully, first it will help reduce damage to the foam and second, there may be pieces big enough to use to fill in small spots later.
If when you take up your cork you damage the foam significantly, you can use joint compount to fill in the divots. A little roughness in the foam surface isn’t a problem in rural areas, where the ground isn’t level, however, if you need it smoothed, joint compound should do the trick. I have also used Sculptamold to fill seams between sheets of foam, but it would take a bit more work than the joint compount to get a nice smooth surface.
Good luck,
Richard
Thanks guys.
Richard, funny you mention using joint compound. I had to use it when I sur-formed a section of a grade too low. Joint compound leveled things right up.
Rob S.
I use a very stiff putty knife, working it gently under the ties in an area the width of the knife blade. The key word is ‘gently’ and don’t work in too large of an area. I always figure the cork roadbed is a goner since the residue ot the latex caulk really can’t be smoothed out enough to lay new track/.
There seems to be a concensus on how to remove the track but I am surprised at how many talk about not being able to salvage cork road bed.
My road bed is WS foam and I would have thought that if there was going to be road bed destroyed it would be the foam but that was not the case for me.
Perhaps it has to do with how much caulk was used.
Bob
One thing the OP didn’t mention was whether or not the track was ballasted. I recently dismantled my layout in preparation for a new one. Most of my track was ballasted, so I used 70% isopropyl alcohol to loosen the track and ballast before removing. I used a 1.25" putty knife to remove the track. I was also able to remove the cork roadbed very easily. Here’s a video (the track removal starts at about 3:20)
I have about 2 feet of track removed already. The cork roadbed is coming right up also with very little damage to the Dow board. About 18 inches before I tackle a turnout and then another 18 inches to 2 feet of track and I am done ripping.
The track was not ballasted yet which is a blessing.
Rob S.
The above dilemma is why I didn’t choose to go over to the “dark side” and use glue to hold my track down last time I laid track. I like Atlas track nails and/or spikes because it is easy to pull them out with needle nose pliers in case I need to revise the track location prior to ballasting, which does make permanent.
With luck, a putty knife will let you reuse the track but no muss or fuss if you use track nails or spikes - just something to keep in mind.
Finished up what I was going to pull up. The knife I was using wasn’t long enough to go the whole way across the turnout. I ended up using the back of an old hacksaw blade. All the track I ripped up is reuseable. Ran out to HobbyTown and got some new cork and a piece of flex track so I can work some nights this week.
Rob S.