Hi all,
I am getting ready to start work on roadbed of a new layout that I am building. The last layout, I used cork. This time I was thinking of using 1/4 inch plywood and 1/2 inch foam board for the roadbed. Most books that I have read talk about using homasote and 1/4 or 1/2 inch plywood. I think that most of these books are from a time when foam board was not avalible.
I would like to have your opinions.
I used 2" foamboard on 1"x3" L-girder, wall-mounted, for my HO layout. No other support required. Foamboard is really easy to work with. I spaced the supports at 12" and have no problems with it.
I wouldn’t go with plywood less than 1/2", it won’t give you much aditional support. In my opinion your choices are thick foam and no plywood, like bobchuck, or 1/2" or greater plywood and 1/2" foam. I’m going with plan B myself, in O guage.
What style of layout are you trying to build? Is table top, cookie cutter…etc?
For cookie cutter, go with at least 1/2" (nominal plywood, laminated to 1/2" extruded foam.
For table top (like bobchuck) 2" extruded foam. If you use powered switches, glue a 3" square (or bigger) piece of 3/16" luan plywood to the under side of the foam to mount your Tortise or Switchmaster. Using a twincoil machine on foam is a bad idea due to the repetitive shock loads.
Foam will not hold nails, the track must be glued to it.
I’ve been thinking about going the 2" foam route a well. However, I was planning on putting a 1/4" of material below the foam to hold screws for anything I wanted to mount underneath. Is that a good idea?
Thanks,
Jer
I hung everything on the L-girders, such as, my feeder wires and my control console
Jer-
Yes, it falls into bigger than 3" square catagory. Use the least expensive material you can find, it’s sole purpose is to spread the load over a greater area of the foam.
My current layout is being built out of 2" pink foam laminated to 1/4" Lauan plywood. (not pine, which costs more)This is screwed to U-channel shelf brackets that are screwed directly to the studwall in my basement.
2" foam and 1/4" ply is all you need to support layouts up to O scale. The 2" foam is more dimensionally stable than wood or Homasote, so it won’t expand/contract. It will sag, but not with the 1/4" ply and brackets at the standard 16" centers. I’m only using the plywood to give me someplace to screw attach the layout surface to the brackets (I didn’t want just a glue joint), and to allow me to hang things like switch machines, lights, etc. You can’t walk on the brackets, but it’s more than strong enough to support any of our toy trains (well, except for maybe G scale brass!). I have a section of my lower level that’s built with 2" foam and 1/4" ply on top of a 2x2 framework (shelving) that IS strong enough to support my 200 pounds wandering around on top of it, so it’s definitely all we need for a layout.
Bill Darnaby’s Maumee Road layout is even more minimalist than mine. He’s got 2" foam glued to homemade 1x2 L brackets for his entire layout. The layout is a HUGE two level affair which has been around for something like ten years, and there’s NO sagging/warping/shifting going on.
Most layouts are WAY too overbuilt. No layout yet constructed needs 2x4’s to hold it up, unless they’re making concrete mountains (I’ve seen that too…). I’ve even seen guys who have used 4x4’s as legs! That’s nuts, and with the price of wood going up, and steel and foam going down, there’s no need for more wood than absolutely necessary on a layout these days.
I built with 3/8 plywood and 1 inch pink board. It worked great for me and I like the product. I glue the cork to the pink board with carpenters glue. It holds but also comes up without damage for mistakes. Only problem I am facing now is underneath switch motors. Longest one I’ve found is from Peco and its still not long enough. Probably going to have to cut out a portion of the plywood to make em work. errr
Go with Tortise or SwitchMaster; RIX has actuator hardware,or you can make you own easily. There is no problem with a Tortise 2½" or more below the turnout.
www.comrail.org has several Tortise mounted way below the turnouts, and even one case where one Tortise is powering all four turnouts of a double crossover. All but one turnout are Peco, the one is a Shinohara, Peco doesn’t make anything that will fit there.
Thanks for your replies. I think that I will try the 1/2 inch plywood glued to 1/2 inch blue/pink board. This is for cookie cutter and ribbon roadbed. I think that I will use the adhesive that was talked about recently in Model Railroader, by glueing the track to the 1/2 inch pink/blue board. I think that by sticking with a total of 1inch roadbed, there will not be a problem with undertable switch machines. Thanks again.
“Only problem I am facing now is underneath switch motors. Longest one I’ve found is from Peco and its still not long enough. Probably going to have to cut out a portion of the plywood to make em work”
I use a 2.5 x 2.5 square of 1/8 " masonite (hardboard) to mount the Tortoise on with #6 x 1/4" sheet metal screws. (This makes replacement of theTortoise easy, if ever needed.) I replace the spring wire arm with a longer, larger diameter wire to go through the 2" of foam I use. I use either Liquid Nails or Polyseamseal All-Purpose Adhesive Caulk to attach the masonite to the foam. This gives ample time to position the Tortoise (which I’ve already prepositioned and tested). No problems so far.
Tony
NE of Chicago, I’m getting 1/4" Lauan plywood (underlayment) for $8.99 a sheet, and 4x8x2" pink foam for $14.99. (prices as of Saturday, the last time I bought some). 1/2" plywood was up to $18.99 a sheet, with 3/4" BC at a whopping $36.99!
I like my 1/4" ply and 2" foam…
I agree with orsonroy. I, too have built my layout on 1/4 luan under 2" pink foam. Solid as a rock, and you can carve easily into the foam for sub-grade detailing.
What I dont understand is the cost of wood? We cheerfully set aside 300 dollars for an engine with all the motivation of a suitor after a Lady. And we cannot pay $30- for wood that is similar to a tank of gas or a RTR car??
Prices in my state are cheap because there is too much wood on the market. Thank goodness.