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What kind of roadbed do you use and why???
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Alex,
I have used Homabed for my mainlines on the the current layout(started in 1987). It is ‘rock solid’ and very stable. Easy to spike into or use adhsive to lay the track. It is about twice the cost of cork, but it is very easy to work with.
I use standard cork roadbed for all of my sidings and spurs. It is about 1/16" lower and I have to use a ‘sureform’ to sand/taper the Homabed down to the level of the cork - Looks real nice seeing the sidings a little lower that the main track. I glue all of my roadbed to 1/2" plywood sub-roadbed.
I have NOT used the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed, but I suspect it works about the same as the cork.
Jim
Pine.
I buy a $10 1"x6"x10’ in medium grade pine, and pick, pick, pick through the lumber pile at a good lumber yard (not Home Depot or Lowe’s) to find one that’s straight and mostly knot free.
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Run it through a table saw to cut it into thirds (three 1"x2" pieces).
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Turn the pieces on edge, and run each one through the table saw to cut them in half, leaving me with approx. 1/4" thick x 1 3/4" wide strips.
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Tilt the blade 45 degrees, and cut the ballast shoulders.
To make curves, I set up a saber saw upside down in a bench vise and cut slots so I can bend curves as small as 30" radius. For sharper curves, you have to use a wider cutting blade to make bigger slots (like using the table saw again).
So I get 60’ of roadbed for $10. That’s a little less than 17 cents per foot…far less expensive than many other kinds (like AMI, cork, or WS foam).
I also prefer pine to any other material because it’s easy to work with, it takes spikes easily, normal wood glues can be used, it doesn’t make abnormal amounts of dust, it doesn’t dull my tools when cutting it, it can be fastened down with a brad nailer (either air or electric), it can be drilled into without a mess, it’s not sticky, it doesn’t dry out, it’s reusable if not glued down, and so on.
Access to a table saw is the only real “fly” in the ointment (that and getting the right pine).
Paul A .Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
I use 1x8 pine with cork and rubber roadbed I have a small section with all the switches well most and its on 1/2 plywood sounds nice
Ken
It’s cork for me. Cork on top of 1/2 inch foam on tip of hollow spline.
Homabed I’ve tried, but building lightweight modules, ounces are everthing and homabed just add too much weight.
EZ track–doesn’t everybody?
I use foam on high-grade Canadian Pine. However I have cork on my test track, and I do actually find the Woodland Senics foam roadbed to be far quieter than the cork (then again my test track isn’t ballasted so that may be part of it as well)
Performance wise, I don’t at all see a difference between them. I only started my layout about two years ago, so age has not yet set in, ask me in 10 years if I made the right choice in roadbed haha.
I tried to use the newest technology in my layout to keep it lightweight and semi-portable (for ease of moving and such.) Hopefully those nice new information-age matterials will pay off but, there’s no substitute for good quality wood in the benchwoork, at least in my oppinion.
Cheers!
~METRO
Automotive AC sealant tape.
Mid West Cork, painted and spreckeled Mounted right on the foam. Secured with pins of all things. But, for a “temporary” set up, has worked great.
I use “lazy man” type roadbed…FasTrack for “O”, S-Helper for “S”, Kato for “N”, and pine mulch for outdoor “G”. Joe
I have used foam core, extruded foam, cork, sand, and plywood.
I think the foams are best personally. It all gets covered in the end, but the foam deadens the sound best for me.
I hand lay my track and foam also makess it easier for me.
I have used cork on the last two or three… This time I am thinking seriously about using OSB/homesoat/cork./fine ballast. I hope the homesoat will cut down on the noise.
I use 1/8" thick neoprene automotive stereo insulation.
I’ve tried cork - and had it dry out and crumble on me. Have seen the same on other layouts after 4-5 years, even in humid areas like North Carolina. Did not hold rail spikes after a period of time; track went out of gauge.
Have tried pieces of redwood (for a display track). Hit hard spots in the grain while spiking handlaid track. Curled spikes and colorful language.
Tried Homasote. Loved it. Lovely to spike and re-spike into (when I don’t get the gauge right the 1st try or make changes to track plan). Never had an expansion/contraction problem. Used it unsealed, laminated to 1/2" cookie-cutter plywood. Layout started in foggy, coastal Oregon (no humidity control), moved to Pensacola and Miami, Florida. In Miami, only used AC 2 weeks a year, so had lots of humidity swings. Never a problem with track, but no soldered rail joints either.
Changes (or not) for next time: 1) Homasote for roadbed, laminated to subroadbed (again). Accept no substitute! 2) May use 1/4" ply and 1" foam laminated subroadbed instead of 1/2" ply for lighter weight and greater dimensional stability (just in case I was lucky the 1st time). 3) Cookie cutter construction again for natural vertical easements to 5-6% grades without excessive depth of benchwork and roadbed. 4) Use a rail bender to get rid of tendency for kinks on small radius curves.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
fwright, I have an idea that I have never tried before. Musicians use something called cork grease that they put on the corks of woodwind instruments that keeps the cork from drying up and crumbling. Why don’t you go to a music store and buy some, it comes in a little chapstick tube for like $2. Just apply it every few weeks. Has anyone tried this?
My HO layouts have always used cork, I’ve never had any problems with it so have never really thought of a reason to change although the Woodland Scenics foam bed looks interesting and have heard of members of my club having good luck with it.
My step son will be building a small N scale layout soon using Kato Unitrack, roadbed built in. I had purchased some a while back to build a layout in a small apartment I was living in at the time but wasn’t there long enough to really do anything with it. We will be laying the Unitrack down directly to 1" foam.
My roadbed is 1/2" pink foam, cut into 1.5" wide strips, laid onto the subroadbed (2" foam), and contoured to shape. On the mainline, I use HO scale cork for the final profile. For passing sidings I use N scale cork. I don’t use any cork on sidings and industrial spurs.
I use 1/4" crushed rock for my roadbed, but thats probably because I am a garden railroader! [;)]
I use cork with flex track. It’s also easy to smooth the surface with a surform tool at the joints and any other bumps.
Enjoy
Paul
Cork, My HO layout stood for almost 4 years, Never had a problem with the cork. The club layout which has been around since 1989 still has a few sections of the the orginal cork(the rest was either pulled out when we replaced turnouts and other things, and the rest mostly hidden was done on Masonite or 1/8th" Plywood)