Hi Guys, I need your help.
Look at this picture of my benchwork. The mainline will be spline roadbed (laminated masonite).
I will build a hidden staging yard on the lower level benchwork. I will build a visible yard (Denver North Yard) with 11 tracks 15-20 cm above that. What material should I use under the yards?
What do you suggest?
You will need a material that will make the yard tacks even to your mainline tracks. I myself used woodland scenics foam for mainline and woodland scenics super sheets for the yards. So my guess is you should use laminated masonite the size of your yard.
I’d just use some of that nice Baltic Birch plywood that we get from you guys over there. I think it actually comes from Finland, or even Russia,but it seems like that would be pretty cheap.1/2" or the metric equvalent should do it. Homasote or a similar product ovewr that would make things quieter but not necessary.
I’d use 3/8" spruce sheathing for the yard area: it’s cheap, plenty strong enough with the amount of framing that you’ll have under it, and is soft enough to accept track nails easily. You could put sheet cork or Homasote on top of it (I wouldn’t bother), but don’t try to bring it up to the same level as your spline roadbed. Instead, transition the mainline down to the yard level. If you paint the top of the plywood before installing the tracks, it’ll be easier to put down ground cover and ballast later, without getting “bald” spots. Use flat latex interior house paint in a dark earth colour or even dark grey or black.
Wayne
I like to use half inch plywood (I’m old fashioned) and then use drywall screws to fasten down sheet homosote. Obviously you will have to mate the surface of your mainline spline + road bed to the surface of the homosote where it meets.
The nice thing about homosote is that you can draw in your track centers with a long straight edge with a pencil, and then nail or spike your track down to it. My last layout I sealed the homosote with a base coat of paint that also makes a good earth color (depending on your local). You can then pencil in your track centerlines and lay your track, then paint and add whatever ground cover over that. Homosote holds spikes and track nails well and you can always add a glue or something to fix it in place later and remove the nails.
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I think I will use plywood.
I know that Joe Fugate uses plasterboards, do you guys know why?
I would use plain old plywood. Make the mainline about 1/8" - 1/4" higher than your yard. If you look at most prototype yards, the yard is lower, to keep stock from rolling onto the mainline and fouling a switch. Measure the height of your YARD adding the thickness of a sheet of cork, then add the 1/8" to 1/4" to that. The cork will act as a sound deadener. To attach the cork to the roadbed, spread a thin layer of acrylic latex caulk with a wide bladed putty knife. Depending on the size of the yard area, it might be helpful to have an extra set of hands. The caulk is pretty forgiving if you have to move the cork around. Set another sheet of plywood, roughly the same size as your yard, then place weights on it to keep it flat.
EL, I can’t answer for Joe, but I can tell you that plaster board, or what I believe we call wall board or gyproc, is dead quiet. You can caulk your yard tracks directly to it, or use nails, and they will be very quiet. Easily drilled for wiring, too. Track nails won’t hold as well as with plywood, as you would expect, but they do okay.