Hey guys,
I was wondering, what is the best roadbed to work with? Is the rubber mastic produced by AMI a good choice? What about using 3M Scotch rubber mastic tape? Is there any advantage in using corck roadbed? I’m only interested in technical advantages, I’m not really concerned about price. Which one is the best?
Thanks
I use the AMI road bed on my layout and like a lot. you can move it around untill you get it just right. It is also easy to take track off if not properly placed. You can get it at internettrains.com for a good price.
Asking what the best roadbed material is, is like asking what the best railroad is. You’ll have as many opinions as there are modelers!
Here’s my (only slightly biased) opinion on roadbed materials:
cork: readily available, easy to cut, lay and sand, easy to configure. Dries out eventually and won’t really accept track spikes well. Inexpensive. Easy to adjust track if using nails.
Homabed: not readily available, cutting creates lots of dust, relatively expensive, and won’t bend past 24" (or so). The best material for handlaying track on. Easy to lay and sand. Easy to adjust track if using nails.
AIM: relatively expensive, easy to lay, won’t accept nails (but it’s self-adhesive). Can’t easily handlay track, nor adjust track once laid. I’ve “heard” that it doesn’t like to ever dry fully, and will eventually debond.
Various foam tapes: easy to lay and cut, hard to get correct ballast profile, won’t accept nails, almost impossible to handlay track. Inexpensive. Most tapes don’t like to hold with any permanence, so experiment before you lay 200 feet of track. Most are only single-sided, so will require an adhesive to lay track, making adjustment difficult.
Woodland Scenics foam roadbed: same parameters as foam tapes.
I use a different method than any of the above (which is where my bias comes in). I take 1/2" thick extruded foam insulation, cut it into 1.5" wide strips, glue it in place, sand, lay the track, and cut in the ballast profile. The method is cheap (less than 5 cents a foot), as fast as laying cork, and creates a better overall ballast profile, especially when coupled with foam based scenery. It takes a bit more labor to create the same look as cork or Homabed, and it won’t accept nails at all.
Most people use cork, mostly because it works. It might not be the “best”, but it gets the job done. And I consider roadbed to be a scenery item more than a mechanical necessity, meaning you don’t really need
I’ve used cork and am satisfied with it. I have also used Homasote and found it really suffers from moisture expansion/contraction. If starting over, I would give Woodland Scenics foam roadbed a try. I agree with Ray, above, the road bed material is less important than the sub road bed.
I’ve had good luck with the Woodland Scenics stuff, but I don’t handlay.
I have used several types of roadbaed on several layouts over the years:
Cork - the old standard. I have used it for sidings/spurs on my present layout and it has held up quite well(it was laid in 1987).
Homasote - Used sheets of it over plywood subroadbed. Makes a big mess when cutting, must be ‘glued & screwed’ down to make sure it bonds to the subroadbed, & should be ‘sealed’ as it can really suck up moisture. It takes spikes qiute nice, so is very good for the ‘hand-laid’ crowd.
Homabed - This was produced by BO Mfg, now California Roadbed. It is cut/sanded Homasote in split in half like cork roadbed. It is very easy to work with and there is little mess as most of the cutting was done at the factory. I used this product for all of my mainlines/staging tracks. It is a full 1/4" high compared to the 3/16" height of cork. I was able to use a sureform tool to bevel down the Homabed to match up with the cork. This looks real nice when train come off of the main line and ‘drop’ into the siding. I never ‘sealed’ it, but I did airbri***he Atlas code 100 track and that sort of sealed the Homabed. I have had NO problems with it since it was laid in 1987.
Instant Roadbed - I have never used it, but have seen layouts that use it. If you do not ballast right away, the stuff will attract ‘fuzz/lint/dust’ and look terrible…
Woodland Scenics - not too bad from the layouts I have seen.
Vinylbed - I have some samples, but have never tried it - it looks interesting.
Jim Bernier
I have been pleased with Woodland Scenics Foam roadbed for ready made track.
Positive: Easy to form tight curves in yards and sidings, place/shape under turnouts, using white glue it’s ready for track in a couple of hours and can easily be removed in one piece using a putty knife. Very Quiet.
Negative: Requires extra touch to get a good ballast profile.
I agree with most of the posting on here, and I’ve heard the AMI roadbed will come lose over time, plus it’s spongy nature makes it less precise.
I use masonite spline subroadbed, and lay the flex track directly to it with gray latex caulk. In flat areas I use a plaster wallboard, plywood laminate. If I need to elevate the track, I’ll use cork, and then use styrene shims to transition elevated track from the cork to level of the track that I’ve caulked down directly on the wallboard.
I tend to stay away from homasote because of the price and it suseptibilty to humidity effects.
The layout’s going on 14 years now, and narry a problem with the cork or the track I’ve caulked straight down to the masonite spline.
HO cork laid on top of O gauge cork .(Double profile) mainline .
Last time I looked at the prototype, that’s what it looked like.
Cork is terrific, but be sure and knock the edges off the top with some sandpaper before you lay track on it. The natural, raw edge is not prototypical and makes it really hard to get the ballast to stick.
Thank you all guys, you’ve given me a lot of light in this issue. Though roadbed is just a scenic item in a MR layout, is one of the most important items in MRing scenery there could be. I like double prifling, and perhaps I could use one of the methods described by you. thanks.
Same here, I like the Woodland Scenics roadbed, nice to work with, however, I do not handlay track. But for the flex-track I think it is number 1. Thats just my thoughts.
Here is a picture showing the AMI roadbed
Well,I prefer homasote for my industrial switching layouts as a rule because I laid my track directly on the homasote for that low maintenance industrial branch look that lacks any true roadbed like you would find on main lines. .However,G scale cork roadbed looks like it would work just as well.
I used HomaBed for my first layout., sealing it with gray latex paint before laying the track. On my current layout I used some HomaBed salvaged from my old layout and used cork for the new track, again sealing it with 2 coats of latex paint. The paint helps prevent drying out. Cork is easier to curve, cut, and fit than HomaBed, especially under turnouts. I don’t trust self-adhesive products very much for long-term use. I obtained samples of Vynl-Bed and it looks good. They make a variety of thicknesses and widths, making it easy to create a very realistic roadbed profile. It should handle much like cork.
Homabed on Homasote:
http://www.fcsme.org/bcarl/id117.htm
…as it provides an excellent profile for the ballast:
http://www.fcsme.org/bcarl/id124.htm
Hi folks, maybe I am an adventuresome sort but I am trying something new. The local Lowes or the Michaels craft store sells cork tile in 12 x12 squares which I glue directly on the plywood subterrain. It’s the same height as cork roadbed. For yard areas and for the passenger depot I use the cork tile and then switch to regular cork roadbed for the main and branch lines. So far So good. The cork tile accepts the small spikes to hold track in place until ballast is glued down. A package of 4 tiles sells for about $6-7 and gives you a 1’ x 4’ area to lay down the yard tracks.
Jimbo
In the July/August 2003 MR, I described the use of topper tape, a foam product that would be usable for all scales except “O”. Cost about $5 for 30’ roll; different thicknesses, widths; easy to use in connection with pre fab track and the gluing process of using adhesive caulk by DAP. It’s been down 4 years, most of it ballasted with no problems. Recommend it highly.
Chuck Hitchcock
I have one that nobody’s mentioned: pine.
Yep, pine as in wood roadbed.
My club has used pine roadbed for over 50 years, and we’ve never had a problem with it. I have used it on my own layout to good results.
I go to the nearest good lumber yard (not Home Depot), and pick out a 1"x6"x10’ from the medium grade stack, and carefully choose the most knot-free and straightest board I can. These cost $10 ea. for me for 60’ of roadbed, or $0.17 per foot.
Then, I take to a table saw, and cut it into 1"x2" boards. Next, I run them through again on edge, cutting them in half. This leaves me with a 1/4" thick board that is 1 3/4" across. After tilting the blade, I cut the ballast shoulders.
To apply to the layout, I use a small staple gun that also shoots brads. The club uses an air powered brad nailer. No glues, no mess, no fuss.
To curve them, I cut slots every 1" or so with a jig saw turned upside down in a vice.
The best thing about pine is that it’s wood, and all the normal wood tools & techniques you have will work just fine.
It is also the best material for hand laying track, bar none. While I do have some handlaid switches, I primarily use Atlas Code 83 flex on mine, and I spike it down with Micro Engineering medium spikes.
For large yard areas, I use 1/4" luan plywood. This, you have to be careful with because there are different grades of luan, or so it seems. When you go to buy some, try to scratch it with your fingernail. If you can, than it’s soft enough to spike into. If you can’t, that means that there is too much glue in the mix, making it almost impossible to spike down track.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
As a subtopic question on “roadbed”, any comments on sound deadening properties of these many options?
I have used homasote on plywood, flextrack glued to the homasote, giving a rather loud, unrealistic white noise. I experimented with a thin foam double-sided tape, which gave a much softer noise (but, as commented by many, is a tricky medium for laying track). I did not scenic this track, and I suspect that glued ballast and hard scenery will amplify the unwanted noise.
Comments?