Which Track Bed for 027?

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

I have used O scale Track-Bed by Woodland Scenics, about $0.62 a foot at the local hobby. It requires splitting and cutting out pieces on the inside of the curves. Seems I saw one on a ‘how-to’ video for ballasting that is much more supple, but I can’t remember the name or where I saw the video (on You-Tube, I think). I don’t plan on ballasting, but who knows?

Which track bed do you prefer for 027 track?

Charlie

2

Charlie: O27 track over ‘duct’ tape!! Aren’t you “glad” you asked? [:D]

3

I’m using good old fashioned cork roadbed. I stained it grey though.If I recall, it’s about 50 cents a foot. I used 1/2" brads to secure the cork to my plywood top. On the o27 curves I had to put brads on the edges and in the center, as it wanted to buckle in the middle. Here’s a shot of it:

Hope this helps,

J White

4

Traindaddy1, I forgot. You can fix anything with duct tape. However, I think the problem would be the same on the corners.

jwse30, I’ll look into the cork.

I wish I could remember the other roadbed so I could compare prices.

Thanks, guys.

Charlie

5

Just a follow up. I finally tracked down the video I saw on YouTube. The roadbed he used is called FlexBed, by Hobby Innovations. Their website has it @ $.97/foot for 0 scale.

Bit pricey. I’ll check cork out, too.

wyomingscout

6

Charlie: You’re absolutely correct*. Just thought I’d offer a very inexpensive faux idea! [;)]

(*Strips of tape were laid side-by-side on a paper backing and cut to shape.)

7

Actually, Charlie, the one thing you can’t fix (very well) with duct tape is a duct. From Wikipedia:

“To provide lab data about which sealants and tapes last, and which are likely to fail, research was conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Environmental Energy Technologies Division. Their major conclusion was that one should not use duct tape to seal ducts (specialty tapes are available for this purpose). (They defined duct tape as any fabric-based tape with rubber adhesive.) The testing done shows that under challenging but realistic conditions, duct tapes become brittle and may fail. Its use in ducts has been prohibited by the state of California and by building codes in most other places in the U.S…”

8

Thanks for the info on Hobby Innovations. I got it bookmarked. For anyone interested here is their web site:

http://www.hobbyinnovations.com/default.htm

They say they will send a sample out for a couple of bucks.

Mike