Steve S
Member
If you're looking for a cheap alternative to cork roadbed, you might try Readi-Board foam board from Dollar Tree stores. It sells for $1 per 20" x 30" sheet. The foam is closed-cell Depron so there shouldn't be any problem with it soaking up water when wetting ballast once the outer layers of paper have been peeled off. While you're at the Dollar Tree store, go to the section with cleaning products and pick up a spray bottle of LA's Totally Awesome cleaner. It's a yellow liquid in a translucent bottle. Spray the Readi-Board with the cleaner, let it soak in for a minute, then peel off the paper. The advantage to using Readi-Board over other types of foamcore is that the Readi-board uses thin paper on the outer layers which soaks off easily, rather than thick cardstock which is difficult to remove.
You can make a cutting tool from a beveled block of wood and an X-Acto blade. Use a straight edge to guide the block. Once you've beveled the leading edge of the foam, flip the foam sheet over and extend it out to the width you want. Repeat this process, flipping the foam sheet over after each cut. An extra set of hands is helpful to hold the straight edge. For curved sections, you can cut kerfs into the roadbed with a razor saw.
The track in the pic below is N Scale.
Steve S
You can make a cutting tool from a beveled block of wood and an X-Acto blade. Use a straight edge to guide the block. Once you've beveled the leading edge of the foam, flip the foam sheet over and extend it out to the width you want. Repeat this process, flipping the foam sheet over after each cut. An extra set of hands is helpful to hold the straight edge. For curved sections, you can cut kerfs into the roadbed with a razor saw.
The track in the pic below is N Scale.
Steve S