extruded foam help needed


Bread&steel

Bread&steel

Member
Hi everyone :) I have a friend in Portsmouth England. He belongs to a model railway club. They want to build a new club layout and they were very interested in extruded foam because of it's light weight. They have to dismantle their layout to take it to different shows, you see. My friend has asked me questions I can't answer so I instantly thought of my friends on the forum. I need answers !

First question. If they build their modules using a foam base how would they mount their electrical ? Can they use a thin plywood base underneath to mount the wiring and to protect the foam from being accidentally cracked?

Secondly. What can they use to glue the track down and can it be lifted again if a mistake is made without damaging the track of the foam bed.

Does anyone have a good link on this subject?

Thanks guys

Larry
 
In a word, yes. The foam won't stand up well to repeated or acute contact with rough or hard and pointed objects, so the foam should be nested, with fascia around it, in an open frame. Below it, it is not a bad idea to have some 1/4" ply or luan or masonite, even some MDF, but the two should have a thin layer of acrylic latex caulk between them...cheap...not Liquid Nails or more expensive brands, an for gosh sakes....no silicone caulk!!

The same caulk will work very nicely for the track sections. Use the odd track nail to retain curve geometry for an hour or so until the latex sets. IMPORTANT: spread a thin bead of the stuff over the roadbed or prepared surface on which the tracks will sit by using a steel putty trowel or spatula. And I do mean spread it thin....margarine thin or less. Any welling up of the caulk between the ties means you have about twice what you need.

A bottom cover for the foam isn't strictly necessary. Providing you have at least 1/5" thick foam, better the 2", you can use coarse 1.5" screws driven up into the foam from below to hold up brackets that can keep your wires tucked up and out of the way. A really good product are those very coarse thread white plastic wall anchors. Nip off the blade tip, pre-drill an appropriate hole with a wood screw and then drive in the wall anchor holding up a makeshift luan or masonite bar with a hole in each end. The wires can run between the bar and the foam's nether surface.
 
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I'm currently re-building my home layout using the blue extruded foam. After handling it quite a bit now, I can readily plan how I would mount stuff to it.
I would advise your club to just go ahead and buy a few sheets of it and they should be able to figure it out pretty quick what they can and can't do with it. One thing to remember is; don't use petroleum based glues or paints on it or open flame. Besides that, all other things are ok. Glue the road bed and track down with latex caulk. Cut it with a hack saw blade on curves and use a box cutter on straight cuts to score it then break it.
Check out my progress on the "Return of the D&J Railroad" thread elsewhere in this section.
 
YES! Thank you both ! I have copy and pasted your responces and sent them to my friend. They can use all the help we can give them.
 
foam is great if you can keep it from flexing and bending.. open box frame with a ladder sub frame is the way my 1" foam bed is placed in. If I were them I would add 1/4-1/2" plywood as a base to better glue the foam to. keep the edges protected as well with plywood as it will need to be handeled and will get bumped aroun din trainsit. as mentiond the foam is fine untill its poked and twisted etc... thats when things will go bad. You could also use screws with fender washers to secure the foam to the wood below it. this will help prevent the foam from tearing away from the glue if the frame is twisted to much.

Trent
 
Pink or blueboard vs foamboard

Just a couple cents worth on this thread. Here is a picture of my ,then just started, all foamboard layout. Track is now layed and tested and all is working out well. It is a 34" by 8ft size and will eventually be placed into a cabinet over a long bookcase. Wiring is easily passed thru the foamboard. Carves and sculpts great. Layout is lightweight and can be easily portable as necessary. I simply tape the wires to the underside of the foamboard via duct tape (what else!). Along one end I glue a 1/4" plywood board - use computer connections (multi pin female plug/male plug) attached to this plywood and can unhook the power/turnout cords from the layout. This has worked out well for me. One could easily spot glue the foamboard to a baseboard for more secure transportation.
 
Scootermon said:
Just a couple cents worth on this thread. Here is a picture of my ,then just started, all foamboard layout. Track is now layed and tested and all is working out well. It is a 34" by 8ft size and will eventually be placed into a cabinet over a long bookcase. Wiring is easily passed thru the foamboard. Carves and sculpts great. Layout is lightweight and can be easily portable as necessary. I simply tape the wires to the underside of the foamboard via duct tape (what else!). Along one end I glue a 1/4" plywood board - use computer connections (multi pin female plug/male plug) attached to this plywood and can unhook the power/turnout cords from the layout. This has worked out well for me. One could easily spot glue the foamboard to a baseboard for more secure transportation.
Click to expand...

It looks great ! Thanks for the input. I send your text and picture alone to my modeling friends in Portsmouth England.
 
More elsewhere here in the forum.

Bead&Steel. You might want to navigate to the N Scale part of this forum and see several more shots of this layout - track now down and everything operates. That too, is under a foam question. Four stars mark this particular thread.
 
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