Foam on my new HO layout or just wood?

[Beachbum]

Just a couple comments:

I have used adhesive caulk with good results to secure cork to foam and track to cork. Easy to pull up if (when?) you make mistakes. YEMV depending on what product(s) you use.

IMO HO cork has too high of a profile so I now use N-scale cork for HO roadbed. On my previous layout, I used an electric handsander to lower / contour the HO cork. I then used the cork dust to fill roadbed holes and gaps and also for ground cover in some places.

 

[Lynnb]

connect trackwork together and thumb tack it down until its all down and flows nicely, the more you get down the easier it gets. Now simply get a fine point marker and place lines in the centre of the rail ties and trace the outside of the rail ties, you now have the path for the cork to follow. How you attach the cork to foam is upto you. There are long T pins available that can be used along with thumb tacks.

 

[beiland]

Do you mean a big sheet of foam over the whole thing or do you mean foam roadbed like Woodland Scenics?

If you mean the large sheets of foam, I use it often. But always with roadbed.

How do you attach the roadbed to the foam, ....then the track to the roadbed?? I saw a recommendation to utilize Pliobond

While developing techniques for constructing turnouts using adhesives, we did extensive research on Pliobond. Pliobond was first developed by Goodyear Rubber over 30 years ago and has a solid track record of long term performance. It is used extensively by the military and in the aviation and aerospace industries, and unlike most other adhesives, Pliobond joints actually grows stronger over time and are highly resistant to vibration and expansion/contraction.

Based on our own testing and research, we are confident that turnouts constructed using Pliobond will outlast and outperform any other method of fastening nickel rails to wood ties.

Technical data for Pliobond is somewhat difficult to come by, so here is a copy of the technical data and usage instruction sheet published by W.J. Ruscoe (the distributor).
http://www.handlaidtrack.com/pliobond-technical-data-a/166.htm

Brian

 

[Iron Horseman]

How do you attach the roadbed to the foam, ....then the track to the roadbed??

I use Matt-Medium for both. Available in all art stores. Tried Mod-Podge but it takes too long to dry. I used to use white glue, but found out after about 20 years it gets brittle and breaks up.

 

[jdetray]

How do you attach the roadbed to the foam, ....then the track to the roadbed?? I saw a recommendation to utilize Pliobond

I use water-based latex caulk, the cheapest I can find. Works great, and the track can be removed later if you soak the caulk with water.

- Jeff

 

[beiland]

I use water-based latex caulk, the cheapest I can find. Works great, and the track can be removed later if you soak the caulk with water.

- Jeff

Don't you run into trouble with that latex product when you go to ballast the track with 'wet water' ?

 

[jdetray]

Don't you run into trouble with that latex product when you go to ballast the track with 'wet water' ?

No.

The caulk does not dissolve easily. It takes a lot of soaking before it will release the track. No problem at all when ballasting.

- Jeff

 

[beiland]

Interesting. What little I know led me to the idea that rubber based adhesives were some of the best. And with the word rubber in there I was hoping that some of these were of an elastic nature after cure. Now I am not so sure.

I was hoping to find an adhesive that offered a little bit of elasticity so that it might 'give' just a little upon expansion-contraction of track and roadbed with room temps/humidity. And also could be detached with at least some minimal damage if one sought to rearrange (tweak) the track plan just a bit.

 

[Iron Horseman]

I was hoping to find an adhesive that offered a little bit of elasticity so that it might 'give' just a little upon expansion-contraction of track and roadbed with room temps/humidity. And also could be detached with at least some minimal damage if one sought to rearrange (tweak) the track plan just a bit.

That is why I use mat-medium. Retains just a tiny bit of elasticity. Like the latex caulk it is also a bit hard to dissolve but eventually will give up.