Track laying adhesive:

I use Polyseamseal All Purpose Adhesive Caulk.  I like the kind that comes out white, and dries clear.  This used to be an OSI product but now comes under the Henkel brand.  I buy mine at Ace Hardware.   Water clean up.  It is not a silicon product -- the silicon sealant caulks are slippery to the feel.  Some other folks use caulk that dries gray.  An older article in MR advised using a DAP All Purpose Adhesive Caulk that is no longer made.   There may be other DAP products that work fine so long as they are water cleanup and are not silicon sealants. 

I run a line of caulk down the centerline of the cork roadbed then smooth it out to the edges using one of those annoying "Your Name Here" phony credit cards that come in the junk mail (or used to!).  I then press the flex track in place.  Also I spread some ballast onto the wet caulk between the ties and beyond the tie ends and tamp it down with an old piece of cork roadbed.  This gives me a good start to final ballasting.

Dave Nelson

 I am using DAP clear caulk.  It sticks better than their colored caulk.  I have used the DAP Cedar Tan caulk.  If you think you might take up the track later, use the colored DAP.  You will be able to get it off the bottom of the track with a knife and follow up with a wire brush.

Run a bead down the cnterline and spread it out with a pallet knife.  Put the track down and put some weights on it over night.  Same for the roadbed.

Seamonster

I just get the cheapest clear latex caulk I can find. Some like to use coloured caulk to match the ballast, but the clear caulk is almost invisible and can't be seen once the ballast is on. I have heard that silicone caulk is much harder to remove if you need to remove track later. I have had no trouble removing caulked track from cork roadbed by sliding a putty knife under it. I also use it to attach the cork to the foam base. If you use caulk to attach the track directly to foam, it will take the top layer of foam with it if you try to remove the track later. Same thing if you try to remove cork glued to foam. The trick, as gandydancer19 pointer out, is to spread the caulk very, very thin with a putty knife then put weights on the track overnight.

I'm with Seamonster about using the cheapest I can find. I found a brand at Wal-Mart of acrylic latex caulk (can't remember the name) that came in a 4-pack for $3.99. It works great. Just follow the directions for using that other posters have left. And just in case you haven't seen them, here's how I do it.

• Lay a bead about 1/4" wide (not too thick).
• Spread with a 1 or 2 inch putty knife so that the layer is very thin. When you press the track into it, it should NOT ooze up between the ties.
• Pin in place. Since I'm using cork roadbed, push pins work very well.
• Ballast track when caulk is dried (I usually wait about 24 hours)

The advantages of caulk are that it holds the track very firmly, but the track can still be taken up with a putty knife without destroying the track in the process.

 You may want to consider looking at this thread.  Nice thing about this is if you ever need to take up track, all you need is water. The section of flex track was done in about 5-10 min. 

Fibedecor for scenery base.

Bill D

The brand I use is DAP ALEX painters caulk. It is available just about everywhere (Wal-Mart, HD, Lowes, Ace, etc). I run a bead down the centerline, spread it thin with a putty knife and press the track in. You want to make sure that the layer of caulk is not too thick or else it will squeeze up between the ties. Even a very thin layer has a LOT of grab--I did not need any clamps or pins when I laid my flex track (although I used a few early on in my tracklaying, such as in the photos below). I use the gray color for laying track because it simulates the look of ballast until I get the real ballast down. Jamie

I prefer the clear polyseamseal. It has better adheasve properties than regular caulk. I also use it in one of my professions - construction. it is vastly superior to other similar products.

Sheldon

I use gray DAP adhesive caulk.  Similar to the poster above, I put a bead down, then use a putty knife to smooth it before pressing the track down.  I use a couple of track nails to hold flex track in position if it has a significant bend in it, then I lay scrap lumber and heavy books on the track for about 3 hours until the adhesive sets a bit.  I don't worry too much if some caulk oozes up between the ties, because the gray color blends with the ballast and it doesn't show.  You just don't want big gobs sticking up above your ties.

I have tried several other adhesives -- carpenters glue, white glue, track nails and ballast, and hot glue.  I find that none of these work as well, being both too hard to reposition or rip up, too rigid, or insufficiently strong.

Adhesive caulk can't be beat.

CSXDixieline.....How did you make your helix?  Splines or something else?

RF&Prr

JBR,

Like CSXDixieLine, I use DAP Acrylic Plus Latex caulk to lay track, as well as cork road bed:

It only costs $2 at Home Depot, comes in may colors and holds VERY well.  And, even though it does do a great job of holding down track, if you ever need to do some track repair, a thin putty knife and steady pressure can peel it back up.

And CSX's tips are spot on.  Use a putty knife to spread out a thin layer of the caulk.  (Otherwise, it will ooze up through the ties.)  In 40 minutes the caulk begins to take hold.  I just let it dry over night. 

The one thing that I do differently than CSX is to tack down the track or cork road bed with pins or lay bricks on top to keep it flat until it drys.

RF&Prr

CSXDixieline.....How did you make your helix?  Splines or something else?

RF&Prr

So far I only have the helix base in place. The track that you see in the photos does use spline roadbed, but that is just a temporary coil of track used as a staging yard until I actually start building the helix. I plan on using 1/8" Masonite laminated together to form 1/4" thick roadbed when I do get around to the helix. Jamie

By the way once you have the tubes of latex adhesive caulk on hand, I think you'll find there are numerous other uses for the product on the layout -- laying plastic street sections such as Walthers', attaching building flats to a backdrop, and a host of other uses. 

Dave Nelson 

I just use the latex silicone caulk from DAP.  Dap is easy to get from a lowes or Home Depot, and it's inexpensive.  It's simple to pry the track up, just use a utility knife.  If you do use the knife, you may be throwing out the peice of track, or roadbed.

Peace

I seem to be an oddball here since I have always used white glue or Woodland Scenics foam glue and always on Woodland Scenics foam-type roadbed.  I like this because when I want to pull up the track [this has been on several occasions to install switches or change direction], I just spray mist with water, leave for about 30 minutes, then pry up with a thin scraper.  You also need something with strong grab to hold any flex track in place until curing is complete.  If latex caulk come away just as easy with water, I will try this next time.

Alan

alanprocter

I seem to be an oddball here since I have always used white glue or Woodland Scenics foam glue and always on Woodland Scenics foam-type roadbed.  I like this because when I want to pull up the track [this has been on several occasions to install switches or change direction], I just spray mist with water, leave for about 30 minutes, then pry up with a thin scraper.  You also need something with strong grab to hold any flex track in place until curing is complete.  If latex caulk come away just as easy with water, I will try this next time.

Alan

I use the diluted white glue thing.  I like the idea of being able to get track up easily if need be.

Here's a link on track laying from Lance Midhiem, hope I spelled that right. http://www.lancemindheim.com/track_laying.htm

This is slightly off topic, but I have a question about the proper use of latex caulk to glue blue foam board to plywood in my bench work.  I plan to use the DAP Alex Plus caulk suggested by Tom to hold down my cork roadbed and flex track.  I know that in these applications that the caulk should be spread thin.  My question is when using this caulk to glue blue foam to plywood should it be spread out with a grooved trowel or large putty knife or can it be left in beads as it comes out of the caulk tube with weight added to maintain the contact between the foam and the plywood until the caulk sets?

Thanks,

Bob

 Good old yellow carpenters glue, not white glue but the yellow stuff. If you ever want to take it up or make changes just slide a putty knife under the end and push hard and it comes up. I have seen guys use licquid nails for projects but that stuff is forever

Y'know I've never used caulk... but on my last railroad (N scale) I attached the roadbed to the foam with white Elmer's crafter's glue which is nothing more than tacky glue with good PR, and I attached the track to the roadbed with the same, leaving it pinned in place overnight... I never had any problem with it coming up... I've read a lot of ills of the use of white glue, but I have nothing bad to say about it... I think it all comes down to preference. 

Hi JBR,

I've been using Elmers clear latex adhesive caulk and I'm very happy with it. It's white coming out of the bottle but dries clear, and in general products labeled "adhesive caulk" do a better job in tracklaying than those that are simply for general-purpose caulking. The Elmer's adhesive caulk "grabs" pretty quickly, so it's usually not necessary to pin the track on curves, but it does allow about 10 minutes of working time so you can perfect your track's alignment. A thin layer of adhesive works best and allows for easy track removal – as long as the track isn't ballasted, anyway – if you want to make a change.

So long,

Andy 

I use paintable latex caulk spread with a piece of scrap plastic (cut up old credit card) to aprox. 1/32"-1/16" thick. Another hint: I make a train of canned food, soups etc. on the track to hold it down a few hours to overnight. I find that if I later have to move it all I need is a 1" putty knife! No worries, Mate! John