Foam weatherstrip under tubular ties

[brianel027]

The foam under 027 or tubular 0 track will help with noise some, no doubt. The big cause of noise though is the screws used to hold the track to the table top, be it plywood or anything else. Using just enough screws to hold the track in place is the best way to help cut noise. Or ballasting the track and then removing nearly all screws. Or using the plastic cable/wire ties as has been shown previously in CTT. Foam core board ties and some of the rubber ties that are made will also help cut noise levels down.

FasTrack as discussed before, is designed and made in such a way that foam insulation of any kind just won't help. The track is noisey and that's how it is. Period. On a comparison level, I'd say tubual track is not as noisey as FasTrack - as hard to believe as that sounds. You need to compare the two to see what I mean.

I think Lionel was in a ru***o get that stuff out and didn't put enough time into it. Then there's the mixed signals from Lionel... on one hand they say the stuff is for beginners and floor layouts. But the new items introduced don't really help the beginners, like maybe a tighter radius curve. It's tough to build any kind of layout with FasTrack on a 4'x8' other than a big oval.... a very loud oval. [:D]

Of course, the advantage is you get the noise without paying extra for Railsounds! You get FasTrack sounds [:D]

[pbjwilson]

Maybe everyone knows this one, but it's new to me.

Saw this on a Marx Forum site. You take 1/2" wide foam weatherstrip, the kind you use on a door frame to keep out the cold, cut it into strips about 2" long and attach to the bottom of the ties on your track.

Greatly reduces noise on plywood tabletops. And as a bonus it keeps the track from traveling or working apart.

Maybe it can be used on the bottom of Fastrack?