Do i need to glue RealTrax to the foamboard?

[Anonymous]

New to hobby. Just constructed a 4x8 bench, and have put a layout with MTH REalTrax on it. Using plywood base, then 4'x8'x3/4" foam insulation board, then the track. The layout uses the RealTrax 24 pc trestle set for a good sized elevated portion. The track seems fairly heavy and seems to remain quite stationary already. I am at the point where if I am going to glue it down to the foamboard, I will do that soon. I would use Liquid Nails for Projects - Foamboard, if I do the glue step.

But, I am considering not using glue, but rather just pinning the track in places into the foamboard, or maybe drive some longer thin nails though the track holes, through the foam, and into the plywood. My thought is that it seems to be heavy and stable enough already to remain in place, and that using pins or nails (especially at the bases of the trestles) might be all I need.

I intend to then begin on scenery, to include a lake, some hills, a mountain tunnel at one end, a station, and an industrial site at one turnout, etc. Will my plan work, or is it doomed to failure for reasons of instability of the track over time, for lack of glue?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

[Buckeye Riveter]

All of my MTH RealTrack is attached to my 2" foam board with dry wall screws. No glue. It has been that way for over five years with zero problems. In fact after many runs of the trains, you will find that the plastic RealTrack ballast tends to "sink" into the foam approximately 1/16" to 1/8".

[Jumijo]

How do you attach the track to the 2" foam with drywall screws? I have FasTrack on the 2" foam and a few areas have a gap that I'd like to secure down.

The FasTrack mounting holes don't even look big enough for dry wall screws.

Jim

[Buckeye Riveter]

Jim,
I used the drywall screws to attach my daughters Fastrack through 1" foam to plywood. The plastic roadbed did not crack or split.

On my layout, the Realtrax is connected to the foam with brown drywall screws. You will need to use a screw in each hole in the road bed. Chuck and the Chief both have yanked on the track to see if it was movable when they visited.

[Jumijo]

I'll give it a try. Thanks, Buckeye!

Jim

[Anonymous]

thanks for the help. i'll try that.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't screw it down at all if I was doing it. I used RealTrax in the past quite a bit, but more recently became a convert to Lionel's FasTrack. In neither case would I ever consider gluing the track in place.

Both track systems are designed to stay together quite well by themselves--especially FasTrack. If I was building a scenicked layout with either one, I would just bring the scenery up to the edge of the roadbed in several places, on both sides, and let the Sculptamold or whatever other scenery material is used hold the track in place. The track itself could "float" a bit, and that won't hurt anything. All you really need/want to do is prevent lateral movement of the track in any direction, and scenery up against the bas of the roadbed in several (or even all) places will prevent that movement.

As a bonus, you'll find that not gluing or screwing the track to the base helps to reduce noise, and you'll also find it very easy to remove the track sections if you ever need or want to do that.

[IronHoarse]

I have an 8 x 17 foot Fastrack layout and I use a total of four screws on it. While the track stays together very well, it still will shift around from the weight of the train going around the curves. The four screws are all that I need to prevent that from happening.

[jonadel]

I screwed down my RealTrax to the plywood with Atlas screws and then ballasted it. I now wish I had used some sort of foam pad such as what one would use under laminate flooring, it would help reduce noise at higher speeds. But in all honesty with a carpeted floor and a suspended ceiling the noise isn't that bad plus I don't run the trains fast. I could remove the screws and that would probably help with the noise but it's just not that big of a deal. When the ballast is glued down properly it becomes like cement thus negating the need for screws.

I'm enclosing our old photo album which will give you an idea of what we did. I'm in the process of building a web site with better photo's and video clips which hopefully will make more sense.

Jon

http://jands.logicalgeek.com/main.php

[Anonymous]

thanks everybody, for your good advice. i really appreciate it. we newbies need all the help we can get.

RollTideBama

[Buckeye Riveter]

This might give you some ideas to use in your construction. If you want to see all the photos, many boring, taken during construction, just email me.


Also this is a good source of information when working with foam.
http://users.stratuswave.net/~wd8jik/foamcutter/foamcutter.htm

[Anonymous]

thanks buckeye. and thanks for the photo. i'd like to see the others, but dont know how to send emails to you.
also, i tried to use the "private message" capability, but i dont have those "permissions" on this site. maybe there's a way for me to select that, but i dont know how. sorry. again, thanks for the advice. and the foam site is great info.