Foamboard and Fastrack.

[HopperSJ]

I had my fastrack layout initially laid on 3/4 particle board. It seemed loud, but a layer of green felt (for grass) helped. When I went larger, I built my benchwork new, ditched the particle board, and glued 1" foam directly on the framework without any under layer (no plywood, homosote, ect.). When I relaid my track I said "WOW, that's LOUD!" I think the 1" foam acted like the skin of a drum and only increased the sound volume. This may not have been the case if I laid it upon an underlayer. However, I have since begun to add in my grades by gluing more foam down and laying more track. This seems to have made a marked difference in the volume (I think the additional ellements reduce the foam vibrations and therefore reduce the volume). Also, I noticed a significant volume change when I laid two layers of felt between the track and foam. I did this as a test before adding the grades and such. It reduced the volume significantly by absobing some fo the vibrations. When I am done landscaping, I am planning on laying some felt (or quilt batting) on the foam and possibly painting it green, brown and other other landscpe colors. My hope is it will give some texture to the layout as well as further reducing the noise. We'll see.

[Jumijo]

Our FasTrack sits on a 2" foamboard surface, and it's loud. Loud enough that you cannot hear the person talking right next to you.

[sanman0516]

darianj

this is what i did and it reduced the noise and it does.It is 1 inch inslutation board

[Anonymous]

I 'm using foam board on top of homasote using realtrax and it's pretty quiet. The next layout that i build I would put the homasote on top of the foam board and it would be even quieter. I find working with homasote on the table great for working with track and every thing else. The weight of the tracks is heavy enough so it's not necessary to screw them onto the table top so thats maybe why it does not make it noisy. Felix [img.nr]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6da29b3127cce886e00a28d5100000016100ActG7Ru0ZsWJg[/img.nr]

[Anonymous]

I used 1/2" foam on top of the plywood and YES it makes a difference. I have a loop that drops under the layout without it and I can hear the difference.

[ChiefEagles]

I'm sure there is. Several have used it under RealTrax [which is quiter than Fastrack] with great results.

[darianj]

Just wondering if it makes sense to use foamboard on a layout with Fastrack. Has anyone tried Fastrack with and without foamboard? Is there a difference in the noise level?