Greetings from Kansas! I am in the start up phase of a new layout, as I have finished a room downstairs, heated/cooled and dry. My last benchwork, a few more years ago than I care to admit, was on plywood sheeting with cork roadbed and track nailed (the "interior" plywood of some 20+ years ago was relatively easy to drive spikes into). Ply avail now is not. I am planning on a plywood base with 1-2" foam topping.
Now the question - is the prefered method to attach roadbed and track to use adhesive? I have quite a lot of track sections which were never soldered but am wondering if buying new flex sections would be less work-less feeders and less joints. I had planed on using homosote, but the closest source is about 4 hours, plus I like the landscaping opportunities with the foam. Does a latex adhesive hold the track to the cork when used sparingly? Is there a prefered brand, type? Is it easy to remove and rework?
Previously, I did have poor connections in several locations which I ran feeders to. What is an acceptable distance to run feeders if each track section joint is soldered?
Most of my free time is in the shop with woodworking. Thanks in advance for your patience with this returning newbie.
I use latex adhesive calk to "glue" my track down. It works great. Put a bead calk down and spread it along the roadbed with a putty knife. (Fake plastic credit cards you get in junk mail work good for this too, and you just throw them away.) You only need a thin layer of calk. I weight the track down with some paving bricks that I bought for that purpose. The calk dries in about 15-30 minutes and you can put the track in service.
You can get the calk at Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Mennards and Target....and probably a lot of other places too!
I solder two pieces of flex track together with a jumper crossing the joint. At the other end I just use rail joiners to allow the track to expand and contract. This makes my jumpers six feet apart, however a locomotive is never more than three feet from a set of jumpers.
I have not used the latex calk on foam as I use cork for my roadbed. I would suggest getting a tube of calk and try some on a test section to see how it works.
JIM
Jim, Modeling the Kansas City Southern Lines in HO scale.
Welcome back.
I have been using latex caulk to anchor Atlas flex to foam, with excellent results to date. No particular brand (I have used several) but I recommend grey color (in case your ballast job ends up with bald spots.) I pre-bend my flex track to the desired configuration, which minimizes lateral loading on the caulk.
Before you toss your old flex track, check it out. If it's in gauge and the plastic spikes are unbroken, it can be re-laid. I've got some in to-be-hidden trackwork that's been re-laid at least four times. You might want to use all new flex for your mainline, but you're sure to have places where that old flex will be good enough - and it's already been paid for.
Track laid on foam with latex caulk can be lifted if you work carefully. My tool of choice is a drywall knife - also useful for spreading caulk.
As for electricals, I don't solder rail joints (my layout space temperature ranges from sub-freezing to sauna over the course of a year) but I do solder jumpers around them. My longest electrical section to date has been slightly under five yards (five rail lengths) and the feeder is soldered to the jumper at one end of the middle section. No problems to date - and some of my locos are still powered by juice-hog open frame motors.
Happy tracklaying.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Thank you both for the info on bonding and electrical contact, maybe I can get into the modern times! I'll try the bonding on some scrap foam, sure sounds easier than nailing. Appreciate the help.
TnTRR wrote:I am in the same boat as you. Just starting a new layout (#4) after moving to our most recent home almost 4 years ago. I am going to go with 2 layers of construction foam (top 1" & the bottom 2") I have only read good things about the foam and woodland scenics risers, roadbed ect. I have read some talk about attaching switch machine (tortise type are the ones I use) a few people have epoxied a 1/4" piece of plywood to the cutout area to be able to attache the machine securely, sound good to me...... All in all I like the the foam idea and am running with it....Shawn
Shawn: Do you put a layer of Plywood under your foam, or is the foam right on the benchwork. If right on benchwork, what kind of benchwork, and how far apart is the support for the foam.
Do you plan on a relatively flat based layout to build any slight elevations up from, or do you want some scenery (deep ravines, rivers and any other features below the base track? The only reason for asking this is if you do or would like topographical features of the scenery to be below the "base", the style of benchwork construction should be considered before building. The boxed frame and plywood topped in foam that seems to be so popular has it's drawbacks in any scenery features that are anything below what you can cut out of the foam (with exceptions from altering the framework). If you want anything like this you may consider using "L" girder and risers for the track's subroadbed. This elevation can be designed into the base height of the framework and riser combination to allow even some deep cuts and elevation changes far below the base track.
I only throw this out there as it seems that lately many layouts are not much more than a foam covered plywood empire. I will probably get flamed and hammered over this statement but isn't this the way of most layouts these days.
I can see if you are only doing a small around the wall, with some minor grades or a switching layout this style of constuction is great, but I find that even a simple boxed frame and risers to cookie cutter or spline to really be to an advantage. You seem to have a real nice space to work with and other methods should be considered.
For the last 8 years I've been working on the club layout and the overall trackplan design also incorporates the scenery for our local.
I know you're not proposing anything of this scale in your planning, but would like show some other options if it fits your needs.
Some other pics to show some of the elevations
This is rather difficult to accomplish when having to build up of a foam base.
Hope this can help in your decision as to the constuction style you're looking for.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
To: Bogp40 [Bob] TnTRR [Shawn]I agree with the thoughts regarding scenery below grade, on my last layout, 12 yrs ago, I did some cookie cutter to permit below grade detail. This time I am going to make it movable, with lightweight modules. Hence box frames with limited height and weight. My only undecided item on the benchwork is homasote, for ease of spiking flex track right on homasote, or foam on top of 1/4 or 3/8" plywood for light weight. Not sure how far apart the supports need to be on homasote or plywood/foam options. Seems like the foam must be quite strong as some suggest 36" on center suppport. I probaby would not go less than 24" on center, on a 24" deep shelf, for homasote. In a 1984 layout I did use homasote and liked it ok. Also considering 1X2's for frame in place of 1X4's?
In design stage now, plan to start as soon as I improve enough from a medical issue. I live in Bettendorf, Iowa.
Thanks for you replies and input.